RHFtech Help Desk (and more)

Is your computer secured? Is your security software up-to-date? Are your applications patched? Is your firewall properly configured and turned on? When was the last time you scanned for malware?  Are you the computer’s greatest security risk?

This is the last of a 5 part series, which covers both Windows and Macs.

Part 1 covers physical cleaning
Part 2 covers uninstalling applications and stopping unneeded ones from auto loading.
Part 3 looks at deleting unneeded items and organizing your hard drives.
Part 4 looks at cleaning up your desktop.

Computer insecurity is something I see daily. It is usually due to a combination of ignorance, inattention, inactivity or invitation. Invitation? The bad guys use clever ploys to get us to click on their malware and install it. You might get a letter from a trusted sender asking you to click on something that turns out to be an agent of infection.

A security tune-up reviews three things:

• Check your security tools, like the firewall.
• Make certain the OS and app are up-to-date.
• Educate yourself when some activity is potentially dangerous.

Mac users may wonder, "why read any further?" Macs do not have an overarching need for anti-virus software. Yet, Macs are not immune from security threats. It is easier for me to hack into OS X than Vista or Windows 7, much easier. Dangerous actions will compromise security on Macs just as on Windows machines.

Clients call upon me to repair their computers from all sorts of malware that is resistant to normal remedies of anti-virus and anti-spyware scans. None of these people know how their computers got infected. All of these computers are running Windows XP. None are Macs, Vista or Windows 7 (pre-release).

Windows XP is an old operating system that was not designed for secure computing. It is showing its age. I recommend you upgrade to Windows 7 when it is released in October 2009 if you have hardware 2 years old or newer.

What version of anti-virus software do you have on your Windows computer. Is the program current? Are its security definitions up-to-date? If not, correct this posthaste.

I see no reason to pay for anti-virus software. Free ones work quite well. I recommend AVG Free or Avast! Home (free too). I also recommend you install Microsoft Windows Defender a free anti-spyware program for Windows XP. It comes built-in with Vista and Windows 7 but works with XP as well. XP users need to download and install it. Additionally, Microsoft will soon release a free, comprehensive security suite, code named Morro.

Is your Firewall turned on and working? The Windows firewall settings are found in Control Panel. OS X firewall settings are located in System Preferences > Security. Third-party firewall settings will be located within the program’s console.

A good way to test your firewall on any computer is with Gibson Research’s ShieldsUP!. This web site will test the adequacy of some of your key Internet defenses.

Apple and Microsoft issue periodic OS and application patches. I recommend that everybody install these patches. The risk of being unpatched is greater than the risk of something going wrong with a patch. You can always check for updates by selecting Windows Update from the All Programs menu or by clicking the Apple logo on the menu bar and selecting Software Update…

Other software updates that should not be ignored are browsers, such as Firefox, Google Chrome or Apple Safari; Sun’s Java; and Adobe’s Acrobat, Flash and Reader. These are all potential key vectors for malware. Vendors issue these patches to protect us.

If you want to do a more comprehensive scan for software updates Secunia has free tools for scanning Windows computers to see what software needs to be updated. VersionTracker provides both Mac and Windows tools for keeping your software up-to-date.

Are we the computer’s greatest security risk? Yes, if we are not attentive to the cues and clues to whether what we are doing is secure. Do you look at the browser address to see if you are really on your bank’s site and not at a spoofed location? Do you know what the browser address colors mean? Do you notice the little lock on the address bar telling you the site is secure? Do you keep your user names and passwords written down, next to your computer and unsecured? Should you?

Take command of your desktop. Remove the digital detritus and organize the remainder for the way you want to work.

This is part 4 of a 5 part series, which covers both Windows and Macs.

• Part 1 covers physical cleaning
• Part 2 covers uninstalling applications and stopping unneeded ones from auto loading.
• Part 3 looks at deleting unneeded items and organizing your hard drives.

