Pensacola Computer Help Technoblog

Attention all college students here in Pensacola Florida – UWF, PJC, PCC, etc. If you are an active student with a valid .edu email address you are eligible to take part in Microsoft’s Ultimate Steal offer which for the next few months offers you a copy of Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007 for $59.95, and if you buy it before the end of September 2010 through this offer, you qualify to get a free downloadable copy of Office 2010 when it comes out later this year!

This is an incredible deal, as Office Ultimate 2007 retails for @ $600, plus toss in Office 2010 and you are truly getting a steal. This is a bona-fide legal copy of Office and is offered by Microsoft for active College Students only.

For details and to take advantage of this offer, visit: http://www.microsoft.com/student/discounts/theultimatesteal-us/default.aspx

Also, be sure to check out the details of the free Office 2010 download here: http://www.office.com/techg

If you aren’t a student, you can still take advantage of the free Office 2010 upgrade program by purchasing a qualifying Office 2007 product between March 5th and September 30th 2010.

Included in Office Ultimate 2007 are:

Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Groove, Publisher, Access, and Info Path

In addition to this offer, Microsoft is also offering eligible students Windows 7 Professional for $64.95!

For questions about Windows 7 or Office 2007/Office 2010, visit Pensacola Computers at:  http://pensacolacomputers.com

Users of the popular AVG antivirus software started reporting getting a warning for a threat: “Exploit Crimepack Exploit Kit (type 766) earlier today when visiting numerous different websites. AVG has confirmed that this is a false positive in the latest LinkScanner component of its software, and they are working to release a fixed version ASAP. See the official reply on the AVG Forums here: http://bit.ly/avgwarn

AVG is a top provider of both free and paid for versions of Antivirus/Antispyware security products and has a great reputation for putting out a very good security product. False positives occurs sometimes when a certain type of threat is misidentified by security software and in this case it will surely be fixed quickly.

**Update: AVG has released a link scanner update – version 193 which appears to have fixed most of the issues, although a few false positives are still being reported as “Exploit”

This past week, Facebook has once again been the target of a massive malware attack, this time through a huge emailing campaign that sent out millions of fake emails that read “Because of the measure taken to provide safety to our clients, your password has been changed. You can find your new password in the attached document.” – Of course, the attachment is malware that includes password stealing Trojans, downloaders and scareware fake antivirus software. Opening the attachment is of course on of the big no-no’s in computer security – you should never ever open an attachment unless you specifically know the person and that they have told you that they were sending you an attachment. Facebook continues to be one of the highest used vectors for the spread of malware, and a lot of the danger comes from the inadequate security measures that Facebook takes in regards to its users.

Also this week, the cybercriminals have targeted college basketball fans and celebrity gossip watchers (specifically the Jesse James/Sandra Bullock story).  These criminals have very slickly optimized their malware infested webpages for the search engines. Security biggee Mcafee reported that 5 out of the first 10 hot searches on Google Trends were sites that had been hacked to serve malware. Most of these sites are not dangerours to systems that are protected, however there are many people who do not keep their antivirus/antispyware software up to date and are vulnerable.

The greatest defense to all of these things is of course to not visit such sites – however that is not always practical. Keeping up to date security software, and never EVER downloading software without knowing the source, and never EVER opening attachments in emails without first verifying the source and content are important practices to follow. Remember, if you get a pop-up saying to update your Flash player, or Quicktime or anything else, Do NOT allow it to install anything – instead go to the source of the software, ie: Adobe.com for Flash, or Apple for quicktime etc.

Here in Pensacola, approx 60% of the computers I have had to clean malware and viruses off of got infected from Facebook, so for users of this popular social networking site, I advise extra caution. One of the easiest ways to get infected on Facebook is from a friend who has had their account hacked (usually because of using an easy to guess password – make sure to always use a complex password on such sites!).  One an account is hacked, the hackers send out messages to all the friends on the persons lists, usually with links to infected websites, so be careful even of messages from friends!

For links to great free and paid for antivirus and antispyware, visit Pensacola Computers.Com Tech Support page

The other day, I was at a local electronics super store here in Pensacola FL, and I couldn’t help overhearing a salesperson talking to a couple about a computer they were looking to buy. This ‘kid’, who was probably 18-20 had absolutley no idea what he was talking about, although the couple he was trying to sell a computer to had no idea that the majority of what he was telling them was utter BS. I always advise people to spend a little time researching before they go out to buy a computer, and to never ever listen to the salespeople in the stores. Not that some of the salespeople aren’t somewhat informed, but seriously, if they knew that much about computers, they wouldn’t be working on the salesfloor. In this case, the couple almost bought a computer based upon information that was totally wrong, all because the employee at this store sounded like he knew what he was talking about, when in reality he knew a few computer ‘words’ without having any idea what they really meant.

For the ‘kid’ who was working there, a few bits of ‘correct’ information so the next time you try to sell someone a computer, you have the right info: an intel Core i3 processor is a dual core processor, NOT a quad core – http://www.intel.com/consumer/products/processors/corei3-specs.htm. Also, 6 GB of DDR3 RAM is NOT equal to 12 GB of DDR2 RAM in terms of speed or performance of the computer, in fact in many benchmarks there is little if any noticeable difference in speed between most consumer DDR2 and DDR3 RAM because while DDR3 RAM runs at a higher speed, it also has higher latency: http://www.breakitdownblog.com/ddr2-800-vs-ddr3-1333-does-speed-matter/.

One other important thing to note if you are buying a computer from a retail store – when you buy certain brand names, like Dell from a retailer, be very careful and wary about what they tell you about the warranty. In most cases, the warranty is handed off to the retail store and is NOT the same as the warranty you would get if you bought the computer direct from the manufacturer. In many cases, if your computer breaks, you have to take it to the retail store for service and are at their mercy and the repairs can often take days to weeks (unlike most normal Dell warranties where they will have a new part shipped, or have a technician to you by the next business day).

If you are in the market for a new computer, check out:  Computer Buying Guide at PensacolaComputers.com

Pensacola Computers Presents – Windows 7 Quick Tips – part II
Here we show you how to use the new Library Folders in Windows 7. A great way to organize your files and folders to save time and find things easily. This is a new feature that is included in all versions of Windows 7, and a great time saver!

Brought to you in 720P HD – for best results, watch in full screen mode

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You can also watch this directly on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kX8QvPIdZfE

Pensacola Computers Presents – Windows 7 Quick Tips – part I
Here we offer a couple of great quick tips that include: How to open a command prompt at a specific folder location using Shift>Right Click, and how to use the Windows Key and arrow keys to ‘Snap’ your windows to the side or top of the screen. Snap is a new feature in Windows 7.

Brought to you in 720P HD – for best results, watch in full screen mode