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Online PC Tuneup Sites – Most are Useless or Even Scams

November 30, 2011 By 3 Comments

What’s the deal with these sites that promise to double your PC’s speed with just the click of a button?  Yes, we all hear the commercials where someone is ecstatically happy because his or her PC is running “faster than ever”.  Oh really?

You may think I’m posting this because I’m a repair technician and get angry when I hear these.  Well you’re right, but not because I’m afraid of the competition.  I’m angry because these claims are mostly scams that take advantage of people.  You can speed up your PC by downloading any of a wide selection of free utilities, versus paying these bozos.

Now I’m only talking about very basic cleanup processes on PC’s that are basically in good shape, because that’s all that these sites or the free utilities can handle.  A badly under-performing PC that locks up and freezes, or gets Windows errors cannot be fixed like this.  These sites dupe people into thinking they will, and that angers me even more.  Then, they start charging extra fees for more extensive procedures.

Why not Clean Your PC Yourself, for Free?

I recommend a great little free program called “C-Cleaner“.  It’s very popular among PC Technicians and is part of our arsenal of standard tools.  You can download it from the “Resources” tab on our Saguaro PC Tech website, or at Download.com.  There’s a paid version too, but you don’t need it.

To clean and tune a really slow PC suffering from lockups and errors, several procedures are required, including checking for viruses and spyware, checking the health of the hard drive, removing outdated programs, installing Windows and driver updates, etc.  The list goes on.

Again, these sites will charge for more work, but many of these procedures can’t be done very well, or even at all via on line support.  Don’t waste your time or money.  You may find that taking your PC to a reputable local repair shop will be both cheaper and more effective.

 

Filed Under: Computer & Laptop Repair, Tips & Tricks Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Preventive Maintenance – The key to Trouble-Free Computing and long life for your PC.

November 11, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Proper PC Usage and Habits – General Guidelines to Keep Your PC Healthy

  • Install and run anti-virus and anti-spyware scans regularly (weekly is best).
  • Go to our “Resources” page where you can download some great free programs for this.
  • Make sure your virus and spyware programs are up to date! Update these programs weekly!
  • Run a windows cleanup utility to remove temporary files and other junk that can sap performance.
    We’ve got two great, free programs for this on our “Resources” page.
  • Defragment your hard drive monthly. This reorganizes your hard drive to keep in running efficiently, and prolong its life. Yes, we have a link to download a great free program for this too.
  • Run Windows Update when your system prompts you. Most of these are security updates, so these are very important.
  • Dust the inside of your computer. Get some canned air, open the side panel and blast away! This will avoid component damage from static electricity caused by dust.
Filed Under: General Misc. Tips Tagged With: , , , , ,

Top 10 Simple Privacy Tricks Anyone Can Do: Tip 4

June 17, 2011 By

Use Temporary Credit Cards for Safety and to Avoid Repeat Billing

This is a great way to add some extra security to your online purchases.  It’s also a way to avoid repeat billing from sneaky vendors (like antivirus subscriptions) or  overbilling.  Most card issuers have them (usually called “safe shopping” cards or “gift cards”).  While the gift card type of card simply runs out, the safe shopping cards let you do things like choose the card’s spending limit, expiration date, and more.  That way, you can make sure that automatic billing doesn’t kick in unless you absolutely want it to.  Vendors can’t charge you if there’s no money left on the card.  Another security feature is that if anyone ever gets a hold of your account information, all they can get is the amount of the balance on the card, or the amount of the spending limit (if you have that type of card).

Filed Under: Internet and Web, Virus-Malware Security Tagged With: , , , ,

Top 10 Simple Online Privacy Tricks Anyone Can Do: Tips 1-2

June 7, 2011 By

Tips 1 & 2: Passwords and Security Questions

These first two tips go hand-in-hand, so make sure you use them both.  Read on……

 

1. Create Secure, Easy-to-Remember Passwords

Secure passwords are the best, but not if you can’t remember them.  Most of you already know this, but are you implementing it?  There are a lot of tricks to creating easy, memorable passwords without making them easy to guess.  You can research this on Google, but I’ll give you a few ideas.

