Fast Security Tips to Start 2011

Quick PC Security Tips for 2011

Here are some quick computer security tips to help ensure better security.

1. Make sure your antivirus and anti-malware is updated
2. Make sure your Windows Operating System is updated
3. If you have a 3rd party software firewall ensure it is up-to-date
4. Ensure the browsers are the latest to date
5. Make sure Java is updated
6. Ensure even your media players are up-to-date

This tasks actually do not take that long but could save alot of time and money.

Happy New Year from PC Virus Doctors' Dallas PC Support!!!

How to Run a CheckDisk on Hard Drives- More Maintenance Tips

How to Run a Disk Check

The subject of check disk or chkdsk command is a much needed topic that is crucial for drive maintenance and is one thing many of the users I see are totally clueless about because not enough info is out their explaining why and how it needs to be done.

WARNING: running a disk check could take hours to perform. Best done in the evening while sleeping.

The reason drives need to be disk checked is because there are millions of sectors on hard drive platters and sometimes these sectors get bad and can either be repaired or the system tell itself not to write data to those sectors because they are "bad". The system files may also the repaired or "fix"ed.

The checkdisk for Windows XP may be performed through going to , then clicking on , then right clicking on the drive you are performing maintenance on. Now, go to the bottom of the popup screen and left click on , then go to , then go to the button labeled , then check the two boxes. You should now get a screen saying it will perform the check on reboot.

Now reboot but beware as this could take several hours to perform. You don't want to stop this process after you have started it.

To run the disk check through the "run" - command feature then hit , then click , then type in the next line and hit "Enter"

chkdsk volume: /f /r

The above volume is your drive letter.

PC Virus Doctors' Dallas PC Repair recommend runnning a disk check once a month.

Hard Drive- PC Maintenance Tips for 2011

Hard Drive Maintenance

Happy New Year to All.

Maintenance on hard drives is good to do at least once a month. Now is a good time to take the hard drive to some cleaning, disk checking and defragmenting along with a full scan at the end of the evening since a full virus scan can take hours. PC Virus Doctors would also recommend an additional scan with a good antispyware.

MAKE SURE ALL YOUR DATA IS BACKED UP!!!!!

Please read the above again. If you have an old drive and have not performed any of the maintenance or only the malware scans then one can just expect data loss...again...don't be surprised if your data even "disappears".

That being said here is a bulleted list of maintenance and scans for the hard drive. PC Virus Doctors recommends running this maintenance in the order given:

1. Dump all the temp files from Windows, Internet Explorer and other browsers
2. Run a quick virus scan and antispyware scan. (Previous recent posts have what is needed)
3. Run a check disk (google for the term if you don't know how, more on this with next blog)
4. Defragment
5. Run a deep- full scan with an up-to-date antivirus
6. Run a full or deep scan with an up-to-date antispyware

If you have any trouble you can call PC Virus Doctors' Dallas Computer Support at (214) 723-4335

Stuxnet- THE Worm of 2010

The Stuxnet Worm, the stealthiest trojan to date, the living, real-life novel, waiting to be written about computer security breaches. PC Virus Doctors have been pondering the damage and intellect Stuxnet has in its arsenal. The scenarios pointed out by several security experts paints a grim outcome at best.

The worm has dissipated in the news but PC Virus Doctors suspicion that even the slightest knowledge is known about this worm that could expose every hardware, software and data information that could be harvested from infected computers and systems.

Stuxnet is infecting Microsoft products, allegedly, in Iran's nuclear facility and infecting software of other vendors in the nuclear capacity supplying Iran with physical and software equipment to power their nuclear facilities.

PLEASE- Make Sure ALL Your Securty Products Are Up-to-Date!

Backup Your Social Media- Data Recovery is NO Solution

An interesting article on CNN.com website explains how to backup solution media in which data recovery will not be an option with your information located on proprietary machines owned by corporations.

The information can be stored by users and hopefully uploaded back to the server in times of a disaster or it could be then uploaded to another domain name and set as a blog in addition to other related content.

