Your Home Computer Guide

I’ve been working on Windows computers for nearly two decades and have never been compelled to use anything else. But a recent experience with something called Linux Ubuntu has turned my computer world view on its head!

You’ve probably heard of Linux, and you may have even heard that Dell sells computers loaded with Ubuntu. But what could be so earth shattering that it’s got some geek going bananas over it!?

Let me start at the beginning.. About a week ago I started working on someone’s computer with Windows XP Professional. From what I understood, Windows prompted the user to do an update and as soon as it was installed, their computer no longer worked.

I’ve seen that happen before and normally don’t have any problems fixing it but this computer was really bad. After a few hours of trying different things I called my customer and explained that they’d be better off buying a new PC than paying me for several hours of labor. So I gave them a backup of their hard drive files and didn’t charge them anything. To my surprise, they graciously gave me the computer.

If you’re getting bored, hold on, this is where it starts getting good! You see, I couldn’t look at that computer sitting on my bench every day and not do anything about it. A couple people at work had been talking to me about Linux but part of my job is working with a UNIX server and running command lines just isn’t that exciting to me, so I put it off. But now, low and behold, I had an older computer with a mishmash of hardware and no operating system.

It was the longest wait of my life (not really, I went to sleep) downloading the 700MB Ubuntu to burn to a CD. The rest of the setup was so simple it made loading Windows look like brain surgery. 

I have to give one word of caution here. A while back I got a call from a lady I know from church. Her son tried to make their Windows PC into a dual boot computer so they could boot into either Windows or Ubuntu. Unfortunately all of their files were wiped out during the installation. So the lesson is, don’t try this unless you’ve backed up all your important files! And I’m not even going to talk about making your computer dual boot since the computer I was working on didn’t have a working copy of Windows anyway. OK, enough of the disclaimer!

After about 15 minutes, I had Ubuntu loaded and was prepared for the worst. But to my astonishment all the hardware was detected and worked and I was looking at a very nice desktop! And that’s just the beginning.  At work I design applications and occasionally they even let me build them. What caught me off guard was how intuitive they made the Ubuntu operating system. I couldn’t help thinking, if I were to design an operating system, it would be just like this one…

Click the pics to enlarge them

I’ve only been playing around with Ubuntu for about a week but here’s what I like best:

1. It’s FREE! Yes that means I didn’t have to pay Microsoft or anyone else hundreds of dollars for the ability to make this hunk of metal into a functional PC.

2. It’s FAST! The install was very fast compared to Windows, the boot-up is fairly quick and the shutdown is fast. What’s most impressive though is working with multiple documents and browsers open. In fact, right now I have a several browsers open and a few different versions of this document and I’m only using half of my 512MB of RAM.

3. It’s EASY! Here’s where I was really amazed. This OS comes pre-loaded with everything most people use a computer for. It comes with Firefox for Internet browsing, which worked perfectly from the moment I booted the computer. It also comes with OpenOffice which is just like Microsoft Office, without the Bill Gates price tag attached. You can even create or edit Microsoft Office documents. It comes with Evolution Mail, which is a full blown email program like Outlook that includes contacts, calendars and everything else you need.

Need another application? Simply go into Add/Remove programs and pick from a long list of other free programs to install.

Aside from the pre-installed programs I really like how the desktop is set up.  There’s a top and a bottom toolbar that are very simple and well organized so things are easy to find. One of the things I like best though is something called “Big Desktop” that allows you to move back and forth between two separate desktop views. It’s like a dual monitor setup but with only one monitor.

I could go on and on about this amazing Operating System but instead I’ll just leave you with the fact that a few days ago, the computer I’m now using to write this was virtually worthless. Microsoft had crashed it with one of their own updates.. Given no money and not much time I now have a fully functional computer and couldn’t be happier

If you’ve got an old computer just lying around it’s time to dig it out of the closet and put Ubuntu on it!

-Bert

If your computer runs a Microsoft Operating System, there’s one free program you should not be without. 

