Windows 8 Quick Tips

Posted on 12 March 2013 by Jonathan Roberts

Today we are starting a new section about Windows 8 and offering quick tips to get you started.

1. Showing the Charm Bar

The charm bar is on the right of the screen hidden from view to start with. Simply swipe from the right if you are using a touch screen or move your mouse pointer to the top right of the screen. This takes a bit of practice but, if you really are struggling press and hold the Windows button on your keyboard (its the one with the Windows symbol on it near the space bar on your keyboard) and whilst still holding the Windows button press the C key. The charm bar will now stay on the right side of your screen as long as you don’t click away from it.

2. Searching from The Charm Bar

The charm bar is an excellent tool with loads of features to make your life easy. The search tool is the very first tool available on the charm bar and is represented by a magnifying glass.

charm_search

Simply click it and it will give you a list to search from (this will be different on your computer than mine, it depends on the apps and search provider you use

Click on what you want to search, for example, Google and then start typing. This method can be used to find apps, programs, system settings and practically anything you want!

3. Learn to Love the Windows 8 Start Screen

Windows 8 Start Screen Don’t dismiss this out of hand. It is very useful and, whilst it will take a bit of getting used to, you will learn to love it – maybe after you have hated it for a while to start off with!

Try thinking of the start screen as a giant version of Windows 7, XP, Vista etc start button. Instead of having the links listed they are now displayed as apps or large buttons. http://ow.ly/i/1G09I

Disposing of an old computer

Posted on 19 September 2012 by Jonathan Roberts

Have you just bought yourself an brand new shiny computer, but don’t know what to do with your old slow clapped out doorstop of a computer? When it comes to disposing of an old computer there are some safeguards you need to consider.

Disposing of an old computer

Before you even think of how to get rid of your old machine, you must consider what data is on it. It is very simple for fraudsters to get at your data (even deleted items) from your computer and use it to impersonate you.

There are three methods to ensure that you don’t have your data, and more importantly, your identity stolen:

Store your Hard Drive

This is by far the simplest method. Just remove the hard drive from your old computer, put it in a box and store it safely – perhaps in your attic.

The benefits of this method is that you keep your personal data close, you don’t have to pay to get the data removed and by far its the simplest method.

The downside to this is you may forget its there if you ever move – leaving your data in possibly unsafe hands. The other thing to consider is do you want to have lots of old hard drives stored in your house?

Safely Wipe your Hard Drive

There are a number of software solutions you can either buy or download for free that will wipe a hard drive of its contents. For example: The freeware DBan is a useful tool for wiping your hard drives, it does make it very difficult for the average snoop to retrieve your information. To use this simply create a CD with the program on and reboot your computer to the CD and follow all on screen instructions. But be aware that a determined person may be able to retrieve some items. Alternatively, Blancco wipes your hard drive to DOD 5220.2M standard (completely removing the risk of recovery). Currently Blancco are offering free licences, but it is normally a paid for product – it may change in the future.

Please be aware that using either of these tools is at your own risk. Extreme caution is recommended, as you will not be able to recover anything from the hard-drive should you accidentally wipe the wrong one.

There are a number of different solutions to wiping your hard-drive available, it is recommended that you investigate whichever you decide upon fully.

Destruction of the Hard Drive

It is a common misconception that if you damage the hard drive you are guaranteeing that no data will be able to be recovered.

Please don’t fall for this, I have seen personally a hard-drive fully recovered that the owner had drilled through the entire drive.

Many disk platters (the bits inside your hard drive your data is stored on) are made of a glass construction, smashing these more or less is effective at preventing data recovery. However, there are numerous examples of data recovery companies such as Krollontrack recovering data from horrendously damaged hard drives – beware!

Professional help

Many computer companies offer a safe wipe and computer recycling service. However, please don’t assume because they repair your computer that they also know how to fully wipe your data to ensure that it is never recovered again. Check their website, or ask them directly. You need to be able to be guaranteed that your drive will be wiped to DOD5220.2M standard, this requires that each sector on the hard drive is overwritten 4+ times, once with 1′s, once with 0′s and then with random numbers, this should be sufficient to ensure that your data cannot be recovered. Also consider asking them if they conform to EU Data protection Directive (EU DPD) 95/46/EC this requires data sectors to be over-written 5+ times.

