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Tactical Panda News & Updates
If you would like to be kept up to date with new developments, tips and tricks, and general information about how to keep you computer running smoothly, this is the page for you!
For those of you who live in the Bideford, Northam, Appledore and Westward Ho! areas, you will no doubt have already read some of these articles in the excellent Link Magazine, distributed throughout the Torridge area, for which we are a regular contributor. Here is a selection of some of our articles, with the month they were published shown as well.
Windows XP - Updates
News from Microsoft - the long-term reduction in support for Windows XP has already started. From now on, support in the way of updates for computers running Windows XP without Service Pack 3 (SP3) will cease. In other words, you must have SP3 installed on your computer to continue to receive automatic updates from Microsoft. (The following information applies only to 32bit computers).
How do you know if you have SP3 installed? Here's how to find out:
- Click the 'Start' button.
- Right-click on 'My Computer'
- Select 'Properties'
- If Service Pack 3 is already listed in the System section (see the 'General' tab, you don't need to update your computer.
However, if you are showing Service Pack 2 (or less), then it would be to your advantage to update your computer via the Microsoft website (Microsoft - click here)
Free (Phone) Calls? (May 2010)
With the price of phone calls and line rental going up, it's only fair for computer users to look for an alternative way of communicating. One of the best is Skype, a free service that effectively turns your broadband connected computer into a telephone service, but as with all things it has drawbacks, though not very many.
Skype can be downloaded from www.skype.com and all you need, as I mentioned earlier, is a reasonable broadband connection, ideally a webcam, but at the very least a microphone and loudspeakers, or a headset. So how does Skype work? To start with you must install the software, which is quick and easy to do, then choose a Skype username and password, plug in the microphone and speakers and off you go!
Using your broadband connection, you can call anyone else who has Skype installed on their computer completely free of charge and for as long as you want. You can speak to anyone with Skype anywhere in the world, and although it has to be said the call reception is not quite up to a landline standard, it's still pretty good.
If you have a webcam installed then not only can you speak to them, but see them at the same time. Got a microphone built into the webcam? Then you can speak to them 'hands free' and see them. So how does Skype make money? After all they are not a charity! Simple, Skype will charge you for calls to landlines and mobiles, plus a reduced rate for a text message. You can buy 'credit', like a pay-as-you-go mobile phone, in advance and then use this 'credit' to call non-Skype numbers.
One drawback that you must bear in mind is that you cannot use Skype to make calls to the Emergency Services (999 in the UK). Most customers who use Skype have relatives or friends living overseas, so using Skype is invaluable, especially when you bear in mind that Skype to Skype calls are, as I have mentioned already, completely free! For more information about Skype, please click here.
Warning! Cold-Calling Scam
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Recently there have been a number of 'cold-calling' scams reported in the Trade Press concerning a so-called 'Tech Support' company phoning computer users in the UK and advising them they have a virus, or serious errors on their computer, and for a fee, they will remedy these problems. This is a total scam and our best advice is to put the phone down after blowing a very loud whistle down the phone!
There is no way on this planet that anyone sat in a call center in India (where most of these fake 'tech support' people are based) has any idea what your computer is doing, or has or doesn't have, without using legitimate remote assistance software, which can only be used with your permission. |
Please do not pass on your credit card details to these people, do not enter into a conversation with them, and certainly do not allow them to use remote assistance software to have a look around your computer. They have been know to 'plant' something on your computer, and then for a fee, simply remove it again. If you are in any doubt at all about technical support that you have neither wanted or requested, please let us know and we will be there to have a one-sided chat to them on your behalf.
An article detailing more information has been published by PC Pro, which you can read by clicking here (opens in a new window).
Printers - Pressed For Choice? (April 2010)
A quick look around will convince you that there are nearly as many brands of printers than computers these days, and you are not far from the truth! The main brands - Epson, HP, Lexmark, Brother, Samsung and Canon are always well represented in the stores, but which one is the best value for money?
Not so long ago, computer users had to buy a separate printer and a scanner, nowadays the machines are combined into what is called an 'all-in-one' printer which generally combines a printer, scanner and a copier, sometimes with a fax facility. So how do you choose the right one for you? Let's concentrate on two, the Epson SX215 and the HP F4580. First of all, the printer itself is more or less around the same price costing on average £40-£50. So what's the main difference between them? Both use up to 4 separate ink cartridges (black, magenta, cyan & yellow), both have a scanner built in and both can be networked for printer sharing. The main difference between them is the running costs, in other words, the price of replacement ink cartridges.
It is well known that replacement cartridges can be obtained from other sources, and it's a myth that your warranty is void if you use 'non-original' cartridges. However, the HP is sometimes reluctant to accept non-original cartridges, whilst the Epson is more forgiving. With a set of cartridges costing anything up to £25, a new set from an online store costing less than £10 suddenly looks very attractive!
Modern cartridges have a small micro-chip built into them that tells the printer the brand, colour and manufacturer of the ink, so it's not surprising when you insert a cartridge not made by Epson or HP, a notice appears on the screen advising you of this! The Epson notice can be dismissed and you carry on printing, the HP may be a different story, the cartridge may not be accepted.
The only other differences between the two printers is (a) how the paper is fed into the machine and (b) the noise level. The Epson feeds paper from the top of the printer, whilst the HP has a loading tray in the front of the machine. This may be important if you are short of room. The Epson can be a little noisy while it is working, especially compared to the super-quiet HP.
Warning! Antivirus 2010 - Online Scam
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The Tactical Panda Team has been very busy lately fixing computers that have infected by a bug which claims that your computer is infected by malware, spyware and multiple viruses. This is a scam!