CCleaner (Crap Cleaner) is a free system optimization tool that removes unused and temporary files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster, more efficiently and giving you more hard disk space. 

One of my favorite past-times is fixing other peoples computers and I’m always amazed when I run CCleaner on a PC and see just how much junk Windows collects. I’ve seen over 3GBs of junk removed by CCleaner. The result was simply a faster, cleaner computer.

You’ve probably noticed that your computer was much faster when it was brand new, but over time it has slowed down. Just to give you an idea how much junk gets collected, I ran CCleaner to insure my PC was clean. See the screenshot below:

Then I opened Internet Explorer and browsed to three popular websites. First, I checked my email, then a news site, and finally my local weather. I didn’t click any links on those sites I simply went to their home-pages. As you can see from the screenshot below, visiting those three websites in about 15 seconds Windows managed to collect 2.25MBs of junk..

Just to give you an idea how much 2.25MB is, an MP3 music file is usually about twice that size. And if I can pick that up in 15 seconds of surfing, just think how much junk is on your PC if you’ve never run CCleaner..

So how often should you run CCleaner? I’d recommend at least every week or two.

CCleaner deletes files, including your cookies. So if you save websites usernames and/or passwords be sure to go into Options > Cookies and move any cookies you’d like to keep over to the “Cookies to Keep” side before running CCleaner the first time.

I won’t mention any names but, there are companies out there that will charge you for software that does exactly the same thing CCleaner does. 

CCleaner is the fastest and easiest way to clean up your PC. And, since it’s free, it’s a no-brainer. Download CCleaner today.

Happy Computing!

-Bert

This weekend we had a house full of children for our 10 year old daughter’s birthday. When they asked to use her computer I was thankful we use an internet filter and didn’t have to hesitate to let them use it.

Anyone who’s ever surfed the web knows how easy it is to stumble upon inappropriate content. Parents have an obligation to protect their children inside and outside of the home.

Thankfully, there are some great applications parents can turn to for help. My favorite, if you have younger children, is K-9. It’s best for younger children because it’s free and doesn’t have all the options that pay programs do. That being said, K-9 is still an excellent internet filter that we’ve been using and promoting for the past couple years.

With K-9 you have 6 different levels of protection and 60 different categories that you can choose to block or not. You can also limit what times the computer can access the internet. You’ll also be able to view the internet surfing history broken down by categories to see what sites your children are visiting.

Blue Coat recently released a new Beta version that runs on Mac’s as well as Windows, it works in more browsers, and more search engines. I highly recommend K-9 and created a video to help parents install and set-up the program.

For older children I’d recommend Net Nanny, CyberPatrol, or Safe Eyes. They’ll run you $40-50 per year but all of them provide great protection and have more options than K-9. CyberPatrol gives you the most options, Safe Eyes is best if you want to install it on more than one computer, and Net Nanny is the easiest of the three for parents to use. Net Nanny also beat its competitors in reviews by a slight margin.

All three of these programs have different features so I’d recommend that you view each of their websites and purchase the one that best meets your needs.

It should be said that no internet filter is perfect and there are ways around internet filters. It’s a well known fact that kids in schools and libraries use proxy avoidance to get around the filters. If you, as a parent, have any inclination that your child is using their computer inappropriately you have two choices. Either you can put the computer in a public place in the house and/or take it away altogether for a period of time. Don’t worry, it is possible for them to live without it..

If you have children that use the internet in your house, an internet filter is essential. Get one today!

-Bert

The world of free malware (malicious software) removers is constantly changing as does the number and complexity of malware. Even though the Malwarebytes company has been around since 2004 their anti-malware program has just recently become popular because it’s extremely fast and effective at removing malware.

This weekend I cleaned up a computer that was infested with adware/spyware (Zango, 180 Solutions, CoolWebSearch, to name a few) and a couple trojans.

For the past month or so, the first thing I download and run is Malwarebytes. The program is small so it doesn’t take long to download and the installation is fast and easy. The two things that separate it from most anti-malware programs though is its fast scan and effective removal of malware. 