Getting rid of your computer

There are a few different ways for you to actually dispose of your old computer. But please DON’T just put it in the bin! The reason for this is your computer has lots of computer circuit boards that contain heavy metals, these will seriously harm the environment, you may also face a fine depending on your local authority.

What are the options?

Donate it to charity – if your computer is in working order charities may be able to use it. See computeraid.org for more details – they even provide free data wiping software.

Give it to a young relative – if you have a young relative, your old computer may be able to be used to help introduce them to the world of computers. But please also be aware, if your computer is no longer any good for you, it will certainly be no good to them either!

Recycle it – your local authority will have a recycling centre. Contact them to see if they are able to take old computers. If they can’t you can use the web to search for companies that are able to recycle your computer for you. However, they do need to conform to the WEEE directive. Click the link to read more information.

Finally

Remember that there are other places you store data that you need to consider wiping when you dispose of them. Pen Drives are a great example of this, often we lose them or just simply throw them away with out considering the consequences of our data getting into the wrong hands. Roadkill offer a free wipe tool to delete the data from USB memory sticks, it is well worth considering.

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Data Backup

Posted on 2 August 2012 by Jonathan Roberts

Data backup is necessary! However, you would be surprised how many people don’t do it on a regular basis, if at all.

Data Backup

Data Backup At JNK we regularly have phone calls from people who have lost their data and need it recovering. For home users, total data loss, caused by a damaged drive can result in just that. Data that is totally unrecoverable, at least in economic terms.

But why carry out data backup? We all have items on our computers that would be a disaster if lost. From the items that are a pain if we loose. Such as correspondence, through to the irreplaceable photographs.

In the past, I have advised people about data backup. Then visited their premises a few months later to help them recover lost data. The advice given had been totally ignored.

Of course, there are companies out there offering specialist data recovery. JNK can recover data in most instances. When we can’t we pass the work to on of the specialist recovery companies. We have heard of people paying astronomical rates to recover their data.

Data backup is one of those chores we all recognise as being important. But one we never quite get around to doing.

There are many reasons for people not carrying out data backup. Time and memory are usually the culprits, i.e. we lack the time, or we simply forget to do that all important data backup.

How often should I carry out Data Backup?

This is entirely up to how you use your computer. If you are adding new data on a daily basis, I would recommend daily. Otherwise, I would recommend that you carry out data backup as often as you add data to your computer. If its daily then data backup should be daily. If its weekly… You get the idea.

What should I backup?

I tend to adopt this approach to data backup. I only backup files, photos, emails etc. I have all the disks for programs I have installed on my computer. Yes it is a pain if I suffer a computer crash. Programs such as Norton Ghost will allow you to make a complete image of the drive and recover it if needed. However, I tend to manually reinstall the PC if necessary. It gives me a chance to decide if I really need to add a particular application or not, depending how often I use it.

For my work computer, I have a complete image available on an external hard drive. Should the worst happen I can have the PC up and running within an hour or so.

Data is a different matter. Every item is a candidate for data backup. Emails, letters, photos, etc. Are backed up on a daily basis to an external drive (a complete copy of all documents folders from all users).

Ideally you should have at least 2 external hard drives available for backup and alternate which is used. That way you have at least two different versions of data. in the worst case scenario, you will have to go back at the most to a 2 day old data backup.

The reason for this is that most backup programs will remove items you delete from the hard drive. If files were delete by accident, you will have at least 24 hours to recover them before they are totally lost.

Methods of data backup

As mentioned above, external hard drives are perfect for data backup. I would strongly advise against using the internal hard drive of your computer. Generally, computer manufacturers will partition drives so that they appear as two different drives. But in reality are just the one. If the disk has a problem, chances are it will effect all partitions. Any data backup you have on a different partition will be effected.

The external drive also allows you to take your data off-site. When it comes to data backup, it is always best if you can have a copy of your files etc off-site in case of fire, theft etc.

With the growing use of the Cloud these days, Cloud backup systems are also a very viable option. However, I have heard a lot of people say they wouldn’t use the Cloud as they don’t know how secure they are. I cannot guarantee how secure a particular system is, but using the Cloud is an excellent way to backup photos etc. In fact I do this myself, I use a Cloud for my own data backup – particularly photos that are irreplaceable should there be fire, theft, computer accident etc.

