Hello everyone

I received this email today. Looks good doesn’t it? Well, it’s a total scam! If you get an email like this do not even think about opening the attachment. Hackers will try to use scare tactics on you so that you click without thinking. Stay calm and don’t be fooled!

Dear Valued Customer,

Our Account Protection System recently detected an issue with your account.

There was an unusual activity on the credit card linked to your PayPal
account. Our security team suspects that an unauthorized user tried to access
your account without your consent.

Your account have been temporarily limited. We understand this may be
frustrating and inconvenient for you.

What to do next:

Please download the attachment in this email and simply open it so that
you are able to proceed with the verification process. Please fill in the required
fields after you have opened the attachment.

We apologize for any inconvenience that may have been caused.

Sincerely,

Copyright © 1999-2014 PayPal. All rights reserved.

Best wishes,
Randy Knowles

Hello everyone,

In this March post (2013), I told you about three great programs that will show you all of your computers third party program vulnerabilities, and then download and install the latest vulnerability fixes. Great stuff!

Speaking of vulnerabilities, here is a chart of the non-MS patches that affected Windows platforms in the current month of April 2014. Get updated asap!

7u55
Oracle Java SE, JavaFX, Java SE Embedded
SE 7u51 and earlier, SE 6u71 and earlier, SE 5.0u61 and earlier, SE Embedded 7u51 and earlier, JavaFX 2.2.51 and earlier
4/18/2014
Data Integrity
Critical: Upgrade to latest release

APSB14-09
Adobe Flash Player
Windows/Mac 12.0.0.77 and earlier Linux 11.2.202.346 and earlier
4/8/2014
Arbitrary Code Execution, Cross Site Scripting, Security Bypass
Critical Priority 1/ Upgrade within 72 hours

APSB14-09
Adobe Air
Android 4.0.0.1628 and earlier
4/8/2014
Arbitrary Code Execution, Security Bypass
Critical: Priority 3/ Upgrade at admin’s discretion

APSB14-12
Adobe Reader Mobile
Android 11.1.3 and earlier
4/14/2014
Arbitrary Code Execution
Critical: Priority 2/ Upgrade within 30 days

34.0.1847.131 and 34.0.1847.132
Google Chrome
Windows/Mac before 34.0.1847.131 Linux before 34.0.1847.132
4/24/2014
Security Bypass, Denial of Service
Recommended: Upgrade after testing

Best wishes,
Randy Knowles

Hello everyone,

I got a call the other day from a frantic client. He was an experienced artist and he could not logon to his Windows account. His user account was not accepting his password. Had he lost all of his files?

I went over to his house with my favorite password crackers thinking that it was a password issue. As soon as I saw the dreaded error message “The User Profile Service failed the logon”, I knew that it was not a password problem. This was a bug that required a registry fix.

Here is what I did to fix the issue:

1. Boot into safe mode
2. Click on the start button, and type “regedit” into the search bar.
3. Hit enter to open regedit.
4. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList
5. You’ll see two “S-1-5….” folders with long names. One of them will end in “.bak”
6. Rename the one that does not end in “.bak” to (long string of numbers) “.bad” or “.old”
7. Remove the “.bak” from the other one.
   • With this folder selected, double click RefCount and type 0 and then click OK.
   • With this folder selected, double click State and type 0 and then click OK.
8. Reboot the machine, and it should be fixed.

After the machine rebooted, the client typed in his original password and the logon was successful. He looked at me with an expression of relief and gratitude, shook my hand profusely, and paid me a nice fee. I think I’ve just made a customer for life!

Best wishes,

Randy The Tech Professor

Hello everyone,

In this March post (one year ago), I told you about three great programs that will show you all of your computers third party program vulnerabilities, and then download and install the latest vulnerability fixes. Great stuff!

Speaking of vulnerabilities, here is a chart of the non-MS patches that affected Windows platforms in the current month of March 2014. Get updated asap!

