Many of my elderly clients do not secure their wireless network. As I drive around my area of service, on any given day and on any given street, I can usually see five or six available wireless networks – all unprotected (unencrypted).
So what’s the big deal? Why is this so dangerous? Consider the following:
All of the data that is being sent over these unsecured wireless networks can be “sniffed” (seen and captured) by using readily available, free tools. Let’s look at two of these free tools.
1) The very popular Firefox browser has a free extension called Firesheep that will intercept unencrypted data and allow the Firesheep user to hijack the logged in session from the original user.
2) Another free software program called Wireshark will also capture and analyze any packets of data that are being broadcast through the air. These unencrypted packets are simply floating by and Wireshark will grab them and tell you what they contain – like usernames, passwords, and email!
So, what’s the solution? Just one word really: Encryption (a process that makes your data unreadable).
By encrypting your data using HTTPS, WPA2, or VPN connections, you will be protected from someone who wants to sniff and analyze your private data.
Professor Randy says:Don’t get sniffed! Foil any would be data packet thief by always using a secure encrypted connection.
It absolutely drives me crazy when I’m typing along only to find out that I have the CAPS LOCK on. My USB connected keyboard has a blue light to alert me when I’m using capital letters, but I can’t always see this light because my keyboard is positioned underneath my raised laptop.
But did you know that you can set the CAPS LOCK key to alert you by making a sound? Yes, every time you press the CAPS LOCK key (whether you mean to do so or not), you can hear a “beep” to tell you when CAPS are on, and another “beep” to tell you when CAPS are off.
Here is what you need to do:
1) In Windows Vista and Windows 7, open the Control Panel and click on Ease of Access Center.
2) Scroll down and click on Make the Keyboard Easier To Use. Then select Turn on Toggle Keys. Hit OK.
In Windows XP just do this:
Open the Control Panel and select Accessibility Options. Then, under the Keyboard tab, check Use Toggle Keys. Hit OK. You will now hear a “beep” to let you know that you are typing in capital letters.
Professor Randy says:Don’t waste precious time! You can know for certain when your typing in CAPS by configuring the CAPS LOCK key to “beep” when pressed. The sound will alert you and you’ll know for sure! How cool is that?
I got this comment from Andrei today about one of my previous posts in which I had said that Windows 7 had fewer unnecessary services running compared to Windows XP and Vista.
“I don’t know comparatively if you’re right that the number of running services has gone down in the last few Micosoft O/S releases, but my brand new laptop w/ Windows 7 is running an absurd amount of services, and even when I’m not doing anything 3/4 cores are between 30%-60% usage”.
This was my reply to Andrei (keep in mind that I only addressed the services issue. There may be more things going on with his computer. I don’t know how much RAM that he has nor the programs that he has running/starting up in the background.
Hi Andrei,
Thank you for your comment. These are the services that I recommend to disable:
Bluetooth Support DHCP Diagnostic Policy Diagnostic System Host Distributed Link Tracking Client EAPHost Function Discovery Provider Host Group Policy Client IKE and AuthIP IPsec Keying Modules IP Helper Microsoft iSCSI Initiator Service Offline Files Policy Agent Routing and Remote Access SSDP Discovery Tablet PC Input Web Client Windows Search WinHTTP Web Proxy Auto-Discovery
Thanks again for your comment and best wishes, Randy The Tech Professor
This tool is absolutely “the bees knees”, and I can’t live without it. Here’s why:
1) Lets say that I get a severely infected computer. The computer is so infected that I can’t even boot up the machine into safe mode. The infection has basically rendered the computer useless, and I’ll get nowhere if I keep trying to work on an infected hard drive in an infected computer. What to do?
I take the infected hard drive out of the infected machine and attach it (through the USB Drive Adapter) to a known, good working machine and then do the malware/virus scans. The Drive Adapter allows me to do this by turning any IDE or SATA drive into an external one. Once I have finished doing scans with my antivirus tools, I just put the hard drive back into the original machine and at this point I’m usually able to boot up the computer and continue with the malware removal in normal mode.
2) Let’s say that I get a computer that has a motherboard problem and is “dead as a doornail”. The computer obviously won’t boot up, but the hard drive is still good and stills contains all of the precious data. How do I retrieve my clients data?
Once again, I just take the drive out of the dead machine and hook it up to my good working machine by using the USB Drive Adapter. The drive shows up as an external drive and I simply transfer all files from that drive to my computer. Once I have the defective computer fixed I can restore these files at any time. If my client wants to buy a new computer, I’ll restore the files to the new hard drive and then use the hard drive from the original machine as a permanent external drive.
