Bitlink Technology

Microsoft’s Fixit Center

LesKH — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 15:26:54 +0000

Microsoft’s Fix it Center is a do-it-yourself troubleshooting program that tweaks common Windows issues, and it comes straight from Microsoft. It’s average-user friendly, and addresses everything from network glitches to media player issues.

Fix it Center is still in beta, but is stable enough to use. The program offers a variety of categories (27, to be exact), and will give you an estimate of how long each problem will take to troubleshoot. Once you select a category, the program will take you through each situation step-by-step. The instructions are easy and clear to understand, with an easy intuitive interface.

Microsoft Fix it Center is a free beta program for Windows only. It supports Windows 7, Vista, and XP. Got an annoying Windows problem? Give it a try.

Fake Antivirus – don’t be fooled

LesKH — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 22:45:46 +0000

Microsoft’s Security Essentials, which you can get directly from Microsoft at http://www.microsoft.com/Security_Essentials/ seems to be a pretty good anti-virus program. But be warned there is a fake program with a very similar name making the rounds. The fake one is called Security Essentials 2010. Avoid that one. If in doubt, don’t download from a link or an email link. Go to the microsoft site and download the original.

“How did my computer get infected?” Acrobat Reader!

LesKH — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 16:37:17 +0000

We used to fear floppy disks for transferring viruses and other nasties to our computers, then emails, maybe USB sticks, even web sites. According to rather thorough report at ZD Net, Malicious PDF files comprised 80 percent of all exploits for 2009, due to flaws Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Essentially that means that most infections that got into computers last year (mostly Windows computers) were because someone used Acrobat Reader that wasn’t up-to-date and opened an infected PDF file.

What can you do? There are several good options:

If you use Adobe Acrobat Reader, run the updates. Get the latest version. Now. Right away. Don’t even finish reading this.
Or you might consider using one of the many good alternative programs for viewing PDF files. A popular one is Foxit Reader.
If you manage other people’s computers, software like Secunia Personal Software Inspector (PSI) will keep watch over each computer on which it is installed and inform you of software that outdated or at risk and offer to update it for you. You can download it from their website.
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Important Windows Updates

LesKH — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 23:40:37 +0000

I’m seeing an increase in clients with virus/malware problems this week, and I’m also aware that there are some significant security updates that users should apply. If you haven’t lately, I would recommend doing the Windows updates very soon (including an important Internet Explorer update) and also applying the latest Adobe Reader updates, which also cure some significant security issues (by which I mean a way of getting a virus). Do you backups. Run your updates. Save your money.

Anti-Virus software

LesKH — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 16:59:32 +0000

Choosing the right anti-virus software can be difficult, partly because it’s very hard to compare them, partly because it depends on what is important to you, and partly because the landscape keeps changing.

Do you want the one that is the best at detecting viruses, or the one that is best is removing viruses, or the one that is least likely to harm your machine’s performance?

There are several very good options.
My current preference for home users is Microsoft Security Essentials, which scores well on detection tests, is mostly unobtrusive, and seems to have very little effect on system performance. It also happens to be free.
My current preference for networks is F-Protect/F-Secure, which also scores well, is easy to license and manage, and remains unobtrusive.

There is lots of detailed information comparing the various AV products at AV Comparatives, which is an independent tester of AV products.

Please remember that nothing is as important as practicing safe computing – don’t stick unknown USB drives into your computer, don’t install questionable or unknown software, don’t use pirated software, don’t open email attachments that raise even a hint of doubt, without first checking with the sender, and don’t respond to popups unless you are sure they are safe. When in doubt, don’t click, call a friend.

Backup now!

LesKH — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 21:23:29 +0000

Like the leaves of Autumn, your hard drive will die. Your hard drive is where all you stuff is stored.

Please make sure that the things that are important to you, like your photos, email, documents, addressbook, and financial/tax data are stored in at least two places. If you have a copy on a USB stick, another computer, or an external drive, computer problems are much less stressful, because your data is safe.

Please note that moving your data to an external drive is not a backup. Until your data is in two places, I do not consider it safe.

Adjusting SaskTel’s Filters (aka whitelisting an email address)

LesKH — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 00:40:46 +0000

Do you wish SaskTel’s email filters were more aggressive, or more lenient?
Or maybe more importantly, do you wish they would let email from les @ bitlink through?

For reasons that SaskTel will not divulge, they tend to mark mail from Les @ bitlink.ca as JunkMail. But you can tell their filters of any address that you would like to insure always get through. This is called whitelisting an address. For instructions on how to whitelist an email address, mine for example, here is a help page walking you through the steps. This is copied from the SaskTel website.

Keeping Windows fresh for the long haul.

LesKH — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 21:34:31 +0000

You know how computers seem to slow down over time? Sometimes it’s because we ask more of them, sometimes they just need more memory, but Windows itself does seem to get sluggish as it ages. Here is a link to a great article about keeping your computer running well year after year.

Remote Support

LesKH — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 01:51:15 +0000

Bitlink Technology now offers the possibility of Remote Support. Sometimes the best fix is easily accomplished by inviting me to temporarily take control of your mouse and keyboard, so that I can change a setting, fix a configuration, find a file, etc., all remotely. Details follow.

In order for you to give me temporary control of your computer over the internet, follow these steps:

Download the Bitlink Technology remote support tool.
Arrange a suitable time for us both (we can talk on the phone during the work)
Run the remote support program and watch me work.

You can watch while I work. You don’t need to fuss with any settings or installing any programs. When I disconnect, I can no longer contact your machine unless you invite me again. Nothing stays running or installed on your system. If you would like to schedule an appointment or would like to know more about how this works, please call or email.

You can also view a full set of instructions.

Web site change

LesKH — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 21:47:13 +0000

Sometimes it’s just time for a new look, so you are now viewing my latest website experiement. Hopefully you can quickly find what you need. If you have some time, feel free to look around.