PC Publican

Even though Windows 7 is a definite improvement over Vista, Windows XP remains the operating system of choice for many systems both old and new.  Support from Microsoft for Windows XP will continue at least through April 8, 2014, so users should be aware of what they can do to extend the life of their XP systems:

• Check The Hardware: How much RAM do you have? 512MB is a minimum, 1GB is better.  Clean your laptop's CPU ports for a cooler running system.
• Check Your Hard Drive's Health:  Use a tool like HDTune to check for disk errors and self-test (SMART) scores.  Run a test of your drive's logical health using chkdsk (type chkdsk /f c: in a command window).
  
• Repair Hardware Driver Issues: Use the Device Manager (Control Panel -> System -> Device Manager) to discover any hardware that may be missing drivers (look for a yellow triangle).  Download the latest drivers from the manufacturer's website.
• Update Your System:  Use Windows Update to apply the latest XP patches/bugfixes to your system.  Use the Secunia Personal Software Inspector to determine whether your system (and other key applications) is up-to-date.  Note that Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) is no longer supported by Microsoft.  Download service pack 3 (SP3) from here if needed.
• Clean Up Your Hard Drive: Use CCleaner to remove unneeded system and browser (Internet) files.  Defragment your drive on a regular basis (waiting until it's nearly full makes the process much less effective).
  
• Back Up Your Hard Drive:  An aging hard drive, especially one older than 5 years, has a dramatically higher failure rate.  Use a program like Cobian Backup to backup important files to an external hard drive or flash drive.  To image (a full-disk backup which allows for a perfect recovery of system and data) the entire hard drive use a product like Acronis True Image.  Finally, a cloud-based (online) solution like DropBox allows for free (2GB in the case of DropBox) and easy backup of a limited amount of data.
  

There was a time, soon after its release, that I cautioned users not to update their computers to Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3).  Reports of corrupted installations and lost data were numerous (not to mention the infamous HP endless reboot bug).  Many months have passed, however, and SP3 is quite stable and should be applied to any Windows XP installation that does not yet have it.  It remedies countless bugfixes and security patches, but don't expect any noticeable performance improvements (unlike the file system speed-ups from the Windows Vista SP2 update).

As an additional motivation to update, Microsoft has declared July 13, 2010 as the last day of support for XP SP2.  This means no more patches or bugfixes.  Updating to Service Pack 3 will extended the Microsoft support life of your computer until April 2014.

You can find Windows XP SP3 at this Microsoft page.

I always stress the importance of backing up important computer data ("What can't you afford to lose?").  For larger amounts of data, the easiest solution is often an external hard drive.  Plug it in and simply copy/paste files to a lettered drive, or run your favorite backup software.  The hardware itself is simply a USB wrapper around a retail IDE or SATA drive.  Very straightforward to use.

The Western Digital MyBook Essential series, however, is a disaster.  For starters, only a tiny portion of the Essential (a sub-gigabyte UDFS partition) can be access as a lettered drive.  This area contains the WD "SmartWare" software, which is required to access the bulk of the storage.  Re-formatting the drive is not an option -- this starter partition is part of the device firmware.

The consequence of this is that the user is forced to use the WD backup software for even the most minor operations.  If SmartWare was even passable, however, this device might be adequate.  It too, unfortunately, is dreadful.  It is comprised of a number of active components, whose total memory footprint is substantial.  In older or RAM (memory)-lacking computers this can lead to seriously degradation of system performance.  System backups take an order-of-magnitude longer than other backup utilities like Cobian Backup or Microsoft's SyncToy (my 20GB test partition required over 12 hours to back up!).  In addition, the focus on restricting user control (aka "simplicity") greatly limits the usefulness of the device.

What to buy instead?  Seagate's Passport series is nice, and even WD's Elements series is a better choice.

I would estimate that probably 90% of the virus clean-ups I have performed in the last year have been the result of "click-jack" attacks from fake anti-virus products. The goal of this class of attack is to trick the user into believing his machine is heavily infected and entice him to upgrade his free "protection" tool to the paid professional version, which will remove the viruses. In reality, of course, the only active virus is likely the tool itself, and any money paid will be lost. Why are these attacks so successful, and what can be done to prevent them?

The typical attack originates from Javascript code within a banner ad on the page you are viewing in your browser (i.e. Internet Explorer, Firefox). A pop-up window will appear warning that your machine is infected. It typically looks quite professional and may mimic the theme of one of the popular anti-virus software (this is why users need to be knowledgeable about the actual protection tools on their machine). How you respond to this window determines whether or not you get infected. If you interact with it by clicking on any button, or even the close window 'X' (upper-right corner) you will get infected (hence the name "click-jack"). It's no wonder they are so effective.

Here's what you should do when encountering this attack: shut down your computer by pressing the power button for 5 seconds. Do not shut the computer down using the usual techniques. Restart the computer in safe mode and run the following tools:

• CCleaner
• MalwareBytes Anti-Malware
• Your current anti-virus.

The prevalence of web-based viruses has skyrocketed within the last year. The growth has been fueled by a class of fake antiviruses that arise from web browser banner ads. The pop-up ads claim that your PC is infected and, when clicked (even on the 'X' to close the window), will install their malware.The resulting fake antivirus infection claims to scan your PC for viruses and then usually prompts the user for a credit card to obtain the "full" version. The companies that write and sell these viruses make millions off fraudulent product and reselling credit card numbers.

What can PC users do to help prevent these attacks? First, use FireFox, an alternative browser to Microsoft's Internet Explorer. FireFox is, on the whole, safer to use than IE, and can extend its capabilities through a wide range of 3rd-party add-ons. One of these add-ons, Adblock Plus, can help prevent the malware attacks mentioned above. You simply choose to add Adblock Plus to FireFox, restart the browser, and then select one of the default filter lists (I chose EasyList). It's that simple.