1)  Don’t use the same password for every website, especially banking sites.

2)  Alternate UPPER and lower-case letters, as passwords are case-sensitive.

3)  Use special characters, such as #,%,@, or !. Either add them or replace a letter with one of these characters.

4) Use a common base password (like a pet’s name), then add pattern of numbers that means something to you (like your kids’ birthdays).  Or perhaps add the initials of the website it’s for.

Example:  If your cat’s name is Muffy, your kid was born in 1964 and the password is for Yahoo Mail, you can use MuFFy1964YM.  For a Wells Fargo password, say your birthday is May 5, 1945.  You can use MuFFy1945WF.  Get the picture?

5)  Shift your fingers up one row and to the right (or the left, since they don’t quite line up) on the keyboard from the actual letter you want.  For instance, instead of “muffy“, type k8tt7.  Use whatever rule you want, but stick with one rule, so you don’t get confused.

 

2. Security Questions.  Keep them as Private as Your Passwords

Strong passwords are important, but they’re useless if your security question is something anyone can answer.  Most websites have ways to recover or reset your password if you forget it by using security questions, also known as “challenge questions”.  When you answer these correctly, the site lets you change your password, or will email it to you.  What would happen if a hacker, coworker, your kid, or an angry “ex” knew the answer to this question?  I shudder to think!

Instead of going the traditional security question route, you could use a formula to create a memorable, yet indecipherable security question.  For instance, you could use word association to make the question easy for you, but hard for others, for example:

  • “What’s your mother’s maiden name?” could be answered with your favorite Iron Maiden album instead.
  • Put in your mother’s birthplace when the question asks for your birthplace.  Get the picture?

Here’s another trick, but it’s not available on all websites.  Some sites let you create your own privacy questions.  If they do, definitely go for this option, as it opens up a whole world of options.

 

2. Create Secure, Easy-to-Remember Passwords

Filed Under: Internet and Web, Virus-Malware Security Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

New Spyware Infections Using Hardware Failure Scare Tactic

April 4, 2011 By

How’s this for a new one?  After years of distributing spyware infections posing as Antivirus or Security programs trying to grab your money, the “scamware” writers are now trying a new tactic.

We just got in a laptop sporting a big,

This infection is called “Windows Repair“.  Not a very creative name, but I guess they’re trying to make you think it’s a part of Windows.  The structure of this programs is the same as all the other spyware programs out there and we used the same virus/spyware repair methods as we always have.

So don’t fret if you get this.  You hard drive is not dying and your data is just fine.  If you do wind up getting this, or any other infection, give us a call and we’ll get your pc running again in a jiffy.  To learn more about us, please visit our sites below.  Thanks.

The Saguaro PC Tech Tucson Computer Repair website.

Or visit the Saguaro PC Tech Facebook Page for more tips and articles, bot ours and from other sites around the web.

Filed Under: Internet and Web, Virus-Malware Security Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

New Virus Breaking XP Machines Ability to Launch Programs

April 1, 2011 By

If you’re suddenly horrified when you find you can’t launch ANY programs on your Windows XP machine, don’t panic.  Your PC is not completely hosed, nor did you lose your data.  This is due to just another virus that can be cleaned up like any other.

It does look scary though, and there’s a bit of registry hacking needed before the virus cleanup can be done.  It actually freaked us out too when we first saw it.  If you get this nasty virus we can repair your computer.

Filed Under: Virus-Malware Security, Windows XP and Vista Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Internet Explorer 9: Fast and Smooth with Great Graphics and Video

March 27, 2011 By

Last week, Microsoft released their new web browser, Internet Explorer 9. You can only install this version on Windows Vista or 7. According to Microsoft, Windows XP, won’t run the better graphics (more on that below) capabilities of IE 9.

However, XP users can take heart that the new Mozilla Firefox 4 (just released this week) can run on XP and deliver the advanced graphics that both these browsers possess. I posted some great links about Firefox 4 on our Facebook page.

Before you upgrade, you will want to check to see if there are going to be any compatibility issues between your software and this new browser. Some of the software that might have issues are older versions of AOL’s software, and QuickBooks (pre-2008 versions).