Social Media users can backup their:

• Blogs
• Tweets
• Facebook
• Photos

Backup your social media so you don't waste hours of information and pictures disappearing off the "cloud".

Add an Extra Free Firewall to Windows- Comodo

Comodo Firewall can be used with Windows Firewall with XP and other operating systems adding additional security. The firewall also will check for and update itself with user prompts.

The firewall can be set for different security levels and can be integrated with an antivirus. If unknown executables start Comodo will warn users and tell which application is starting and whether it is a known "safe application" or "unknown application". Users may select to allow or block the executable.

Comodo Firewall runs in the task bar where internet traffic can be blocked with the icon in the taks bar and to select "Block All" in case of suspected malware that may be downloading through hacked or rogue sites.

Dallas Computer Service recommends Comodo Firewall in addition to Windows Firewall for additional security.

Android Phone Trojan- Geinimi

A new trojan, Geinimi,  has emerged from China it appears and infects smartphones through pirated applications. The programs are legitimate but hacked versions that are embedded with the Geinimi Trojan. Lookout Mobile Security reports that the trojans can create a botnet and that the control server is in China, according to the article in TechNewsWorld.com.

The trojan then collects information including user coordinates and Geinimi hides itself and also encrypts its commands and controls. The security says 'do not turn off sideloading protection' which is needed to download and install these pirated apps.

Free Anti-Malware- Anti-Spyware for Businesses

Spyware Terminator is available to businesses and private users through open-source. PC Virus Doctors uses the utility for a quick daily scan to get rid of stubborn tracking cookies that will not be removed through conventional means, through the operating systems and browser deletions.

Spyware Terminator may be configured with ClamWin so users can have extra scanning signatures.

Benefits of Spyware Terminator:

• Quick scans actually do perform quickly and thoroughly
• Configurations may be set for "Live-Time Protection"
• ClamWin may be integrated into "Live-Time Protection"
• Licensed for Business use through open-source
• Easily configured even for beginners
• Users can quickly change configurations within a short learning curve

Negative Aspects:

Minor annoyance but it does serve up ads when looking at the configuration but does not serve up ads any other time; this said, ST seems to take up little resources, a positive.

It never hurts to have an extra spyware, malware remover in the toolbox especially if it is compatible with other malware scanners which in PC Virus Doctors experience has been positive with no set backs at all.

Spyware Terminator is a great free tool for businesses to double check with other organizations, albeit open-source or paid vendors of virus scanners/signatures.

Free AntiVirus for Businesses

Businesses may at times not be able to afford antivirus solutions for all work stations but there is an excellent alternative to "no antivirus solutions". ClamWin is an open-source antivirus scanner that can automatically update at times the users may set and ClamWin will automatically scan daily or weekly in the user settings.

The antivirus can be configured to run during the night or weekends when the stations are not in use. PC Virus Doctors' Dallas Computer Support uses the software as a second antivirus and is compatable with the primary antivirus. ClamWin can also be configured by default to scan incoming and outgoing Microsoft Outlook emails. Also email alerts may be sent to users when malware is detected.

Now there is no excuse for business owners to be absent of an antivirus on all machines in the office with up-to-date virus signatures and frequently scanned computers and laptops.

Best Free AntiVirus of 2010 for Gifts

The best free antivirus offered on the internet PC Virus Doctors believes in and endorses is  Avira Antivirus. The free version of the antivirus updates daily, with a pop-up, that can be seen as advantageous. as you know the program successfully updated. The pop-up is an advertisement for the professional version. So if one does not mind but a single pop-up when Avira is updated then this may be the antivirus for you, all free.

PC Virus Doctors' Dallas Computer Support feels that Avira is the best in identification and eradication of malware that can always be completed with a few additional spyware programs, free of course...more coming.

PC Security Tip> KEEP ALL YOUR SECURITY TOOLS UPDATED THROUGH THE HOLIDAY!

Free Spyware- Malware Remover for Christmas

Give some free great gifts for the holidays. SuperAntiSpyware is a world-class virus and malware remover that is a must have on every computer worldwide. The new updates are available several times per day and the ability to rid computers of malware is increasingly efficient with Super Anti-Spyware.