Most Cloud organisations are very concerned with security and will have the strictest security measures in place. Indeed, one of the top companies are so concerned with security, that their servers are stored in a building. With only two employees in the company know its location.

Backup Software

I don’t want to recommend a particular data backup tool. The simple reason is that what is good for one person may not be suitable for another (and they haven’t paid me to recommend them!).

However, Top Ten Reviews have produced an excellent table of the different software tools and have a table for you to review the different features. The list they provide doesn’t include every data backup tool. Nor does it include the many excellent free data backup tools. But it is a good start, see the review here.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it doesn’t matter how, when or where you store your data backup. But please, do carry out data backup to save yourself the agony of data loss. Remember, for most people the cost of data recovery is too expensive. It will mean that you cannot recover those vital documents and family photos! JNK can help with data recovery, if you have a problem and loose some data, please turn off your computer, don’t use it and call us immediately.

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Online Security

Posted on 17 July 2012 by Jonathan Roberts

Online secruity Online Security threats seem to be in the news almost every single day. With this company or that company having its data hacked. But how safe is your personal data and what should you do to ensure your personal online security?

Online Security

Recently Symantec (the people behind such programs as Norton Internet Security) said that in 2011 there were 403 new types of malware created – that is an increase of 41% on the previous year. Additionally, they said that there is an estimated 4500 web based attacks each day. [Symantec 2011 http://www.symantec.com/threatreport/]

Online security has never been more important. But what are the threats and what can you do about them? How can you ensure your own personal online security?

Online Security Threats

This isn’t meant to be an exhaustive list, there are many other threats, but these are ones I have chosen to highlight online security threats.

Viruses

Viruses are perhaps the best known of all online security threats. A computer virus is a computer program that can replicate itself and spread from one computer to another. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_virus].

Don’t mix up viruses with malware, spyware etc – these aren’t self replicating as a virus is.

At the very least a virus is designed to make changes to your computer settings, at the other end of the spectrum they can cause serious damage to your computer, including, but not restricted to deleting an entire hard drive of all data.

Malware

Malware, short for malicious software, is software used or created by hackers to disrupt computer operation, gather sensitive information, or gain access to private computer systems. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malware].

Spyware

Spyware is a type of malware (malicious software) installed on computers that collects information about users without their knowledge. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spyware].

Spyware can seriously effect your online security. It attempts to steal your personal information. Spyware can include keyloggers to record your username and passwords. These keyloggers then send the information to their creator.

Scareware

Scareware comprises several classes of scam software with malicious payloads, or of limited or no benefit, that are sold to consumers via certain unethical marketing practices. The selling approach uses social engineering to cause shock, anxiety, or the perception of a threat, generally directed at an unsuspecting user. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scareware].

Typical examples of scareware are popups that inform you that your computer has so many thousand viruses. They offer to clean your computer for a fee – by purchasing their software. They are a real threat to your online security as they are a scam, they offer programs to fix your problem that don’t work. The only thing they do is take your money, in the worst case scenario, by purchasing them you are also giving your credit/debit card information to scammers. Most times scareware contains a payload of malware, spyware, viruses etc.

Another scam seen often that is an online security threat and falls under the scareware heading is the phone call from Microsoft, Windows etc. I personally have seen several people who have fallen for a phone call from “Microsoft” or other companies, including the users ISP. The caller informs the would-be victim that their computer is full of viruses. They then offer to take control of the computer to clean it up. Please don’t fall for this! Microsoft or whichever company these callers claim to be simply don’t have the time or resources to check your computer for viruses – they don’t make these calls, scammers do!

Recently, I was asked for advice about one such call. The victim had received such a call, but being a little bit wary asked the company to call back. (In this case it was Microsoft). I advised when the call-back was made that the person making the call should be told that the victim had contacted Microsoft and Microsoft had informed them that no such call had been placed. To confirm what I have said here, Microsoft also said they never make such calls.

The victim did indeed receive the call-back. In due course they informed the caller what Microsoft had said. The caller went mad, totally loosing their temper with the victim asking how dare they contact Microsoft, how dare they call them a liar etc.

These are bad people who want to access your computer – don’t let them, refuse to allow them any access to your computer!