Most programs take an hour or more to thoroughly scan your computer but using the Malwarebytes Quick Scan, that just checks the most important areas of your PC, the scan only takes a few minutes to run.

The second thing I like is its ability to disable any malware it finds. In fact, I haven’t run into any malware yet that it found and couldn’t remove.

You can often gauge the effectiveness of anti-malware software by looking at what the experts are using. When the excellent folks at sites like bleepingcomputer.com, daniweb.com, and majorgeeks.com are recommending it and using it in their forums you can feel confident that it works well.

That computer I worked on this weekend was cleaned up and running smooth in less than an hour, thanks to Malwarebytes..

Have a great day!

-Bert

I’m a firm believer in not having to pay for top-notch virus protection for your computer. Prior to AVG Anti-Virus 8.0 I would install AVG on some computers I’d repair while I’d use Avira’s AntiVir on others. Both were free and worked great.

I upgraded to the free AVG 8.0 in July 08 and really like the enhancements. AVG added spyware protection along with its superb virus protection in this version. Since many virus infections are delivered via website drive-by downloads AVG included LinkScanner technology that checks websites when you do a Google, Yahoo or MSN search. LinkScanner doesn’t work yet in Google’s new Chrome browser but it does work in Internet Explorer and Firefox. AVG continues to include free email scanning for Microsoft Outlook as well.

The bottom line with any antivirus software (free or not) is how well does it protect your computer and, nearly as important, does it use up all your resources slowing down your system? On both points I’d give AVG top marks. According to other reviews it does a better job of preventing virus infections than it does cleaning up infections but in most cases it will leave nearly all viruses non-functional. AVGs scans are fast and its real-time protection won’t slow down your computer like a lot of bloated (and expensive) security software suites.

Download.com gives AVG Anti-Virus 5 stars and over 16,000 users have given it an average of 4 out of 5 stars. Personally, I give the new version 5 stars and have installed it on 3 of my home systems and have started installing it on every system I repair. 

For a complete review of AVG Anti-Virus 8.0 check out the excellent review by Neil Rubenking at PC Magazine.

Happy Computing!

-Bert

If you’re a Google user it would be hard to miss the promotion of their new web browser called Chrome. I’ve been using it for about a week now and must admit, I really like it. If you don’t know anything about it yet watch their Features videos and give it a try.

The things I like most are the simplicity of it, the way you can drag the tabs around, and how it saves your most common pages so they’re easy to get at as soon as you open a new tab.

I also like that it has its own Task Manager that makes it easy to shut down a page that isn’t woking. And, if one page crashes all your open windows don’t crash/close as well. I should also mention that Chrome loads pages very fast.

I’ve used IE, Opera and Firefox for years and am pretty impressed with Googles first attempt at a web browser so, unless there’s something I’m missing, I’ll be using Chrome from now on.

Have a great day!

-Bert

I recently started following a blog by Terri Gruca from our local WCCO news station. Terri’s subject on making your money stretch is quite popular in this tight economy.

On May 31st Terri blogged about Restaurant.com and how you can purchase a $25 Gift Certificate to eat out for only $10. Our family loves to eat out and save money so of course I checked it out! I wasn’t expecting to find any resaurants around where we live since we’re about an hour North of Minneapolis and are in a very small town.

To my suprise there were a few restaurants that popped up when I put in our zip code, including Peake’s at Pebble Creek restaurant, on a golf course nearby. So last weekend I purchased the $25 Gift Certificate for $10 and we headed out for supper. Restaurant.com accepted my payment online and quickly provided a Gift Certificate to print out.

We were seated at a table next to the windows overlooking a beautiful golf course. I told the waitress right away about my gift certificate half expecting her to not accept it or the level of service to drop when she saw it. Once again we were pleasantly suprised with excellent service and a great dinner.

Our daughter had a pizza off the children’s menu, my wife had a House Tenderloin Fillet and I had a New York Strip grilled to perfection. The portions were generous and the food was superb!