The computer desktop is designed for two related purposes. Firstly, it is a display. Secondly, it provides navigation. Macs have Menu bars on the top and Docks on the bottom. Windows has a Start button, a Taskbar and a System tray (AKA the notification area). Both operating systems allow users to place objects—shortcuts or aliases, applications, folders and files—on the desktop. This is to augment the other navigational elements.

If you have too many items on the desktop or in your program menus you will be slowed down finding the shortcut you want. You will suffer from disorganized, navigational overload. Feel empowered to delete unused shortcuts, dead links and old installation files that clutter your computer’s desktop. Many of these were placed there by companies who have their interests in mind not yours. If you do not use a desktop icon or use it once in a blue moon move or delete it. Most of the application icons are shortcuts and not the applications. Deleting those icons removes the clutter but the application is still installed and usable. You can still launch it via the Windows All Programs menu or the OS X Applications folder in Finder.

Windows users why not clean up your menu mess? You can right click on the Start button’s All Programs item and select Open. This will launch a Windows Explorer window. Double click on the window’s Programs item. You are now in the location where Windows stores your program shortcuts. You can consolidate this mess by creating folders for similar things and moving them. I typically create a Media folder and move Windows Media Player, Windows Media Center, iTunes, QuickTime and other media items into it. You can do the same thing for Adobe items or create a folder for Security programs.

After you finish organizing your local program folders have a go at the All Users menu structure. You can right click on the Start button’s All Programs item and select Open All Users. This will launch a Windows Explorer window. Double click on the window’s Programs item. You are now in the location where Windows stores the program shortcuts used commonly by all of the computer’s users.

Mac users should remove infrequently or unused Dock items. Do you use GarageBand or iChat? No? Why are they in your Dock? Send these shortcuts to the trash.

My desktops are different
My computer desktops are the antithesis of what most people have. There are no icons¹, as can be seen in the above picture. I see no reason to have desktop icons, either the operating systems’ or my own. When we use a computer we typically have several applications running and the desktop is hidden. What value are those shortcuts then?

I prefer launching applications via the built-in search bar in Vista, Windows 7 and OS X (Spotlight) or the launch shortcut areas provided on the Dock or the Windows Quick Launch toolbar. I also make liberal use of pinning² items to the Vista/Windows 7 Start menu, as is demonstrated in the picture to the right. The items  from Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 to Windows Live Writer (Virtual Windo…) are permanently fixed to this Start menu. The other items listed are dynamic and change based upon frequency of use.

I launch less commonly used programs by typing their names in the Vista/Windows 7 Search bar or in OS X’s Spotlight on the Menu bar. Typically all I have to type is a two or three letters, “Pow” to find PowerPoint. Then all I need do is hit the Enter key to launch the application. I find this much faster than cluttering my desktop with shortcuts or manually searching through the Program menus or Application folder in Finder.

Windows XP lacks built-in application or document search capability like more modern operating systems have. You can add most of this functionality to XP by downloading, installing and configuring a free utility such as Launchy.

I navigate to documents, pictures… using the built-in links on the right side panel of the Start menu.

The Mac Dock is nice eye-candy but much slower than Spotlight. I see little reason to use it. I place my Mac Docks on the left side of the window and auto-hide them.
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Notes:
1. The exception is for home theater PCs. There I use a few desktop icons that can be selected from 10 feet away.
2. Windows 7 allows you to pin items to the taskbar, in addition to the Start menu.

This post is part 3 of a 5 part series. It addresses deleting unneeded items and organizing your hard drive files, for Windows and Macs.

Part 1 covers physical cleaning.
Part 2 covers uninstalling applications or stopping unneeded ones from auto loading at boot time.

Computers collect temporary files in a variety of locations. One might expect that the operating system would automatically delete these files once they have served their purposes. Neither Windows nor OS X cleans up after itself as much as user might like. The Windows Recycle Bin and OS X’s Trash folder can consume significant amounts of hard drive space.

Windows

Windows comes with Disk Cleanup a built-in application for cleaning up these files. It is located in the same place on XP, Vista and Windows 7. Launch the tool by clicking the Start button and navigating to Accessories > System Tools > Disk Cleanup.