Phishing

Phishing is attempting to acquire information (and sometimes, indirectly, money) such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phishing].

Great examples of how phishing is used to compromise your online security are emails you receive claiming to be from your bank. A careful check of the links in the emails often show a different domain name to that of your bank. Also, checking the email headers (file > properties on most email programs) shows that the email didn’t come from your bank.

They will contain requests to confirm your online security credentials etc and include a convenient link to your “bank”.

However, following these links take you to sites that, whilst they look like your bank, are setup to harvest your bank login details.

Again, be sure to check sources of these emails and all links they contain. Most, if not all, banks will not ask you to confirm your security details in this way, if you receive an email asking you to do just that, it won’t be from your bank.

Adware

Adware, or advertising-supported software, is any software package which automatically renders advertisements. These advertisements can be in the form of a pop-up.^[1] They may also be in the user interface of the software or on a screen presented to the user during the installation process. The object of the Adware is to generate revenue for its author. Adware, by itself, is harmless; however, some adware may come with integrated spyware such as keyloggers and other privacy-invasive software. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adware].

So what can you do about these and other threats to your online security?

Internet Security Suites

First thing to do is to ensure that your computer is protected using a full Internet Security Suite. Using just an anti-virus program often isn’t enough. Many of the free anti-virus programs are just intended to search for viruses and often don’t protect against other threats indicated here.

Remember the old adage, there is no such thing as a free lunch. Often Security firms will give you a free anti-virus package to advertise their full security suite and for no other reason.

But which one? What is the best anti-virus suite? I have my personal preference but a look through the following report will help you to decide:

This report at http://internet-security-suite-review.toptenreviews.com/ is quite an indepth look at the different Internet Security Suites available. There are lots of different reviews available on the web to help you choose. My only advice would be to ensure that you aren’t looking at a site created by one of the companies selling an Internet Security Suite. It is easy for them to claim to be the best. Also, try to avoid the “expert” friend in this instance. We all have friends who will recommend X brand as that is the one they use. Often however, their choice has been determined by price, not sound technical understanding. Often they will opt for the free software.

Check out our earlier blog on virus removal if you want more advice on the subject.

My final advice on the subject of Internet Security Suites is that they are only as good as you are. Ensuring that they update daily and run a check once a week with a full check being carried out at least once a month is the best way to ensure your online security.

Further don’t rely on them entirely. Internet Security Suites can be compromised. This will happen if you allow it. Don’t click dodgy pop-up windows that contain buttons – use Alt-F4 combination on your keyboard to close the dodgy pop-up. Try to avoid the internet underground – porn sites, free music and software sites are great examples of this. By free I mean the sites that offer music & software free that you know shouldn’t be free, or the old five finger discount. You wouldn’t do it in real life, so please don’t do it online either. Visiting these types of sites opens your computer to risks. No Internet Security Suite can protect you from viruses etc that you have allowed to bypass the protection provided.

Passwords

Having a safe password is essential when going online. Now, just a short word here. Don’t be paranoid about certain passwords. If your computer never leaves the house and only you use it, you don’t need to be overly fussy about the Windows password. However, if you regularly take your computer to a public place or others may use your computer please ensure it is protected by a very strong password.

Any website (or software on your computer) that requires you to enter your personal data should be secured by a strong password.

What is a strong password? When it comes to your online security the first way to answer what a strong password is would be to look at what isn’t a strong password. We are all tempted to use a password that is easy to remember – don’t!

A password made up of dictionary words or proper nouns can be hacked within minutes. Most hackers use password crackers that bombard login screens with dictionary words and proper names. Even character replacement terms are easily cracked by these types of software. Character replacement terms are words such a words that you replace key letters with numbers or symbols such as: Online Security would become 0n1in3 53curiTy. password crackers can be set to search for these combinations too.

So what is a secure password? A strong password will contain 8 to 12 characters, be mixed upper and lower case and include numbers and symbols and importantly be random characters.

A good example of a strong password would be $3sA2fHe8. Please don’t use this!

You would be surprised how many people have their wireless signal on their router with no password set or it set to something link: abc123 or even worse, password. Leaving your router set with the passwords that came from the factory is a bad mistake, every computer user knows the standard passwords used by router manufacturers. For example, Netgear username is admin and the password is password.