Usually compatibility issues will be talked about on the support pages of your software so you can check there. If any software that you run talks about Internet Explorer version requirements, you will want to check closely before proceeding.

There are two places where you can obtain the newest IE. The first place is Microsoft’s website. The other site (also from Microsoft) is called www.beautyoftheweb.com. The first site will direct you to the download itself. The second site will give you some videos talking about new features, websites that are incorporating the new features of IE 9 and video reviews.

One bit of technology that really makes Internet Explorer 9 so great is the ability to tap into the video hardware on your computer. Most people don’t realize that they have two processors on their PC. The CPU or Central Processing Unit is the main general use processor of your computer. The second called the GPU or Graphics Processing Unit, is used to display graphics and video. Internet Explorer 9 now uses both of the processors to render crisper, clearer text, richer graphics and smoother video (You Tube fans will love this).

To test this out, I went to YouTube. I went on to find various types of video from old Lo-Def video (240p), right up to the max 720p Hi-Def clips. I played five different videos in both windowed and full screen modes. With IE8, any video higher than 240p would jump a bit. During transitions such as fades, the video would skip. The higher the quality, the more I noticed this. Lots of people have accepted this as “just that way it is”.

After I upgraded to IE9, I cleared my browser cache to remove any vestiges of my previous visits and started fresh. I started with the 240p Lo-def and of course, there was no difference in speed but the images were a bit sharper. When I got up to the 720p Hi-def clips, I really saw IE 9 shine. One of the videos that I chose had lots of fades and wipes. There were at least 7 transitions that made IE8 drag and pause. With IE 9, it played smooth with zero jumps, skips, or lag. The video playback was perfect!

I continued to explore some other pages that I have always had lag issues with. Yahoo has always loaded slowly due to the vast amount of content. The load time usually for me was about 5-6 seconds. IE 9 was able to load the page in less than 1 second!

I have always been concerned with upgrading my browser from past experiences. It always seemed to me that the more complex they made IE, the slower it went. Not so with this release. Check it out. There are plenty more new features in IE 9. You can read about them on the beautyoftheweb site.

Thanks for reading this post. Read more articles on our Saguaro PC Tech Blog site. For any other questions or assistance, pop us an email or give us a call. See our website for contact info. Thank you and happy browsing!

Filed Under: Internet and Web, Windows 7 Tips, Tricks & Tweaks Tagged With: , , , ,

Extending Your Computer’s Life: If Your PC is over 3 Years Old

September 19, 2010 By

I often hear the question from my customers, “My Computer is getting old.  What do you recommend I do if I can’t afford to buy a new one?”  Here’s what’s happening and what you can do.

The major issues that deteriorate the performance of older computers are:

1) Insufficient Memory (RAM):

Machines that are in the 3-5 year range of life have low amounts of RAM by today’s standards.  This is because as time goes by, all those Windows updates you’ve been getting have actually made Windows bigger, thus needing more RAM.

You may also have installed new software (programs) over time.  Newer software has more features, and so is often larger than older programs, thus needing more RAM.

2) The Hard Drive:

This is the storage device inside your computer.  It is a mechanical device and like any mechanical device, the more usage you place on it, the more it wears down.  It can become increasingly inaccurate as it reads and writes data, thus causing file corruption, data loss and a slowing down of its operation.  What can you do?

Defragment Your Hard Drive! This will make your hard drive last much longer and help your machine run faster.  Why?…. Over time, the data on your hard disk gets fragmented and spread out all over the disk.  This means the drive has to look all over the place to get your files and has to work much harder, stressing and slowing it down.

All versions of Windows have a built-in defragmenting utility, but in my professional opinion, 3rd party “Defraggers” do a better job.  I like the free “Defraggler” program, made by Piriform Software.

What if this doesn’t help? Then it may be a good time to replace the hard drive.  This gives you multiple benefits.  The most important preserving your data.  If you wait until it fails, you will lose your data, such as your pictures, documents, emails, address books and videos.