Hello everyone,

I believe that computer repair techs will always be in demand. The Internet is so full of different types of malware that only a very savvy user can avoid it. Many of the attacks now are through browser hijackers, add-ons and extensions. Consider what just happened to me:

I got a call from a client who said that her laptop was “running slow”. Once I got the laptop to my shop and turned it on, I was surprised that it was even running at all. I could have held an actual clinic for anyone interested in learning how to identify and remove malware. Consider what I identified and removed (a couple of these items are not actually malware, but do slow the computer down and can be replaced with more effective programs):

That’s a lot of “junk” on one laptop. There were also outdated versions of Flash, Java and Shockwave Player. I replaced Adobe Reader with Sumatra PDF, reset System Restore, installed Microsoft Security Essentials, ran Defraggler, changed some Power Options, and had previously ran CCleaner, PureRa, Revo Uninstaller Junk Files Remover, and Gould CleanUp. For good measure I ran CrystalDiskInfo to check the hard drive.

Hello everyone,

In this March post I told you about three great programs that will show you all of your computers third party program vulnerabilities, and then download and install the latest vulnerability fixes. Great stuff!

Speaking of vulnerabilities, here is a chart of the non-MS patches that affected Windows platforms in the current month of February 2014. Get updated asap!

Best wishes,
Randy The Tech Professor

Hello everyone,

In this March post I told you about three great programs that will show you all of your computers third party program vulnerabilities, and then download and install the latest vulnerability fixes. Great stuff!

Speaking of vulnerabilities, here is a chart of the non-MS patches that affected Windows platforms in the past month of January 2014. Get updated asap!

Best wishes,
Randy The Tech Professor

Hello everyone,

The SSD (Solid State Drive) is the greatest invention since “sliced bread”. Installing an SSD can cut boot times down to below ten seconds and open programs so fast that your head will swim! The greatest single speed upgrade for your computer is without doubt the installation of a Solid State Drive.

Yet many people install an SSD, and see little or no speed increase. What’s up?

Take a look at this beautiful Solid State Drive: A super fast SSD indeed, but will your computer  be able to utilize this speed? If your computer motherboard does not have the adequate bus speed, then you will never see the true benefits of your SSD.

It all depends upon what version of SATA ports are on your motherboard. If your motherboard does not have high speed SATA connections (SATA3 at 6Gb/s), then your I/O bus will bog down well before you can experience the speed of the SSD.

If you connect a 6Gb/s capable SSD to a SATA2 port then you will only get 3Gb/s. If you connect a 6Gb/s SSD to a SATA1 port, then your throughput will only be 1.5Gb/s.

If you have an older computer/motherboard and you want to enjoy the incredible speed of an SSD drive, you may be able to add a SATA 3 card. Even better would be to get a PCIe card and connect the SSD to the PCIe bus instead of the SATA bus. When installing an expansion card, please make sure that your motherboard is compatible.

Professor Randy says: An SSD will change your computing life! Just make sure that your motherboard has the correct ports in order to take full advantage of the drive.

Hello everyone,

In part 1 of this post I named sixteen malicious programs/items that are secretly installing themselves to the Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft Internet Explorer browsers. I talked about another well known one here.

These malicious items cause annoying pop-ups, pop-unders, banners, and coupons. They change Windows start-up settings and Internet browser settings. They change the homepage, redirect browser searches, and generally make  Internet browsing experience hell! Ultimately they will ruin the computers functionality!

In todays post I would like to show you how to get rid of these unwanted, unwelcome, and infectious browser plug-ins.

1) Some, but not all of these “crap entities” will show up on your computer as installed programs. Uninstall them completely using Revo Uninstaller (free version). Revo Uninstaller is a much faster and more powerful alternative to “Windows Programs and Features (Add or Remove Programs)” applet! It has very powerful features to uninstall and remove programs.

2) The rest of these “crap entities” will show up in your browers as plug-ins/extensions. You must remove them from each browser that you have on your machine. This is how you do it:

A) Firefox (make sure your Menu Bar is enabled)

Tools>Add-ons>Extensions>Remove

B) Internet Explorer (enable Menu Bar)

Tools>Manage add-ons>Toolbars and Extensions>Highlight the plug-in>Disable

C) Chrome (click on the three horizontal bars in top right corner)

Tools>Extensions>Remove from Chrome (click on the trash can)

Professor Randy says: Don’t allow these unscrupulous programs to usurp your computer user joy! You are in control of your machine, not them! If they do manage to attach themselves to your browser, eradicate them fully using the above method.