A great method to choosing a memorable password is to use a pass-phrase. Recently the BBC’s Chris Jackson for the Inside Out programme investigated online security and suggested the pass-phrase method. See the short video here.

Basically the pass-phrase method works like this. You choose a simple phrase that is personal to you. For example (from the video above) my son is 11 years old would be your phrase, taking the first letters from each word you would arrive at msi11yo then add two letters at the end for the site you are storing a password, such as Facebook. the above password would become msi11yofb. Add some capitals and a symbol (random) you may arrive at mSi11yoFb$. That is a great 10 character password that won’t be easily broken as it is personal to you. You don’t need to write down the passwords as you would only need to write a pass-phrase down – this could be easily hidden in a paragraph as a personal note. If you use the same symbol the only thing you need to remember is the two letter code for each website.

Finally, I would strongly recommend you use a completely new password every six weeks. If you use the pass-phrase method simply choose a new phrase every six weeks and change each password accordingly. Whatever you do though, don’t use a password more than once – each site or program should have its own password.

Password Keeper Programs

Some people use a password keeper program to store their passwords. These are fairly secure and offer you a good means of online security. They work by storing your passwords in the Cloud and are accessed by a program on your computer or mobile phone. This program is protected by a password that is only stored locally. All the passwords contained in the program are encrypted before being placed on the Cloud for you.

The programs mean that you can access your passwords from anywhere as long as you enter your master password – this again isn’t stored on the cloud, only the local computer or phone.

There is no risk of hackers breaking the encryption unless they have access to the device and the master password.

One word of caution, don’t loose your mobile phone if you use a password protection manager especially if you have stored your master password in the phone book as many do!

For a good review of the best password keeper type programs visit PCWorld. They explain the technology well and offer advice about each of their reviewed programs.

In conclusion, your personal online security online is up to you. How secure you are is down to you putting in a good regime, making sure your computer is protected, that you don’t fall for dodgy pop-ups and other scams and making sure you have a good password policy. Change your passwords every six weeks.

This guide isn’t meant to be exhaustive there are many great guides online if you want more details.

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Computer Maintenance | HDD Maintenance

Posted on 6 July 2012 by Jonathan Roberts

Computer Maintenance | HDD Maintenance or hard disk drive maintenance is something that you should carry our from time to time. How often depends on how much you add new files and delete old ones. Your disk drive will become fragmented the more you add and delete files and from its day to day running.

Computer Maintenance | HDD Maintenance

First steps

The first thing you should consider is to make sure you have removed old programs (applications) that you don’t use. This will always improve the disk drive’s performance as the computer will have less mess to wade through.

Go to your computers control panel (start button > control panel) and select programs > uninstall a program.

On Windows XP its Control Panel > Add Remove Programs.

Once Windows populates the list, go through and look for programs that you don’t need. Please be cautious with this as there may be programs you don’t recognise but use everyday, for example Adobe Flash will most likely appear in the list, whilst you may not realise it many websites use this to show media, removing it will mean you will either have to spend time reinstalling it. Or you won’t be able to view the media.

Once you have completed this step you can then use Windows built in tool to further clean up your disk.

Disk Clean Up

Click on Computer (My Computer for XP users) to view the list of your disk drives. Using the right mouse button, right click on your C Drive (or whatever drive letter you use for your operating system). From the pop-up menu, select Properties. On the General tab you will see a disk clean up button. Choose the option to clean up files from all users on this computer, click continue (XP users don’t have this step). Windows will then guide you through the process. It calculates what can be cleaned up and then displays a list of items to be cleaned (tick any items you want to remove). An alternative program to that built into Windows, and in my opinion a better method is cCleaner – a free to use program (you can pay for more advanced options). Simply download it, run and then tick the items you want to remove. Be cautious with some of the items cCleaner will warn you that some items will have adverse effects on your system – user beware!

Disk Check

Once you are happy you have removed everything you can from your computer, it’s time to check on the disks health and repair any errors in the file system.

