Embedded Files
How to Avoid Phishing Scams
Here's How Contact Tracing Will Work on iPhones and Android Phones
The Best Live TV Streaming Services
How to Clean Up Windows 10 With the Fresh Start Tool
6 hidden Android features will blow your mind. How to use them
These 8 photo apps make your pictures infinitely better
Best cheap Windows 10 laptops for $350 or less in 2020: ASUS, Dell, Lenovo, and more
That old Android phone might not be safe to use: 6 things to consider
How to Avoid Phishing Scams
Viruses, Trojans, and other malicious programs attack your OS and your apps. With phishing attacks, the target is you, the user. Here's how to protect your personal information and avoid phishing scams.
https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/how-to-avoid-phishing-scams
Here's How Contact Tracing Will Work on iPhones and Android Phones
Google and Apple are working with public health organizations on contact-tracing apps, and this week, they provided details on how that will work. Here's what to expect.
https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/heres-how-contact-tracing-will-work-on-iphones-and-android-phones
The Best Live TV Streaming Services
Have you ditched your cable provider, but still want to watch prime-time network shows and sports? Subscribe to one of these top live TV services and get all the coverage you want over your internet connection.
https://www.pcmag.com/picks/the-best-live-tv-streaming-services
Every US streaming service, ranked and sorted - With over 100 streaming services in the US, how do you choose which deserve your time and money?
https://www.cnet.com/news/every-us-streaming-service-ranked
How to Clean Up Windows 10 With the Fresh Start Tool
Microsoft's Fresh Start feature can rid your Windows 10 PC of junkware and return it to a clean, pristine state.
https://www.pcmag.com/news/how-to-clean-up-windows-10-with-the-refresh-windows-tool
6 hidden Android features will blow your mind. How to use them
Android has some awesome features -- you just have to know where to find them.
These 8 photo apps make your pictures infinitely better
Use your phone to get creative with images you've already shot.
https://www.cnet.com/how-to/best-photo-editing-apps-make-android-iphone-pics-look-incredible
Best cheap Windows 10 laptops for $350 or less in 2020: ASUS, Dell, Lenovo, and more
Looking for a new laptop that won't break the bank? Here are a selection from a variety of manufacturers, with prices starting at only $230. All laptops are new, not refurbished, and available to purchase today.
https://www.zdnet.com/article/best-cheap-windows-10-laptops-for-350-or-less
That old Android phone might not be safe to use: 6 things to consider
If your Android phone isn't running the latest software OS, your security and privacy might be in jeopardy.
https://www.cnet.com/how-to/that-used-refurbished-android-phone-might-be-unsafe-6-things-to-know
Links - News, Tips, & Downloads
12 Tips to Troubleshoot Your Internet Connection - Have a full house of social distancers working, gaming, streaming, and news binging, all at the same time? If you're experiencing lags, the problem might be on your end. Before you call your ISP, try these easy router tips to get back online.
https://www.pcmag.com/news/12-tips-to-troubleshoot-your-internet-connection
14 Essential Apps for Protecting Your Privacy Online - Everywhere you look, it seems some company is either spying on their users or failing to protect their users' data. Protecting yourself might seem like a hopeless task, but these top privacy apps can really make a difference.
https://www.pcmag.com/products/essential-apps-for-protecting-your-privacy-online
Here's how to make a Facebook avatar like everyone is doing - Share your new Bitmoji- and Memoji-style self in other apps, too, from Instagram to Twitter.
How to Prepare Your Digital Life for Your Death - Death is inevitable. Don't make it harder on those you leave behind. Here's how to let loved ones manage passwords, sensitive data, and social media profiles after you die.
https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/how-to-prepare-your-digital-life-for-your-death
14 Tips for Safe Online Shopping - Billions of dollars are spent shopping online ever year. While most transactions will be uneventful, security on those purchases is not a given. These tips can help.
https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/14-tips-for-safe-online-shopping
The Why Axis: Are You Worried About Devices Listening to You? - A PCMag survey found that 68 percent of respondents believe smart home devices listen to you when you aren't aware and share the data with companies.
https://www.pcmag.com/news/are-you-worried-about-smart-home-devices-listening-to-you
22 Hidden Chrome Features That Will Make Your Life Easier - Google's Chrome browser has a ton of hidden little tricks you may not know about. Here are 22 tips that will make you a better Chrome user.
https://www.pcmag.com/news/22-hidden-chrome-features-that-will-make-your-life-easier
Cabin Fever? 9 Free Online Learning Activities to Keep Your Kids Busy - With free tools from Scholastic, the Smithsonian, Audible, and more, your children can visit a museum, participate in a dance-off, or even cook you dinner. Here are some of the best free online learning tools for kids.
