Windsor Senior Computer Users' Group

Simple Preventative Computer Maintenance * Inside and Out *

Ross Guistino July 14, 2014

Today’s Agenda • • • • • • • •

Cleaning the innards of the computer case Cleaning the Operating System What software to keep up-do-date Anti-Virus and other scams Helpful PC software utilities Search tips How to uninstall software What does it mean to Recover your PC?

• • •

Clean Your Case: Required Items

Several cans of compressed air Soft cleaning cloth Isopropyl alcohol • • • Use the alcohol and cloth to clean the keyboard and mouse. Get the cloth wet then clean the components. You can use a mix of 50/50 water and alcohol, spray on cloth and clean your monitor Use the can-o-air to clean the dust out of the fans, power supply, and components inside the case Cans-o-air will run down when using it for awhile but will replenish themselves, so have several cans available when cleaning your case

Cleaning Supplies

There are a plethora of cleaning supplies on the market today. Below is an example of what’s on the shelves at Office Depot, items ranging from compressed air to cleaning clothes.

Blowing out the dust bunnies

• Places to start cleaning with your can-o-air are indicated with a red arrow. • After you’ve cleaned most of the dust out you can then continue spraying other parts of the computer case • Be careful not to turn the can-o-air sideways or upside down to avoid liquid being • sprayed Have several cans available and as one looses air, use another until that one • replenishes Do not touch any components

Clean Inside: Keep These Up-To-Date • • • • •

Java Adobe Flash, Reader & Acrobat Your anti-virus software, including MS Security Essentials, McAfee, Norton, Symantec, AVG, Avira, ESET, etc Windows 7 and 8.1U Security P CCleaner & MalwareBytes

Java

by Oracle Java is a utility used and needed by some internet websites. You should keep it up-do-date whenever you are prompted. Here are examples of some of the icons to look for when an update is available.

You may all of a sudden see a flashing yellow and blue Microsoft shield on your task bar. Click it and if it says Java, then proceed.

You may also see a flashing orange Java icon in the lower right corner of the screen. Click it and proceed.

Java

Do’s and Don’ts When updating or installing Java, DON’T check the “Ask” toolbar dialog box, as shown here: DO uninstall old versions of Java via Add/Remove programs Control Panel

Adobe Flash

What is Adobe® Flash® Player? It’s a browser plug-in that allows website developers to create fancy introductions, navigation buttons, banners, slideshows, moving text, and pretty much anything else you can think of.

If you get a pop-up that Adobe Flash needs updating, go ahead and proceed.

Be sure to uncheck the box that asks to install Chrome. It is not needed.

Adobe Reader or Acrobat

What is Adobe® Reader? It is a free application that allows you to view, search and print PDF files. The advanced form of Reader is called Adobe Acrobat. This is an expensive program that allows you to create and edit .PDF documents. Be sure to uncheck the box that asks to install Chrome. It is not needed.

Know your Anti-Virus Software’s Name

Ask yourself one simple question….What is the name of my anti-virus software? Is it McAfee? Norton? Microsoft Security Essentials? If any of the below messages popped up on your screen, should you click on it? The answer is a big fat

NO

!

Let’s review these pop-ups

Look at each of the examples. They are all similar, but not the same as, Microsoft Security Essentials. The first one says Microsoft Antivirus—wrong name! The second is Security Essentials 2011—close but again not right. And the third is Antivirus XP 2008—is this anything close to the correct name of your anti-virus software?

PC Tune-up Utilities

There are many so-called PC tune-up utilities on the market today, some are legitimate and some are not. Do they work? Some may and some may not. If a software promises to make your computer go faster, clean up viruses, and generally makes promises too good to be true, then skip it. If a utility asks you to buy it, then skip it. Some fake or poorly written utilities include: TuneUp Utilities 2013, Presto Tuneup, TuneUp Utilities 2012, PC Tuneup Maestro, PCTuneUp.org, Comodo PC TuneUp. The only utility you need is the free CCleaner. The company that makes this software also makes an excellent defrag utility called Defraggler. Get them at these URLs: https://www.piriform.com/ccleaner https://www.piriform.com/defraggler

Searching for CCleaner

A word about doing a Google search for CCleaner. If at all possible, download the utility from the company that makes it, Piriform. Below is an example of how some companies can trick you into downloading the wrong thing. In this example, note the small orange “Ad” symbol. Always avoid clicking on the first search item.

Searching for CCleaner

In this example, I am showing you how seemingly legitimate websites, such as CNET.com, can confuse you by directing your eyes to other useless malware and adware. Stop and read everything before clicking. Out of all the “Download” links below, only one is for CCleaner.

Downloading & Installing CCleaner

Go to the CCleaner website and click the Download button, then click the Download button on the next page.

Click the Save button and either save it to your hard drive or click the run button to install it immediately.

Installing CCleaner

Installing CCleaner

Configuring CCleaner

After the installation is finished, click on Options > Advanced and uncheck the box as shown below

CCleaner: Using the Program

Click the Cleaner icon, then press the Run Cleaner button.

Results show how much crap was removed.

CCleaner: Using the Registry Cleaner

Click the Registry icon, then press the Scan for Issues button. When the scan is finished, click Fix selected issues… button.

MalwareBytes

To download, go to http://www.malwarebytes.org/ , hover over the “For Home” tab, click on Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, then click Get My Free Download Now button. Choose to Run or Save to begin installation.

MalwareBytes

As you begin to install MalwareBytes, just click thru all of the default dialog boxes.

MalwareBytes

You will finally reach the final configuration dialog box as shown below. Be sure to uncheck the box that says “Enable free trial….” otherwise Malwarebytes will send you pop-ups encouraging you to buy the Professional version.