Antivirus 2010 (it may appear under a different name) represents a new generation of rogue security tools. Not only it uses misleading advertisements to gain a purchase, but also it crashes a system and may load a fake 'Blue Screen of Death' (BSoD). The text on the BSoD is fabricated and often claims that Microsoft Windows recommends purchasing Antivirus 2010 to remove spyware from an 'infected' machine. 'Antivirus 2010' spreads like many similar applications. It is distributed through online advertisements that are disguised as anti-virus scanners. If user clicks on such a banner, you will receive false reports about infections detected. Antivirus 2010 tries to intimidate people by reporting nonexistent threats in order to get them interested in downloading this application. Sometimes Antivirus 2010 might be installed by trojans without user's consent. |
'A rise in fake antivirus offerings on Web sites around the globe shows that scammers are increasingly turning to social engineering to get malware on computers rather than exploiting holes in software, a Google study to be released on Tuesday indicates.
Fake antivirus - false pop-up warnings designed to scare money out of computer users - represents 15 percent of all malware that Google detects on Web sites, according to 13-month analysis the company conducted between January 2009 and February 2010. That's a five-fold increase from when the company first started its analysis, Niels Provos, a principal software engineer at Google, said in an interview.
Meanwhile, fake antivirus scams represent half of all malware delivered via advertisements, which is becoming a problem for high-profile sites that rely on their advertisers and ad networks to distribute clean ads.
Google analyzed 240 million Web pages and uncovered more than 11,000 domains involved in fake antivirus distribution for the study...'
Antivirus 2010 is not a security tool - it is dangerous computer parasite. Other symptoms of infection can include the loss of legitimate anti-virus scanning ability, your browser 'Home Page' may have changed (to theirs), and the inability to visit legitimate anti-spyware/anti-virus removal pages. Avoid downloading or attempt to buy this 'programme' and certainly do not give them your credit card details. The programme can be removed in many cases, should you find you have an infected computer, but the longer you leave it, the harder it is to remove. Please contact us for more advice.
An article detailing more information has been published by the much respected IT Pro, which you can read by clicking here (opens in a new window).
So What Is A Gigabyte? (March 2010)
When you buy a new PC, you often hear the salesperson tell you that there are this many Gigabytes available in the hard drive, and so many Gigabytes of RAM - but what exactly is a Gigabyte? How much is enough? More to the point, how much is not enough?
Back to basics - what is a Gigabyte, or 'Gb' to shorten it a bit. Well, a Gb is equivalent to 1,000 megabytes when you are referring to a storage medium like a hard drive. However, when you are referring to RAM (Random Access Memory) it is slightly different, a Gb is actually 1,024 megabytes (Mb). Confused? I am not surprised. The manufacturers of hardware like to round everything down to keep things simple, whilst software manufacturers like to be more accurate, that's why some computers with (for example) 512 Mb of RAM only show 490 Mb as being installed. So in actual fact when you buy more RAM for your computer, let's say you get 2 x 1 Gb memory cards, you have actually installed 2,048 Mb not 2,000 Mb.
A gigabyte is often quoted by Internet Service Providers (BT Broadband, Virgin Media, AOL etc.) as being part of a monthly 'download limit'. In other words the ISP caps the amount of internet traffic you can have over a month. So what does the limit involve - if you have one.
An average web page (including graphics) is about 50 kilobytes in size - so you could view around 20,000 web pages for 1 gigabyte. Or to put it another way an hour of surfing the web would be around 10 megabytes (200 pages) - so you could surf non-stop for about 100 hours for 1 gigabyte. Playing an online game typically uses about 10-15 Mb per hour, and emails (excluding any files attachments) are very small - so 100 emails would be just 1 megabyte - or 100,000 emails for 1 gigabyte!
A super-high resolution (5-6 megapixel) digital camera JPEG picture or typical MP3 / WMA music file is about 2-3 megabytes so you could download 350-500 of these images / music files for 1 gigabyte.
Nowadays most computers have fairly decent hard drive capacity, and you should be looking at 160-250 Gb as being the norm. Regarding RAM, both Windows Vista and Windows 7 both like at least 2 Gb installed, preferably 3 Gb. It's a simple case of the more the merrier, so when you buy your new computer, go for the maximum the budget will allow!
Buying A New PC (February 2010)
So you are thinking about a new computer - good. There are, as always, a few simple guidelines to follow before you commit yourself to what is, after all, a large investment for most of us.
If you go into a shop and insist on looking only at Packard Bell computers, because that's what you were advised to look at, don't blame the guy in the store if it isn't what you really wanted. This may sound a bit harsh, but having been in retail for some time, I can tell you that someone trying to return an item they bought by mistake is obvious. Be honest and tell the retailer you made a mistake and see what they say. Whatever happens, please don't be tempted to quote consumer law. The chances are that unless you work for Trading Standards, you probably don't.
Having said that, there is nothing wrong with returning any piece of IT if it really doesn't do what it says on the box. If a computer package says the machine has a DVD-RW, and it only has a CD-RW installed, I would be the first to insist on getting what I paid for!
Fix a budget, and stick to it. The temptation will be there to stretch your budget because something is on special offer. Brand name or not? Probably a good idea as the PC will have a reasonable warranty. Confused by the abbreviations? Get the shop assistant to explain what the 'computer speak' actually means. A rough guide is that any modern PC needs at least 1Gb of RAM (preferably 2Gb), and a hard drive of around 250Gb capacity. The better the graphics card, the better the picture on the screen, so if you intend to play games, buy a machine with a dedicated graphics card. Most movies are filmed in widescreen, so consider a widescreen monitor if you watch a lot of films. Play a lot of music? Have a dedicated sound card installed and the results will be so much better! What size monitor? 19" is standard these days for a desktop PC and are suitable for most applications.
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