https://www.pcmag.com/news/cabin-fever-free-online-educational-activities-to-keep-your-kids-busy
How to Tune Up Your Windows 10 PC for Free - It's only a matter of time before your Windows 10 PC begins to run slowly. You can kick the operating system back into high gear with these useful tips. And they won't cost you a penny.
https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/how-to-tune-up-your-windows-10-pc-for-free
4 cheap wireless earbuds options if you can't afford AirPods - Spoiler alert: Good wireless earbuds under $40 do exist!
https://www.cnet.com/news/wireless-earbuds-under-50-these-best-ones-i-found
8 settings every iPhone owner should change right now - Bigger text, longer battery life and more-reliable device unlocking are all instantly achievable on your iPhone by tweaking some settings.
https://www.cnet.com/how-to/8-settings-every-iphone-owner-should-change-right-now
38 Gmail Tips That Will Help You Conquer Email - Google's free email service has come a long way since its debut in 2004. It's time you became a Gmail power user. These tips will get you there.
https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/38-gmail-tips-that-will-help-you-conquer-email
Do You Really Need to Buy Antivirus Anymore? - Isn't the built-in security on today's PCs, phones, and tablets good enough? The answer depends on the OS you're running.
https://www.pcmag.com/opinions/do-you-really-need-to-buy-antivirus-or-vpn-anymore
Ask a Question
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From a PCC Member - Just had Geek Squad clean my laptop. I might have told you that I use this only for traveling and after my trip to Fla. in December, it sat around for a few months. When I finally opened it up, it took a few hours to download all of the waiting updates. Lately, it has been running slow, so I called Geek Squad to have them tune it up. Have you ever heard of Panda Cloud Cleaner? Seems to be very thorough.
From Tom Kreuzer, a PCC Board member. I had not heard of Panda Cloud Cleanert. The major sites CNet, PC Mag, and Tom's did not rate it good and I would not use it. For AntiVirus scans and cleanup you should be using Norton AntiVirus that you can get for free if you have Xfinity or CenturyLink on their web site. There are also many tools that come with Windows to Uninstall software, defrag hard drive, modify startup programs, and hundreds of other options.
If your laptop sat for a few months, chances are the running slow was due to many updates needing to be done. This includes both Windows and all the other software on the machine. It could take up to a day of create set point, update, reboot, and repeat many times to catch up. If you want I can show you how to monitor the status of Windows Updates and Windows Task Manager to see why the machine is slow and what is causing stress on the CPU, Memory, Disk, and Network bandwidth. Example: iTunes can take 30+ minutes to update, a full deep scan can take hours, if disk indexing is on it can take hours depending on the number of files you have, etc.
About 99% of the time when people think they have a virus, it is because the all the software is getting updated. The Geek Squad lets everything get updated and say they have cleaned the machine. If they really did clean things up they would have to ask you lots of question about what they can turn off that you do not need running. Example: Notifications from software can not work if software is not auto loaded on startup or update checks are not being run. Check the Past PCC Meeting I did in 2017 on Why is My PC Slow? https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-ViTn2z71e2OThIU2NyT3RYQXc/view
Member Responds - I’m sure there are things I can learn, but I’m probably more advanced than 90% of the public. I check for updates. I delete temp files. I defrag. I delete my browsing history and caches. But it was still slow. I do understand one of the major reasons for slowness is programs at startup, but I’ve checked that too. I’ll let you know if Geek Squad helped. I just know they ran several proprietary software programs. Took about an hour.
Tom Responds - I would recommend you do Ctrl+Alt+Del and select "Task Manager" to see what your computer is currently doing. At the bottom of the window click on "More Detail" to see everything running and what they are all using. See Below.
When all your software is updated and scans are done the CPU and Disk should be < 5%. You can click on CPU or any heading to sort the list to see what is currently hogging resources. Also, check to see if you have enough Memory to run what you need, if over 80% time to buy more memory or a new laptop. Also in Task Manager you can click the Startup tab to disable things you do not need. I disable almost everything. I you disable something you need, you can go back and turn on.
Member Responds - I’ve checked my Task Mgr several times. Most of the time I don’t recognize the programs being run. Often there are 80+ processes running. I wouldn’t know what to disable.
Tom Responds - In Task Mgr sort by CPU or Disk to see the processes using the most. Then Google Search the processes if it is not clear what it is. I usually do not "End Task" if a process is taking time, because chances are whatever it was doing will need to start again latter (update, scan, etc.). The Disable is for Startup processes that you can do a Google Search if not clear or use a site like: http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_search.php
From a PCC Member - When I accessed MyHeritage it doesn’t seem to be free…. Only 14 days free.