Again click on Computer (XP users My Computer) and right click on the C Drive, choose properties. This time click the Tools tab, select Error Checking, Check Now Button, click continue (XP users won’t have this step). If you have never done this before, I would recommend ticking both boxes. But, be aware adding in the Scan for and Attempt Recovery of Bad Sectors will considerably increase the time scale of this disk check. If you have ran a disk check before, or aren’t experiencing any major problems with your hard disk you can just leave Automatically Fix System Errors ticked and not tick the other option. Click the start button. You will get a message that Windows can’t Check the Disk while its in use. This is normal, click to schedule a disk check and then restart your computer. Let your computer restart and go and have a coffee (or if you selected the two options, go for a coffee, walk the dog, cook the evening meal etc!).

Eventually your computer will restart to Windows and you are nearly there with your hard disk maintenance.

Disk Defragment

What is disk defragment I hear you ask. You aren’t alone, I am asked this on almost a daily basis. Often by worried people who have been told by a friend that they need to defragment their computers – sounds painful, or at the very least expensive. It is neither!

Disk defragment is the process of putting your hard drive back into an order your computer can find your programs and files quickly – it does help a little to speeding your computer up, but any benefits are lost over a sort period of time.

Imagine the old filing cabinets that were sorted alphabetically. If you were asked to find a particular letter to a person you would simply go through the filing cabinet alphabetically until you found the right place for the persons name, you would then search by date to find the letter in question. Simple.

Now imagine, that the filing cabinet contains thousands of such letters and I have just tipped it all out on the floor and for good measure shuffled it around. Now try and find that letter! Whilst not impossible, it will take you a lot longer. This is what happens to a hard drive that is fragmented.

How often should you defragment? Go back to the start of this post and I suggested that the time scale is determined by how much you add and remove files. If you are a heavy computer user – I would recommend weekly, a light user could get away with it monthly – or even six monthly in some cases. There is a slight caveat to this. Vista and Windows 7 dynamically arrange files on your hard disk depending on how much you use them. Putting often used files and programs the fastest part of the drive to make it easy (and therefore quicker) to retrieve. Defragmenting re-arranges this, so you may not experience any speed benefits from this process.

There are several different programs to Defragment your computer. In my experience I have found that the one built into Windows is sufficient for most cases. If you want to have more control over the defragmentation process, want pretty pictures, or just want something non-Microsoft then Google is your best starting point.

I will assume that you are going to use the de-fragment tool built into Windows. Click on Computer and then right click on the C Drive, select Properties and then the Tools tab, then select the De-fragment Now button and click continue (XP users don’t have the continue step). At the bottom of the new window click the Defragment Now button. Vista users will see the boring green circle rotating, XP and Windows 7 users get a nice pictorial image of the de-fragmentation process.

As always, if you need any help with this, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with a computer repair professional.

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Computer Maintenance | Virus Removal

Posted on 29 June 2012 by Jonathan Roberts

Computer maintenance - virus removal Over the coming weeks I am going to look at computer maintenance – or how to keep your computer in top shape. This week I am focusing on Virus Removal.

Computer Maintenance – Virus Removal

The term computer virus covers a multitude of sins. To most of us a virus is a virus; to a computer professional the term virus is just part of a range of possible threats to your computer, data and network. Such as malware, spyware, trojans and of course viruses.

To be sure, I will use the term virus to mean malware, spyware, trojans, viruses, backdoors, keyloggers and all the other threats to your computer to discuss computer maintenance – virus removal.

Your computer is doing great, no problems, yes its a little slow but hey isn’t everyone’s? Then one of your friends calls to say they received a really strange email from you, odd? By the end of the day several of your friends have reported similar strange emails; suddenly you are in danger of loosing your social circle and your nice shiny computer has become a demon in the corner. It is full of viruses and worse it is spreading the disease to your friends computers. This is where this guide to computer maintenance – virus removal steps in.

This sounds like the typical nightmare faced by many people. Yet it is surprising how little thought has been given to protecting their computer in the first place.

At this point you have to assume that your antivirus program (if you have one installed) has been compromised and should be considered useless for removing the virus.

If you can’t get online because of the virus, things may be more serious than the fixes here can deal with – in this case call a computer professional for help. The will be able to give you advice about computer maintenance – virus removal.

Download either Spybot or Malwarebytes and Hitman Pro from the internet (either click on the links here or search via Google.

Install Hitman Pro (you can use it free for 30-days – sufficient time to deal with the problem!) and do a full scan. This will check for viruses running in the background and will allow you to remove them as needed.