PC Virus Doctors have used Super AntiSpyware for years and it is a very efficient tool for eliminating malware.

Free Rootkit Removers

PC Virus Doctors' Dallas Computer Support has a free rootkit remover download list available directly from vendor sites or authorized through redistribution. The antirootkits may prove valuable if indeed the rootkits can be identified and eradicated will be another story.

Check out these free removal tools from Panda, McAfee, Sophos, Kaspersky, AVG, Lavasoft, GMER Rootkit Detector and Remover and others> Free Rootkit Removers.

Keep Your Media Players Updated

PC Virus Doctors recommend keeping their media players updated to avoid exploits, fake antimalware, etc. The media players are updated often and will patch their exploits as they become known.

Playing media from unknown sources such as limewire and other peer to peer (p2p) programs may have malware embedded.

Updated media players will help ameliorate media with embedded malware.

New Rogue AntiVirus List Update

PC Virus Doctors have released a new rogue antivirus list to help distinguish the good software from the bad, rogue ware that is plaguing the net right now. Beware of the look-alike Microsoft knock-offs; they can be very deceiving.

The new fake antiviruses out there "in the wild" right now are difficult to remove.

Good luck to all...

Virtumonde Back in Stealthy- Difficult-to-Remove Status

Virtumonde is back in its ugly form as hard to identify and if identified the antimalware cannot remove it. The Vundo trojan with its name-like Virtumondo can be hard to stop without the latest "fix" which may not be available for 24 hours or more. Spybot nor SuperAntiSpyware and many other scanners have been able to help as this trojan runs in memory upon startup it is tough. Spybot could Identify malware but not remove it with the accompanying messages stating, 'you do not have administrative rights...can we run on reboot'; clicking 'yes' and Spybot would not autorun on reboot.

Finally, with a more recent update of Malwarebytes and signatures from Nov. 30, 2010 I was able to break the back of the trojan and finally able to now access "safe mode". I just decided to try 'safe mode' and was able to access and now decided to run Spybot in 'safe mode' and Spybot was not able to identify more malware and was ablet to "Fix the Problem".

Hopefully more security vendors will get the fix so the recent Vundo trojan can be more easily disabled.

Keep Your Java Updated

It is imperative to keep Java updated so the hackers and malware writers can not take advantage and exploit Java. Many malware can take advantage of older versions of Java. Users should let the Java Scheduler run at start up just to keep the latest versions updated which is security imperative.

PC Virus Doctors just found about dozen Java exploit programs on the last scanned laptop. The resutl was the destruction of boot files whether through Java exploits or the other ton of malware that was removed most likely due to P2P programs.

P2P programs seem to attract the malware distributors.

Replace Old Hard Drives or Loose Data

Many PC users do not understand that hard drives fail. The hard drive is the only physically working part on the machine minus the data/electrons that are moved through the motherboard and other peripherals. These drives spin at average around 5200 revolutions per minute.

Drives are basically holding data like a record player in ways that:

1. The record needle on a record player is now like a head reader/writer on a hard drive
2. The record on a record player is now the platter in a hard drive

Years and years of a physical platter spinning at several thousands revolutions per second is bound to wear out. Is there any disagreement here?

PC Virus Doctors have so many people asking why we need to move or save data on drives that are over two years old after they have become infected with viruses or trojans. This is science readers. Parts wear out. Platters that hold data may start to become worn. The head writer becomes worn and may be hitting the platter.

Here becomes the real danger involving virus/trojan removals on older drives:

• Many times the hard drive must be pulled from the original machine because no programs will execute from the original PC
• Now the drive is pulled it must be slaved (in a variety of ways) to a healthy computer with the software and hardware designed to examine the drive and remove the malware.
• OK, once that is done and the drive is cleaned and repaired and placed properly back into the original machine....
• The data is now not available....GONE.

The absentee data is one I cannot explain except for the fact that the malware must have changed the physical settings on the hard drive.

So beware if you want to be cheap and inattentive to your data. It may be the last time you see pictures of your baby. Call Dallas Data Recovery for help in recovering information from old hard drives.