Love 'Em or Hate 'Em

I have a love-hate relationship with computers. I love 'em when they work and hate 'em when they don't.

I spent most of this afternoon putting my computer back to factory specs so that I can spend the next few days re-installing everything so that I can use the dang thing for a few weeks before I have to go through the whole thing all over again.

I'm told that it's the curse of Vista, a very unstable operating system. I don't know enough to know whether that's true or not, but I know I never had this trouble with any other operating system. I'm far from being a computer geek, but I learn a little more every time I have a problem.

I'm so glad I purchased and installed Carbonite. It has all my files (and most of my programs) backed up off my computer so that all I have to do is click a few links to reinstall everything. The first time I had to use it, I was amazed as I watched my folders reappear on my desktop as if by magic. For some reason, lately I've had some trouble getting it all downloaded in a reasonable time frame, but I finally figure out how to do it (I should be an expert by now, but sadly for some reason, I can't get it to work the first time). And until then, my files, photos, music, data, etc are all safe.

I purchased a 350gb portable external drive where I plan to store everything, but it hasn't come yet. The new drive has a USB connection so I won't have to keep it connected and maybe have it screwed up, or get a virus, or whatever else might hurt it.

I'll keep Carbonite as my main back-up for the time being. You know, a sort of belt and suspenders type thing until I figure out whether this is a good idea or not.

Conflicker: A Big Dustup about Nothing

Conflicker, the latest Internet bug-a-boo, turned out to be no more than a big yawn on April 1. 

That's not to mean we shouldn't take proper precautions against computer threats such as worms, viruses, and whatever else is out there. 

This from Kim Komando, who says it much better than I can:

HAVE YOU BEEN CONFICKERED?

Perhaps the most hyped date in computer security came and went last week. I'm talking about April 1, of course. That was the day the Conficker worm supposedly contacted the mothership.

Maybe you missed all the excitement. That's probably because there wasn't any. The date was more a media brouhaha. There were no mobs in the streets, milling about in panic. But Conficker probably did call home. And it probably got instructions to do things we won't like.

Conficker is believed to be a child of renegade, Eastern European programmers. Up to 12 million computers have been roped into its army. It could spread spam, steal identities or attack Web sites. It probably will do all three.

If your security software is up to date, you should be OK. If you cannot install or update security software, you have a problem. Conficker blocks security installations.

Kitten again: Kim offers free (yes, free!) programs to deworm your computer if, in fact, you have been infected by Conflicker. You can find them, and many more, here. 

I highly recommend checking out Kim's site. It's full of interesting information, free programs that Kim guarantee's to be free and to do what they claim to do, and fun stuff, too. These are programs that have been checked out by Kim and/or her staff. 

Some programs recommended by Kim aren't free. For example, I purchased a Carbonite subscription on Kim's recommendation and have been so glad that I did. My computer has crashed on several occasions and I haven't lost a single file yet. My files are all backed up and stored off my computer. So when I've had to wipe my computer back to factory settings, I go to Carbonite, start a restore, and get all my files back. I've not lost the first music file, photo, or document since subscribing to Carbonite.

I sound like I'm selling Carbonite. In a sense I am, because I'm so happy with it. And glad I took Kim's recommendation to look at Carbonite in the first place. 

New Virus/Worm Threat

I've just heard that there is a new worm set to deploy on April 1. That's tomorrow. Seeing that the date is April Fool's day, I don't know whether to believe this or not.

It could be an April Fool's joke. The joke could be that it's real. Who knows?

If your computer virus program isn't up to date, do it now! If you don't have virus software installed, you're just asking for problems and probably won't listen to me anyway. Whether or not this worm is for real, there are people out there who write these programs for fun and yes, for profit. Don't take the chance, get the software. 

There are several free programs that are excellent. AVG and Avast come to mind.  I have not used Avast, so I can't comment on it on way or the other. One of my coworkers used to be a computer tech and prefers Avast. I have Norton running on my computer, but I prefer AVG. Norton was installed on my computer when I bought it, and I still have a few weeks left on the free trial. When that runs out, I'll install AVG. It's a good program, I'm familiar with it and the price is right (free!). The free AVG program provides updates just like the paid program, so there are no worries there. Your choice is a matter of preference. 

Just because you pay for a program doesn't make it better than others. The bad part of freeware is that you usually don't get any support services. If you are relatively computer savvy, you may not need to pay for the full ride. I'm not a computer expert by any means, but I can usually handle the problems that come along. I found that out when I had to call Bright House to come out and try to figure out a problem with my Internet connection (it turned out to be a Vista problem). Turns out, the tech did everything I had already tried (thank you for trying, Bright House!). That proved to me that my computer skills are better than I had thought. 

Another thing you might try is a trick I learned from a friend. Years ago, another virus was set to be released on a certain date. My friend simply changed the date in his computer. So I changed the date in my computer to April 7 - after the supposed release date of this new worm. If this is a real threat, it may not protect my computer from computers infected on April 1, but my virus software should catch anything that comes in after April 1. And it gives Norton time to write an update (if they haven't already) and my computer time to download the update. 

I chose April 7 because it's one week from today. That means that any programs I have scheduled for say, Wednesday, will still do whatever they are supposed to do, right on schedule.

Anyway, whether this is a true threat or not, it's a warning that you need to take care of your computer business.