The initial Disk Cleanup dialog, Select Drive asks which hard drive to clean up. Clicking the OK button starts the program’s analysis phase. It catalogs potential file cleanups in a variety of drive locations. When this phase is complete, you are presented with a dialog and a selection of check boxes to choose what to delete.

Some of the choices are checked by default. These are things like Downloaded Program Files or Temporary Internet Files. One unchecked choice may be Office Setup Files. It is NOT a good idea to delete these files. If you delete them, you may be asked to insert your Office setup CD or DVD on the next update. Make your choices and click the OK button. The cleanup operation starts. When it is done, the dialog will disappear.

CCleanup is a free, far more comprehensive Windows cleanup utility.

It is a good idea to defragment the hard drives when Disk Cleanup is done. Cleanup frees up space but leaves your hard drive’s file system sub-optimized. Defragging a hard drive reorganizes the files to make it more efficient for disk reads and writes.

Launch the tool by clicking the Start button and navigating to Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter. Then select the hard drive and click the OK button. XP and Windows 7 have an Analyze button and a Defragment button. Vista has only a Defragment now… button.

XP differs from Vista and Windows 7. The latter two Windows versions defragment hard drives automatically on a schedule that was created when the operating system was installed. XP requires the user to manually execute Disk Defragmenter.

XP users can create an automated defragmentation schedule by using the built-in Scheduled Tasks application. Launch the tool by clicking the Start button and navigating to Accessories > System Tools > Scheduled Tasks.

It is best not to use your computer during this operation. Defragmentation can take several hours on large, fragmented drives. So it may be a good idea to run this overnight when you do not need to use the computer.

Macs

OS X is better than Windows about cleaning up. It regularly, automatically deletes temporary files and defragments hard drives.

But at times, it too needs manual, user intervention. You need to manually empty the Trash when your hard drive is filling up.

OmniDiskSweeper is a free Mac utility like the above-mentioned CCleanup.

Onyx is a more comprehensive, free Mac utility, featuring maintenance, optimization, and personalization.

I outlined a five-part computer cleaning process in my post Spring cleaning for your computer. I only covered cleaning the physical machine there. This post will cover part 2: Uninstall applications or stop unneeded ones from auto loading at boot time.

Uninstalling applications

If you are like me you install lots of applications. If you are more typical you rarely install applications. However, there are probably applications on your system you never use. Why not reclaim the hard drive space and reduce menu clutter as well.

If your computer is used by more than one person it is a good idea to check with the other users before uninstalling applications. You might not use AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) but your teenager may.

Windows Uninstalls
Uninstalling on a Windows PC can take two different routes. The most common way to uninstall an application is to go to the Control Panel. If you are in Control Panel’s default Category View select:

• XP – “Add or Remove Programs”
• Vista – “Programs > Uninstall a program”

If you are in Control Panel’s Classic View select:

• XP – “Add or Remove Programs”
• Vista – “Programs and Features”

Then select the program(s) to uninstall.

Some older programs place their uninstall links in their Start menu > All Programs directory. So you need to peruse the program’s menu directory and see if there is an “uninstall” link.

Mac Uninstalls
Uninstalling on a Mac can also take two different routes. The simplest way to uninstall is to navigate to the Applications folder in a Finder window and drag the unused application to the Trash icon on the Dock.

Some Mac programs have uninstall links in the original installation file DMG (Disk Image file). In this case, you need to reopen the DMG and click on the uninstall link. These programs have installed more than a simple program application file and need to clean up after themselves.

Auto loading programs

Windows and Mac computers auto load many processes and services at boot time that are hidden from view. These programs consume CPU and memory resources. Most of them are necessary to the proper running of your computer. Some are optional.

Windows Auto Loads
Type “Windows key   + R” to open a Run dialog. Type msconfig and click the OK button. The System Configuration dialog should open. Click on the Startup tab.