From Tom Kreuzer, a PCC Board member. MyHeritage has 2-3 paid levels and the Basic free. When you signup you get 14 days of the Premium for free, then if you do not upgrade you go back to the Basic free. Info on the Basic account: https://faq.myheritage.com/en/article/what-do-i-get-with-a-basic-myheritage-subscription
From a PCC Member - I received an email asking for Bitcoins or they would expose personal info from my PC and the camera on the PC. The email listed my Social Security account and password. It freaked me out. I've been contemplating and now have - Locked down my Credit and Opted Out of the New Credit offers. So, those 2 things should help. I changed my SSN and my home Camera (website) passwords. Both passwords are long and complex. I also, decided, per their offer, to go for Advanced security settings on my Social Security sign on. Had you ever seen this? It's part of the SSA security. They are going to send me, by mail, instructions to finalize it. I'm a member of LifeLock and have a Capital One credit card. So, I'm feeling fine about things. I have plenty of good credit and don't think I'll be pursuing new credit card offers in the future. Do I need to do the same on Trans Union and Equifax websites? I took the actions noted on SSA and Experian. I'm guessing you'll say yes.
From Tom Kreuzer, a PCC Board member. Millions of people are sent scams like this every day, you are not alone and you are smart enough to protect yourself. 99.999% percent of the scams are using info they bought off the Dark Web for about $.05 per email and they use it to scare people into doing paying or doing bad things. In most cases they never got access to your PC, Camera, or installed any keylogger to capture accounts and passwords on your PC. The info was bought on the Dark Web. Not sure what you are talking about a Camera password, there is no such thing. You may have software, apps, and sites that use the camera and have a password. but that is not a camera password. Depending on the OS and device all software and apps need get your permission to use the camera. If you had any kind of Anti-Virus running, it would have prevented keylogging and camera control from occurring.
Below is a screen shot from Have I been Pwned? https://haveibeenpwned.com/ - A site for checking what data breaches your email was involved in. Currently almost 9.6 billion account are for sale and been breached. That is why I highly recommend a Password Manager to make sure you have strong passwords, unique passwords for each site, a place to store additional logon Q&As, and other information and features they provide. I will be covering this at the July 2020 PCC Meeting.
The Advanced Security on Social Security is just two factor authentication which is good to have on any site where money is involved.
The free freeze needs to be done at three because different companies, banks, and services use one of the three. To cover everything you need all three. See info below:
Security freezes, also known as credit freezes, restrict access to your credit file, making it harder for identity thieves to open new accounts in your name. You can freeze and unfreeze your credit file for free. How will these freezes work? Contact all three of the nationwide credit reporting agencies – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. If you request a freeze online or by phone, the agency must place the freeze within one business day. If you request a lift of the freeze, the agency must lift it within one hour. If you make your request by mail, the agency must place or lift the freeze within three business days after it gets your request. You also can lift the freeze temporarily without a fee. Don’t confuse freezes with locks. They work in a similar way, but locks may have monthly fees. If you want a free freeze guaranteed by federal law, then opt for a freeze, not a lock.
When needed you unfreeze for that check or get a code, so you can still get new cards or loans, it is just that nothing can be done without your permission and knowing.
Credit monitoring is looking at new cards and loans after they have been granted which is too late in my opinion. Almost all Credit Cards, Banks, and Brokers let you get text or email notifications on activity. You set the limit. I get a text every time anything happens on most of my accounts. I do not do much, so it only amounts to 4-5 texts a week. The monitoring will also tell you if your email/account is on the dark web like the free site above does. The more you know, the safer you can act.
From a PCC Member - I repeatedly receive a notification that Windows 10 firewall is off and that I should turn it back on. I turn it on and it goes off again, not immediately, but by next day for sure. I have checked settings and made sure relevant services are set to Running and Automatic. I have checked for solutions online and none of the advice to make sure the services are running and set to automatic have helped. So, my question is, does this even matter? I have Avira as my antivirus and my suspicion is that it has its own firewall and turns off Windows Defender firewall. However, Avira also notifies me that my Windows firewall is disabled and that I should enable it again. Yes, I have clicked on Fix in Avira several times. To no avail. I either need a solution to keep the firewall active, or to know that I can safely ignore the notifications, perhaps turn them off.
From Tom Kreuzer, a PCC Board member. Sounds like Avira may be turning off the Microsoft Firewall because most Anti-Virus have their own Firewall and you do not want multiple Anti-Virus/Firewalls running on a PC. Avira has not registered itself with Windows or the Avira Firewall is not turned on in the Avira settings so Microsoft then warns you that you need a Firewall. It is important to fix the issue.
