WyzGuys Tech Talk

Four years ago a consortium of Internet companies started a joint venture with the Berkman Center at Cambridge University called StopBadware.org.  This group was to become a central clearinghouse for new malware threats and malware infected web sites.  They recently were spun off to become a private corporation.  I received a press release from them this week.  I am reprinting it below.

“REINTRODUCING STOPBADWARE

Four years ago today, StopBadware.org was announced as a Berkman Center project, with the ambitious goal of fighting ...

In my November 22 post about smartphones, I pretty much dismissed Blackberry as a not too technically brilliant product.  I have revised my opinion.  My original Blackberry was a lowly 8700 model, which too be fair, was $49 on a new cell phone contract.  There was a reason it was $49 – because that was all it was worth!!  Thanks to the quick work of the thief who stole my Blackberry, wallet, credit cards, driver’s license, and watch from my ...

While these tips have been handed down since the early days of DOS, they really have no impact on performance on today’s computers and operating systems. 

Cleaning the Registry

Spending money on registry cleaning or optimizing software will not really improve performance by much at all.  And tweaking the Windows Registry on your own via Regedit can be dangerous.  You can skip this chore.

Disk Defragmentation

Back in the day when hard drives were expensive and had relatively small storage capacities, running a ...

I had a client ask me how to move his Internet Explorer Favorites to Google’s Chrome Browser, and I was able to find him some quick answers from Google and Techie-Buzz.  To find your Favorites, also called Bookmarks (which is actually an old Netscape term) go to C:/Documents and Settings/<user>/Favorites, where <user> is your user profile name or logon name.  In Vista or Windows 7 the path is C:/Users/<user>/Favorites.

You can open this folder highlight everything in ...

I am often asked by clients and others about the relative merits or necessity of having a server on the small business network.  Here are some points to consider: 

• Do your employees share files through a confusing system of shared network drives and folders that actually exist on coworkers computers?  Having a central file server to manage that process would be simpler.
• Do your employees share printers across the network?  Having a central print server would streamline the process.
• Do your employees ...

We have written about this subject before, but I have been researching this security threat and have new advice.   One of the more insidious malware exploits involves the use of the fake security pop-up.  There is an excellent article on IT World about this subject if you want to get a deeper view.

Basically, if you accidently visit a web site that is infected with this attack, you will see a pop-up window down by the clock that ...

If you have several users sharing the same PC, When Windows launches there is a list of User Accounts and corresponding picture icons.  In Windows 7 it is possible to use your own photo, or an image of your choosing to replace the system generated picture.  Go to Start, Control Panel, User Accounts.  Select Change your picture from the list.  This will take you to the Choose a new picture for your account screen.  Below the system generated thumbnail panel, ...

As many of you know, I have taught a Community Education Class about computer security issues since 2002.  Over the course of time, the nature of computer security threats have changed, and the exploits have become much more sophisticated.  Instead of pimple faced script kiddies writing mass mailing worms in their mom’s basement, we now have sophisticated software exploits that are underwritten and managed by organized criminal gangs.  What they are infecting your computer with cannot really be called a ...

I occasionally post answers to computer questions on Yahoo Answers under the screen name bobwyzguy.  Many times I have had to bite my metaphorical tongue when writing an answer – some of the questions are just so clueless.  But I avoid the easy sarcastic shot, and leave a straight answer.

Well, PC World has posted and article titled “The 20 Dumbest Questions on Yahoo Answers”.  This is worth a read, especially if the pre-holiday crunch has left you all ...

I have had a number of questions from readers of last month’s newsletter about Windows 7.  Are there problems or issues that people are having with Windows 7?  It is worth the effort and expense to upgrade?  Should I upgrade my existing PC or buy a new one?  To I have to upgrade?

To answer the last question first – no, you do not have to upgrade.  If you are running Windows XP or Windows Vista, and are happy with your ...