The second benefit is performance.  With a new hard disk, you have the chance to reinstall or upgrade your Windows to a newer version.  A fresh installation of Windows gives you a huge increase in performance.  Your PC will “run like new”.  Also, the newer hard drives are faster than older ones, giving you a further boost in speed.

3) Old Software and File Buildup (junk files):

A lot of the software that came with your PC is outdated and is taking up space.  You may also have lots of programs running in the background that you’re not even aware of.  Some of these programs came bundled with programs that you downloaded, but piggybacked themselves into the download and installed themselves without your knowledge.  The biggest culprits here are Toolbars (Bing, Google, Yahoo, Ask, etc.).  You should uninstall these unneeded programs, but be careful, if you’re not sure, don’t touch it.  Call a professional computer technician.

Finally, there are many files that get created automatically in the background by the programs you’re running.  These are only temporarily needed, but are left behind even after they’re no longer needed.  Clearing these out with a good cleanup utility, like “C-Cleaner” can help regain performance.  This free utility is also from Piriform Software, the same people that make “Defraggler”.

So there you have the basics.  The two utilities we mentioned can be a great help.  You can find these on our website’s links page, or at CNet’s Download.com site.

Filed Under: General Misc. Tips Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Turning Your PC Off – Good or Bad?

September 18, 2010 By

Well, it’s both.  This is one of those questions that seems to never get fully answered, as opinions vary.

One thing is certain.  You shouldn’t power your PC off every time you’re done with it.  Cycling the power can damage components because powering up a machine causes a lot of stress on the system.

However, you should turn it off every now and then to clear out the memory and let your components get some rest.  If you have an older (3 years plus) system, you can shut it down at night.  For newer systems, at lest once a week is good. We recommend twice a week if you use it heavily.

Newer systems have better power management and their sleep mode works pretty well, allowing your system components to power down fully or almost fully.  For Windows 7 machines, it works even better.  Still, you do need to shut it down occasionally to clear out the memory.  This will speed up your machine.

If you’re going out of town for a few days, it’s always a good idea to turn it off.  Another good time to shut down is during lightning storms.

For more information, tips and help with other computer issues, please visit our website at Saguaropc.com.

Filed Under: General Misc. Tips Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Speed Up Windows 7: Turn off Indexing if You Don’t Need it.

June 19, 2010 By

Did you know Windows constantly creates and indexes your data, and that this heavy chore can slow down your PC?

Actually, indexing is good if you have tons of files and you use the built-in Windows Search to find your data.  The indexing makes the searches quick and easy.

But what if you don’t have tons of files and don’t need to do searches to find your data?  Then you might as well reduce the activity of this feature, or disable it altogether.  The result will be a faster computer.

To modify or disable indexing, open the Indexing Options applet in the Control Panel.  Note that if you have your Control Panel set to “Category View”, you will not see it.  Change the view to “icons” (large or small), and you will see the Indexing Options applet.  Upon opening, you’ll see a window showing what locations are being indexed.  Click “Modify” and remove locations (folders, etc.) being indexed.  You might just choose to index only your Documents folder and nothing else, or choose nothing at all.  It’s up to you.  You can even choose what types of files are indexed as well.

If you do want to leave search indexing on, but find that it occasionally slows you down, you can stop its process when you need extra speed. Right-click on “Computer” either in the Start menu or on the desktop, then choose the “Manage” option.  Then double-click Services and Applications, then Services. Find the “Windows Search” item and double click on that.  From this properties dialog, choose “Stop”.  You can also choose the Startup type, setting it to Manual or Disabled.  For occasional use, set it to Manual and it will start indexing the next time you do a search.

Again, if you don’t have many files and you know exactly where you keep them, then disable it altogether and remove all locations.  If you have a very fast PC with for instance,  a Quad-Core processor and over 4GB or memory, this won’t make much of a difference.  Go ahead and leave it on, as you might enjoy using the search feature from time to time.

If you have any questions about this or want help tuning and optimizing your PC, we can help (but only if you live in Tucson, of course).  Our contact information is on the Saguaro PC Tech website.

Filed Under: Tips & Tricks, Windows 7 Tips, Tricks & Tweaks Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,
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