Each line contains a program that runs at login. Be careful. Unchecking items that you don’t know what they are for may disable something you want or need running. If you don’t recognize the item then Google it to find out more. If you still don’t know what it is, I suggest you leave it alone.

Click the OK button once you are done. You will be greeted by restart dialog.

The next time you reboot you will get a second dialog telling you have changed the Windows startup. If you don’t want to see this dialog every time you start Windows, check the box that I have highlighted here and click the OK button.

Vista has another better utility for pruning auto loading items. It is part of Windows Defender, an anti-spyware application that comes with Vista. (Windows XP users can manually download and install it.)

Start Windows Defender, click on Tools and select Software Explorer in the resulting screen. You will be presented with a more informative dialog than msconfig’s.

Mac Auto Loads 
Start System Preferences to find auto loading programs in Leopard or Tiger. Click on Accounts and then select the Login Items tab.  Select the program and then click on the minus “-“ button to remove from the auto load group. Again, if you don’t know what the item is, Google it. If you still don’t know what it is, leave it alone.

We perform routine maintenance on many of our machines, cars, furnaces, or air conditioners, and neglect our computers. What do I mean by a computer cleaning? It is a five-part process:

1. Clean the physical machine.
2. Uninstall applications or stop unneeded ones from auto loading at boot time.
3. Delete unneeded items and organize your hard drive(s) files.
4. Arrange and prune your desktop.
5. Do a security check-up.

This cleanup is appropriate for Windows and Mac computers. It should be done on desktop and laptop computers. Many people experience computer anomalies, such as slow machine responses, random freezes or shutdowns, because they have not cleaned their computers.

Here we cover part 1 – Clean the physical machine.

Is your keyboard filled with crumbs, hair and unidentified particles? Is your screen covered with fingerprints, smudges and/or dust? Are your computer’s air vents clogged with dust balls and animal hair? If the machine is more than a year old, or operates in a variety of environments, from clean to dirty, it is time to freshen it. Turn the computer off and unplug it.

Let’s start with the screen. Wipe the screen with a camera lens cloth or a soft, lint-free, untreated cloth. Do not spray glass-cleaning products on the screen’s surface or the cloth. Most LCD screens have treated surfaces that are damaged by these cleaning products. If you need to use moisture, lightly dampen a cloth with water, distilled is recommended, and then wipe the screen.

A keyboard is more of a problem to clean then a flat surface like a screen. We start by employing gravity. Turn your keyboard or laptop upside down and gently shake it so that dust, hair and other matter lodged between and below the keys falls out. It is a good idea to do this over a recycled newspaper you can throwaway to avoid having to clean up the area afterwards. Next take a damp paper towel or cloth and gently wipe the keyboard surfaces to remove whatever has adhered to the key tops and between the keys.

Heat is the great destroyer of computers and other electronic devices. Unfortunately, these devices generate heat as they are used, in essence, the greater the activity the greater the heat. Most of these devices are air-cooled. Clogged airflow paths are common in older computers. This leads to operating issues and eventual hardware failure.

We need to clean both the inside and the outside of a desktop computer. A laptop or all-in-one like an iMac is best not opened so cleaning will be limited to the external air vents. Avoid using a vacuum on a computer. You may unintentionally suck out a connector or other part, or create a static electricity discharge that damages the machine. A can of compressed air is extremely useful in dislodging dust balls and cobwebs from inside a machine.

Open the case of a desktop computer and spray compressed air at all the interior sides of case vents, fans and anywhere you notice dust buildup. If you do not know how to open the case, you can usually find instructions at the manufacturers website. Carefully remove dust balls that cling. Do not apply moisture to the interior parts and avoid wiping parts as you may damage them. Compressed air cans get cooler as they are used and become quite cold to hold in your hand. Use the compressed air to blow all the dust away from the exterior side of air vents. Do not forget to blow dust away from the fan on the power supply.

It is a good idea to do a physical cleaning periodically. If your computer operates in a dusty or hairy environment, such as one with pets, you should clean your machine much more frequently.