You’ll never believe how much it cost…

I had to do a double-take when I saw the bill for $22.75, and that included the 18% gratuity! Of course you have to add back in the cost of the Gift Certificate that cost $10. So the grand total for a fabulous dining experience was $32.75.

Thank you Terri for the great post, thank you Restaurant.com for a great service and thank you Peake’s at  Pebble Creek for a great evening!

If you’re ever in the Becker, MN area, be sure to check it out Peake’s. I hear they have a great Sunday buffet. Maybe we’ll see you there.

Regards,

-Bert

In a recent article I wrote about the importance of protecting your computer from viruses, trojans and other forms of malware. Once a computer gets infected like attracts like and you can quickly find our PC so badly infected that getting back to a clean state will either be a time consuming or costly experience.

When it comes to our computer security there is no silver bullet. There’s not a single product on the market that can detect or clean 100% of the known malware.

Most antivirus programs use a database of signatures to identify malware. ThreatFire, on the other hand, looks at the behavior of the programs on your PC and effectively identifies the malicious ones and stops them in their tracks. With the number of new threats increasing daily using a behavior based anti-malware is essential to catch the ones your antivirus program doesn’t have definitions for yet.

There are a lot of things I really like about ThreatFire. It literally takes about one minute to install, the default settings are more than adequate to stop the bad guys, updates are installed automatically, and it has a very small footprint so you won’t even know it’s there until you need it.

Although ThreatFire does an excellent job of stopping malware from installing on your PC it shouldn’t be used to clean up an infected computer, nor should it be your only line of defense. Using a firewall and having a definition based antivirus program running will do well to round out your PC security. See my Computer Security article for suggestions.

WARNING: Since publishing this article I’ve installed ThreatFire on 4 PCs with Windows XP Home edition and in every case it caused the PC to lock up continuously. All of the PCs had to be restarted several times and the problem was only resolved by uninstalling ThreatFire. I tested ThreatFire on Windows XP Pro and Windows Vista and didn’t run into any problems. I reported the problem to the ThreatFire developers but haven’t gotten a response from them.

I won’t be loading ThreatFire on any more computers until I’m satisfied the issue has been fixed and I can only suggest that you do the same.

I’m currently evaluating the new version of AVG and will give it a review soon. If you’re currently using AVG and have been told you need to upgrade, getting to the free version can be a little tricky. Use this link to save some time & confusion: Download AVG Antivirus.

Happy Computing!

-Bert

For a long time about your only option for easily taking screen-shots was to buy Snag-It. Although I’ve seen some folks who are very good at using the Windows built in PrtSc and Paint I find that too cumbersome for the average computer user. I’ve been a Snag-It fan for years but at $40 per license and 4 computers in the house it’s hard to justify it. I think most people would only have an occasional need for such a program so once again, why spend $40 if there are other options?

Today, I was working on our new laptop and needed to take a screen-shot so I went looking for a free alternative on Download.com. After reading a bunch of reviews I decided to try ScreenHunter 5 Free. It’s a small application at 3.5MB so it was a quick download and install. The only part of the installation I changed was to NOT install the browser toolbar. If I installed the toolbar for every program that asked to install one I’d probably have about a dozen toolbars taking up space and resources so I normally skip that part.

One thing I noticed about ScreenHunter 5 is that on Download.com it didn’t say anything about it being compatible with Vista. I’m using Vista Home Premium and didn’t have any problems with the install or using the application.

Like Snag-It, ScreenHunter 5 gives you some options. By pressing the From button you can choose what key should be pressed to trigger a screen-shot being taken (the default is F6). You can also choose what to capture, the active window, full screen or a rectangular area. My favorite is the rectangular area because I can capture anything I want, anywhere on the screen. (The screen-shots below were taken using ScreenHunter 5)

By pressing the To button you can choose to save the captured image to the clipboard, which is great for just pasting the screen-shot into an email or a Word doc. Or you can automatically save them as a file.

Overall ScreenHuner 5 is super simple to use and I highly recommend it.

Regards,

-Bert