To protect your PC you absolutely need a Firewall. Below is info from the April 2019 PCC Meeting on Virus & Security. You can find the recording and handouts out on the club web site in the "Past Meeting Files" section.
Firewall - A firewall acts as a filter on what can enter or leave your PC, while Anti-virus and anti-spyware software scans what makes it though the firewall. A firewall can be done with software or hardware, each with strengths and weaknesses. Hardware firewalls do not know the difference between your browser, a virus, or spyware, so a software firewall is needed even if you have a hardware firewall. PCs have 64K (65,536) network ports that other PCs can talk to. Only a tiny fraction of these ports are used by most users, but unless you have a firewall, all the ports are open to abuse by anyone from anywhere. A firewall will control what software on your PC can communicate out and what your PC allows in.
Improperly configured firewalls can provide inadequate protection and hamper legitimate activities, so it is important what is allowed to come in and out. Some come with defaults or wizards and know what software to allow or block. If you need more information on what to allow or block, search Google. Users of the Norton Security Suite can use it's firewall, while most others can use the Microsoft Firewall that comes with Windows.
If you want to still use Avira, uninstall it (follow vendors directions) and then do a reinstall to see if reinstalling registers it correctly and configures the firewall. If you are a Xfinity or CenturyLink customer, I would recommend uninstalling Avira then installing the free Norton Anti-Virus Online software. You could also choose to use the Windows Anti-Virus, instead of Avira, which has gotten much better over the years.
From a PCC Member - I loaded Windows 10, in safe mode, on my sisters computer. She is NOT computer savvy, and was taken advantage of, via a computer scam a year ago. So, I persuaded her that she was safest on her laptop by staying with Windows 10 in Safe mode. Today I tried to load the Zoom client on her laptop. Of course, Windows 10/Safe Mode says you can't do that. So she could not load Zoom. The Windows store had some things related to Zoom, but they were not the Zoom client I wanted. I've heard that its possible to use Zoom on a laptop WITHOUT using the Zoom client, that is, just use some URL and a browser. How does one do that?
From Tom Kreuzer, a PCC Board member. If you have downloaded and install Zoom on a computer when you click the email link it will start the Zoom software and not show a prompt below to open in a browser. If you try it on her PC you should see the prompt below. Worst case, you can manually use a browser by going to https://zoom.us/join then Enter your meeting ID and password provided by the host/organizer. The web client is limited and I only recommend it for one time use.
Most people should download and install Zoom software. To install on her PC Logout of her Windows "Safe" account, Login Windows using a "Admin" Account (all installs of Windows must have a Admin), Install Zoom software, Logout of Admin Account, Login with her Safe Account and you should be set.
Member Responds - Windows 10 Safe mode is not an account. It's an OS. It can only be on, or off. Once off, you can't go back to safe mode.
Tom Responds - Usually people setup a non-admin account to limit what a person can do and have a Admin to do installs and change settings. The only "Safe Mode" I know is when you start Windows and hit F8 or other keys you can control what Windows loads when it starts to debug or trouble shoot. There is a Windows S version which only lets you use software from the Microsoft Store. Sounds like that is what she has. I do not recommend that version for anyone because of the limits of software on the Microsoft Store and most browser extensions and plugs do not work. This means many sites will not work. If buying new, I recommend a Chromebook over Windows S because of the millions of apps available that Microsoft does not have. The Windows S could be converted to Windows Home, but sounds like you want to stay with S. You can try the manual link to start Zoom and enter ID and PW. You may run into problems trying to connect to mike and camera.
From a PCC Member their experience - When we received the new/refurbished laptop (Lenovo Yoga 2 in 1) from MaxMart (purchased through Walmart), it didn’t have any software loaded (no Windows 10) as promised and had a common error (Default Boot Device Missing or boot failed. Insert recovery media and hit any key)
I contacted MaxMart, and they were helpful & responsive throughout the process. I reordered a new Yoga (LAST ONE) from the Walmart Website, and MaxMart agreed to ship it 2 day (gratis). I then returned the original computer through Walmart’s website. The return process was easy, and our laptop is enroute. MaxMart was true to their word about shipping it 2 day gratis (instead of 7 day or so which is standard), and he promised to open it and boot it up before shipping, which he explained is not usually their responsibility, it’s the Lenovo service center’s responsibility.
It works well, and my son used it on Friday (less than 12 hours after he received it) for New Orientation last Friday, and his official classes start today. So hopefully the rest of the return will go smoothly.
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