Once you have completed your scan with Hitman Pro do the same with either Spybot or Malwarebytes, again carrying out a complete scan.

By now you will have removed most of the problems from your computer. A more thorough scan may be necessary but this should be OK for run of the mill viruses. If in doubt contact a computer professional.

When you have completed the scan with Spybot/Malwarebytes and Hitman Pro it is time to return to your current anti-virus program. I would suggest a complete uninstall (make sure you select the options to remove user settings too). Then reinstall your antivirus program, update and carry out a full system scan.

Finally, I would strongly recommend using a full Internet Security Suite such as Bitdefender Internet Security as this will protect against the full range of viruses and other threats. Relying on just antivirus programs such as AVG is a bad idea as they don’t deal with malware etc. Microsoft have released a free Internet Security Suite called Microsoft Security Essentials – in my experience this has proved useful but never as good as a system that is fully paid for – however, it does come a very close second. Whatever you do be sure to regularly carry out computer maintenance.

This guide is very brief and doesn’t go into a great depth about removing all viruses and other threats. The simple reason is that for many threats you should contact a computer professional for advise or even to remove the infections for you. They can help with computer maintenance – virus removal and ensure your computer is running as good as the day you first bought it home.

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Windows Live Mail

Posted on 15 June 2012 by Jonathan Roberts

Windows Live Mail is Microsoft’s free mail system replacing the outdated Outlook Express.

It is available as part of the Windows Live Essentials package. This includes Microsoft’s free Internet Security Suite (Internet Security Essentials) and several other tools, such as Live Messenger, Writer and more. However, when downloading the package you can choose to just download Live Mail.

Download from http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/windows-live/essentials-home.

The following video is a brief overview of the steps necessary to setup Live Mail to receive your emails. Before you begin, you will need some settings from your ISP or email provider:

Email Address
Password

The following are needed if you want/need to set up Live Mail manually:

Email Address
Email Username (often your email address – depending on the provider)
Password
Incoming Mail Server (mostly POP3 but may also be IMAP)
Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP)
Authentication Required (normally a tick yes – the default is to use the same settings as the incoming server)
Outgoing Port Number (normally 25, but some mail providers require other ports)

Some mail providers require you to set up POP3 mail first on their system – these are normally the online mail providers such as Live, Google and Yahoo. See their mail help system for more details.

Lets begin! The following video is a brief overview of the steps necessary to setup your email account manually – I will go into more depth shortly, (best viewed YouTube, click the YouTube icon on the video).

Step 1

Open Live Mail and then select the blue menu icon in the far top left of the screen, then select Options > Email Accounts:

Step 1 of email setup

Step 2

An Accounts window will pop up, click on the Add button

Step 2 of Live Mail setup

Step 3

Another window will pop up, click on the button Email Account

Step 3 of Live Mail Setup

Step 4

Step 4 start entering your account details

You will now be presented with a screen to start entering your email account settings.
Enter your email address (1) and password (2) in the correct fields

I would recommend ticking to remember your password, or you will be required to enter your password every you attempt to send/receive emails

Complete the rest of the form by entering your full name as you want others to see it in Display Name field (3) and then tick the configure manually tick box (4) at the bottom.

Step 5

Step 5 complete entering your account details

From the next window select the Server Type (1) the options are POP, IMAP and Windows Live Hotmail, in most cases choose POP.

Enter the Server Address (2) the port number is normally 110 unless your mail provider tells you otherwise. Again, leave the require secure server unticked unless told otherwise.

Authenticate Using (3) is normally Clear Text.

Enter your account name in Logon User Name (4), quite often this is your email address.

Enter your out going mail server address (5), again leave the port number set to 25 unless told otherwise – mail servers provided by JNK require port number 26.

If your mail provider has said that you need to require out going mail authentication tick the box Requires Authentication (6), but otherwise leave it empty. Also, if after completing the mail account setup, you cannot send emails, this tick box is often the problem – simply return here and tick (or untick) as the case may be. Then click the next button.

That is it, click the finish button – congratulations you have setup your email account, send yourself a test email to check everything works OK. If it doesn’t, go through each step and check that you have entered the exact details as your mail provider has given them to you.

Thank you for viewing this brief guide.