Technical Advice

All too often, people come to me with horror stories of how their email, craigslist account, bank account, etc has been hacked by someone, and they have lost control.

Truthfully, it is extremely rare that an account is actually "hacked" in the conventional sense of the word. What is vastly more likely is that the account was "phished," meaning that they victim was lead to a logon page that looked almost exactly identical to the page they were accustomed to, and they input their username and password on this page. As soon as that happens, it takes the automated programs moments to take control of your account on the real site that the phishing site was meant to imitate.

So... now you know the threat. Let's go over a few easy ways to keep yourself from being victimized by phishers:

The single most common way that a phisher will get access to your stuff is by sending you an email claiming that urgent information is required, because you are either a victim of, or suspect of fraud. Many time, they will spoof an email address of the actual sender, so it may appear to come from a legitimate address. Many common email subject lines are:
"ACH Transfer Declined"
"IRS Transfer Declined"
"Your Craigslist account has been suspended."
etc.

Many times, they will ask you to reply to the email with your username and password. I'll put this as subtly as I can: NEVER EMAIL ANY SERVICE PROVIDER YOUR PASSWORD, EVER! THEY WILL NEVER ASK FOR IT BY EMAIL IF THEY ARE LEGITIMATE.... excuse me... Sorry for the caps, but that bit is really important.

If they do not ask you for your password, you will likely be give a link, taking you to the login page. This is where it gets tricky, because some legitimate companies will ask you to do this as well. If you are sent to a login page, look closely for the following:
The URL in the top bar of the page should match exactly the website you are trying to log into... ie: If you are trying to log into www.chase.com, and the URL bar says www.mychase1.com, it is a fraud, and you need to back out of that page as quickly as possible.
The green https: (secure) indicator at the top left of the address bar is a good indicator that you are safe.

If you are like me, a dead pixel on a monitor is like a thorn in your side. Sure... You can still use your computer fine with the dead pixel, but it's constantly there, taunting you with its mere existence. Highly annoying.

Sometimes a pixel is truly dead, and nothing shy of replacing the components will save it. However, sometimes it is simply stuck, and some nice folks have developed a free software program to help release a stuck pixel on your screen. It may not fix all issues, but hey... It is free, so why not give it a whirl.

It works by triggering rapid flashes to the area of the screen that is affected, and in many circumstances, this can cause the dead pixel to resume normal operation.

Check it out, and download it from their website here.

It's possible they forgot to ship it, but it is much more likely that it is attached, in a clever and discrete way to the bottom of the mouse.

If you are looking for a cheap, easy way to convert a single PDF into an excel, or .xls spreadsheet, check these guys out. It's a web based service, so you have to upload your file to their server, but it returns a pretty goof best guess of the delimited file to your email address. Probably better tools out there for heavy users, but for the occasional use, this does the trick.

http://www.pdftoexcelconverter.net/

Many business people run into that dreaded moment, where they are travelling, or out of the office, and realize they neglected to send that vital email, or update a vital report.

logmein has created software designed to get a person out of just this pinch. logmein is a great quality provider of remote access service, both free and paid, and we at Varnes Computers have used their products in many different fashions over the years with excellent results.

The quality of cell phone remote control provided is adequate, but not fantastic. The interface is a little screwy, and navigation is slow. It will not replace a laptop or tablet entirely, but it is excellent for taking care of that "one forgotten little thing."

Although their paid versions are more robust, basic access of your computer on your cell phone can be done for free. Just take a look at the steps below.

Go to logmein.com, and sign up for a logmein free account. Add the computer that you would like to access through your phone, and install the software.

If the program does not offer to do so automatically, set your computer to never hibernate by going to Control Panel>Power Options>Current Profile

Once the computer is set up, go to your smartphone's market, and download the free logmein app (there are paid versions, which are more robust, but the free app will work in an emerency.)

Log in on the application, and test the connection to your computer, and that is all you need.

If you want to control who can access your Windows IIS webpage by the IP address of the connecting client, this can be done very easily.

Once the page has been created and set up within IIS, go to

Start>Administrative Tools> IIS (Internet Information Services) Manager.

Expand the server in the left column, and click on the web page that you would like to restrict. From there, go to the center pane, and locate "IP Address and Domain Restrictions."

From here it is a simple matter of customizing the selection to your liking. Using either the add allow, or add deny entry buttons, you can set your preferences regarding specific IP addresses. Overall allow and deny settings are located under "Edit Feature Settings."

If your are seeing an Automation Error in Microsoft Dynamics RMS Point of sale when you attempt to view the Journal through either Store Operations Point of Sale, or Store Operations manager, the error may very well be related to the default printer within the windows installation.

If you have a Zebra label printer set as the default windows printer, this can be the source of the issue. Try setting the default printer to a standard printer, or any non label printer.

In the cases of many malware infestations, the malicious software will change settings to make it appear that your computer is more damaged than it actually is.

One of the most common targets of this software is your proxy server settings. If your network and sharing center shows that you are connected to the internet, but you are unable to access any pages in internet explorer, try checking your proxy settings.

Go to

Internet Options>Connections>Advanced

If the use proxy server box is checked, un-check it and try again. The odds are good it will solve the issue and allow you to update your anti-malware software.

If your installation of Ubuntu 11.04 freezes on start up, a helpful thing to do is check the system time in the CMOS, for some reason, it seems to cause some of these problems.

If you have been affected by a malware infestation that leaves all of your files missing and inaccessible, this can be a super easy fix.

First, download and scan with an anti-malware utility.

Next, go to My computer, and then your main drive (c:), and hit Organize (tools in Windows XP)
Go to Folder and search options
Select View
Under hidden files and folders, choose: "Show hidden files and folders."
The contents of your C drive should now be visible.
Right click each folder, and un-check hidden. If prompted, elect to un-hide sub folders and files as well.

The most important folders to un-hide are:

Users (Windows Vista and 7)
Documents and Settings (XP)
Windows
Program Files
Program Files (86)


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