Now do you see why it’s a repair tool that I can’t live without?
Professor Randy says:By externally connecting any hard drive via USB, you will be able to accomplish various repair/backup tasks with ease. You’re going to love this tool!
It’s impossible to keep up with all of the latest technology information “out there”, but you can keep up with some of it by visiting any of the links below. Enjoy!
Professor Randy quotes Tony Robbins:“A real decision is measured by the fact that you’ve taken a new action. If there’s no action, you haven’t truly decided.”
About a week ago a very nice elderly couple asked me to set up their brand new Dell computer system. The couple were extremely excited about their new purchase (Dell Inspiron 560, Dell 20″ Monitor, Dell Printer, Dell Speakers, Dell Wireless Keyboard & Mouse – the whole works!).
I went through the entire setup process with great care and the couple was very happy with the results. I gave them an initial tutorial on Windows 7, made sure that they knew how to access their files and emails, carefully pointed out the new antivirus (Microsoft Security Essentials), and answered any questions that they had. The new computer was in pristine condition! I agreed to return for another tutorial the following week.
Sometime during the week the very non-tech savvy lady had a question about something and decided to call Dell support (she said she thought about calling me but didn’t want to be a “bother”). The Dell support representative asked the lady if he could remote into the computer. The eighty year old lady didn’t know any better so she allowed this request.
After some remote investigating and searching around, the Dell tech told the lady that the computer was in great danger!! No antivirus had been installed and the computer was wide open to malicious malware attacks!! “If something wasn’t done soon the computer would become infected”, he said.
As you can imagine the poor old lady was frightened and didn’t know what to do. The valiant Dell tech came to the rescue however and offered three years of System Mechanic for only $131.00. “System Mechanic is all you need for any kind of computer problem”, he said. What a deal!
The lady, not knowing any better gave her credit card number to the Dell representative and the dastardly deed was done: The Dell tech had deceived the nice old lady by remoting in, uninstalling Microsoft Security Essentials, and then scaring her into spending $131.00 for three years of System Mechanic (wanna bet that there was a little commission there?).
So there you have it. I’m outraged and the poor lady feels stupid and embarrassed. She trusted Dell. I told her to stop payment on the credit card and she said that she was going to call Dell and “give them an earful”. Good for her!
Professor Randy says:Since elderly people didn’t grow up with computers, they have a harder time getting accustomed to them. The last thing they need is to be “preyed upon” by unscrupulous tech representatives who are out to make a buck!
Where would a plumber be without his plumbing tools? Where would a carpenter be without his woodworking tools? And where would I be without my computer repair technician tools?
In my next few posts I’m going to list and explain the repair tools (both software and hardware) that I can’t live without. I use these tools everyday, they are my favorites, and I would heartily recommend them to anybody interested in repairing or optimizing their computer.
1)Cleaning Tools: Assuming that I can boot into the Operating System, the first thing that I usually do is get rid of all the unnecessary, junk files that have accumulated. I use four software “cleaners” to do this and even though it’s a bit of overkill, each program finds different files. The order of running these programs is unimportant.
A)CCleaner: I run both the file cleaner and the registry cleaner. This is a very well known program and does a good job. Beware of the “additional installs” that want to piggyback along with CCleaner. I have never had any issues with using the registry cleaner (it’s not overly aggressive).
B)PureRa: Another great small program. Cleans out some files that CCleaner doesn’t get to.
C)CleanUp: Cleans out the invisible Content.IE5 folder. I have seen it clean out as many as 6GB from this folder.
D)Revo Uninstaller: I use the free version and in the tools module there is a “junk files cleaner”. Revo gets many temp files that other cleaners miss. Along with the “junk files cleaner”, Revo is my favorite uninstaller in the whole wide software world!
Professor Randy says:Using the best tools will make all of the difference when repairing a computer. I have tested these tools time and time again where “the rubber meets the road”. Try them, you will love them!
The cell phone scenario is quite confusing these days. Cell phone service providers want you to be uninformed so that they can manipulate you with big, impressive sounding tech words. Don’t be fooled – check out this great Hak5 video and “arm yourself” with the truth about cell phone network protocols:
Professor Randy says:Don’t be a “sitting duck” for the cell phone service providers. A basic knowledge of cell phone network technology will allow you to avoid being taken advantage of!