MalwareBytes

• After you’ve finished installing, the database will automatically begin to • update itself. After it is done, press the Scan Now button. The scan may take several minutes or run much longer depending on how much data you have on your • hard drive Unlike past versions of MalwareBytes, the newest version does not give you a choice of Quick Scan or Full Scan. It just scans.

MalwareBytes

If you have a clean computer, you’ll receive a dialog box and a summary. Close all windows and exit the program.

MalwareBytes

If there is malware, you’ll receive a dialog box showing all of the infections. Click the Quarantine All button and then Apply Actions. In some instances, it will ask you to reboot. Afterwards, I like to run Malwarebytes a second time.

Email Scams – Fake Bank Alert

Email Scams – FedEx (or UPS, USPS)

Email Scams – Hotmail / Outlook

Email Scams – AOL

Phone Scam: Microsoft Tech Support

I am getting reports that people are still receiving calls from “Microsoft Technical Support” but as you know from this class, these calls are fake. If you receive an unsolicited call, hang up immediately. Remember these four points: • • • • Microsoft does not make unsolicited phone calls to help you fix your PC You have not won the “Microsoft Lottery” Microsoft does not request credit card info to validate your Windows PC Microsoft does not send unsolicited communication about security updates For more information, go here and read more on this phone scam: http://www.microsoft.com/security/online-privacy/msname.aspx

Search Virii: Conduit & Trovi aka Browser Redirect Virus What it is: search.conduit.com redirect, and the newest iteration called Trovi, is a homepage hijacker which is installed by free software like browser toolbars and more. When installing software, never click too fast through the dialog boxes. Read and understand each box, and uncheck anything you don’t want or know what it is and does. These redirect virii replace your default homepage on all your installed browsers- Chrome, Firefox or Internet Explorer. Search Conduit and Trovi are two of the worst and prevalent problems PC owners face; they will monitor your search queries and display all kinds of annoying advertisements. Once installed, it can be difficult to remove and require multiple steps to bring your computer back to normal. If you want to attempt to fix your computer, start at this website: http://malwaretips.com/blogs/remove-conduit-search-virus/#uninstall

The Dreaded Fake Anti-Virus Virus

And the Worst of them All:

The Fake FBI Ransom Virus

The Fake FBI Ransom Virus

• • • • • • First of all, don’t panic! You do not have the FBI spying you!

This particular virus is called ransomware because they try to extort money from you to fix the problem. Don’t fall for it!

This can be a difficult virus to eliminate however, if you have access to a clean computer, you can do a Google search and find the multiple steps to rid your computer of the intrusion Essentially cleaning your computer involves starting in Safe Mode—IF YOU CAN, that is. The last time I battled this, I couldn’t even start in Safe Mode. This can be a very destructive bug. The take away on this slide is that you can get this virus at any time and to be sure you have a good backup of your data just in case your computer needs to be restored from scratch.

Have restore disks available or the disks that came with your computer when you bought it.

Search Tip: Ignore the Ads and Faint Line!

Search Tip: It!

• My go-to search engine is www.google.com

. I find it gives me • the best and truest results. I recently received an email about a seemingly impossible feat of engineering called the Escherian Stairwell. I watched the video then did a little G o o g l e searching. Let’s watch it now: • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBY4HaAngaA Looked real, yes? But a G o o g l e search came up with several very good resources that tell the truth. We’ve all heard of Snopes, but • did you know there are better resources than that? Namely: • http://urbanlegends.about.com/ • http://www.truthorfiction.com/ • http://www.hoax-slayer.com/ The point I’m making is a) Use the internet to help you make better decisions and b) If something seems too good to be true, it probably is. G o o g l e is your friend. Use it!

Uninstalling Software

Despite how careful you may be, sometimes software gets installed that you • • don’t want or need. Let’s review how to uninstall software.

Click the Start button > Control Panel > • Windows 7: Programs and Features • Windows 8: Uninstall a Program from the Programs category • Windows Vista: Programs > Programs and Features Click the program you wish to install then click the Uninstall, Change, Change/Remove button (depending on your Operating System)

• • • •

Know how to Recover Your PC!

Every computer manufacturer has a proprietary method of restoring your computer back to factory default, that is, restore your computer back to the first time you ever started it In the old days, computers came with Windows installation recovery disks, but now most computers have either a built-in method to restore Windows or require that you create recovery

disks yourself.

If you don’t know how to recover your computer after a catastrophic event, FIND OUT HOW—NOW!

Keep in mind, when/if you have to recover your computer, it will erase everything—documents, pictures, music AND programs— from your computer. So be sure to have a good backup of all of your data and that you have the original installation disks for applications!

Know how to Recover Your PC!

• • The program your computer manufacturer uses to restore your computer back to factory default will probably have the word Recovery or Restore in the program’s name, such as: • Acer – Acer eRecovery • ASUS – ASUS Recovery Partition • Dell – Dell Factory Image Restore • HP – HP PC System Recovery • • Sony – Sony Vaio Recovery Wizard If you didn’t create these disks when you bought your new computer, do it now. In most instances, you will find the recovery application in your Start menu under the name of the manufacturer of your computer. Here is a good tutorial on how to create the disks: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFOxs1AUDxo

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The End

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To create this presentation, I used:

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Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 -Snag-It

http://www.techsmith.com/snagit.html

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G o o g l e

-Internet Explorer 10 -While listening to Pandora on-line Radio For a copy of this presentation, go here: http://guistino.com/Training/Simple Preventative Maintenance.pptx

Open it with either PowerPoint or PowerPoint Viewer