PreparedPC

New PC? Clean up the “Extras” with PC Decrapifier

On September 23, 2008, In Utilities, By PreparedPC

Have you unboxed a brand new Windows computer and plugged it in, only to find a desktop full of “trial-ware” installed? Perhaps the browser’s home page has been ~~hijacked~~ redirected to the computer vendor’s website?

The situation is getting better. In early 2008, Sony began offering a “Fresh Start” option when you are purchasing a computer from their site, which lets you opt out of trial-ware. Initially they charged $50, but after a public backlash made this a free option.

Dell also lets you opt out of trialware (such as anti-virus, “productivity” software, etc). If you have an Inspiron or Dimension PC, check out the 3rd-party software-removal tool (Start > All Programs > Dell > Dell Software & Utilities > Product Documentation).

If your new computer does have these software applications preloaded, take a look at the free utility, PC Decrapifier. (more…)

Firefox Add-on|NoScript

On September 18, 2008, In Security and Privacy, Web Browsing, By PreparedPC

Since mid-August 2008, users have been reporting “malvertisements,” maliciously-designed Adobe Flash banner advertisements that copy text to the clipboard in Windows, Linux and Mac OS X.

While this “hijacking attack” does not infect computers directly, it copies the URL of a website offering bogus “security software.” Apparently the bad guys’ hope is that you would mistakenly paste their URL in an email to a friend, for example, to unwittingly trick someone to go to their website, putting your friend at risk of getting infected if they visit the bad guys’ site. (more…)

Before Your Laptop Is Stolen, Check out Adeona

On September 10, 2008, In Security and Privacy, By PreparedPC

It’s a situation no laptop owner looks forward to–their laptop gets stolen. With a little planning (and hopefully, the thief’s unwitting assistance), the free service Adeona can help track down your laptop.

Currently, Adeona may be used on laptop/desktop/server type computers, but the developers are researching how to make this available for mobile devices, like iPhones. The Adeona client is available for Windows XP/Vista, Mac OS X and Linux.

Private, Reliable and Open-Source

Adeona is an open-source utility that uses a client which you install on your computer. From that point on, your information is kept private through the use of encryption techniques described in the developers’ 2008 paper. Location updates are transmitted about every 30 minutes to the community-run OpenDHT site. This information is retained for one week. (more…)

Tagged with: features

Virtual Desktops: Divide and Conquer with “Desktops 1.0″ from Sysinternals

On September 4, 2008, In Utilities, By PreparedPC

Even with a decent-size screen, if you’re running many applications at the same time, it can be time-consuming toggling through all those windows using Alt-F4 or the taskbar. Wouldn’t things be easier if you have one screen just for email, another for word processing, another for editing graphics, etc.?

Enter Desktops 1.0

Mark Russinovich and Bryce Cogswell recently released Sysinternals’ Desktop 1.0, which allows you to create up to 4 “virtual desktops.” A tiny (62 KB) download, you simply install it and run it. You can choose which key combinations you’ll use to switch between the virtual desktops.

Desktops Options

Now you can switch between your desktops using those key combinations, or by right-clicking on the Desktops icon in the system tray, where you’ll see a screen like the one below:

Choose a Desktop

Takeaway: Desktops 1.0 is a free and simple way to segregate whichever applications you’re currently running into their own virtual desktops.

It’s just one of many free utilities that Sysinternals offers. Many of these will give you insight into what’s happening “behind the scenes” of your Windows operating system. You might just find a utility here that you’ll use every day.

Upgrading to Firefox 3? Backup First with FEBE

On September 2, 2008, In Web Browsing, By PreparedPC

If you’re a Firefox browser user, backing up your browser’s settings is a good idea generally. If you plan to upgrade to the current version, Firefox 3.0.1, it’s critical that you have a backup on hand, just in case one or more of your favorite add-ons don’t work properly.

Why Upgrade Firefox?

If everything’s working well, why should you upgrade? Mozilla, Firefox’s maker, will continue to support Firefox 2.x until December, 2008. So why upgrade now? There are a number of new features, including better speed and security, that could make an upgrade attractive.

Also, some add-ons, such as Perspectives, are designed for Firefox 3.0 or above. If you’re interested in using add-ons like this, you’ll need to upgrade. (more…)

Check Slickdeals If You’re Looking for a New Computer

On August 28, 2008, In Web Browsing, By PreparedPC

Slickdeals bills itself as “the most frequently updated and complete deal site on the web,” and it is worth a look. It is a “one-stop” site that lists the latest “buy one, get one free” offers for fast-food restaurants, rebates, and how to get a “free” razor in exchange for your personal information.

More importantly for you, Slickdeals also shows current deals for computers and computer accessories from Dell Small Business, Newegg, and an assortment of “big box” stores.
(more…)

Tagged with: deals

TinyURL Shortcuts – Look Before You Click!

On August 25, 2008, In Web Browsing, By PreparedPC

TinyURL is a handy service for creating shortcut links from long web addresses (Uniform Resource Locators, or URLs). For example, you’d like to email a very lengthy URL, such as MapQuest directions to your home. If you paste the link in an email, it may look OK to you, but for the person receiving the email, the hyperlink could be broken into multiple lines. This could be inconvenient or confusing to the person you’re emailing.

Instead, you could use TinyURL to create a “shortcut” to the original link. Because this URL is short, the person you’re emailing should be able to click on the TinyURL link with no problem.

How To Be Kind When Sending Shortcuts… (more…)

Tagged with: browsing • free • safe

Tame Flash Animations with Flashblock Firefox Add-on

On August 20, 2008, In Security and Privacy, Web Browsing, By PreparedPC

FlashBlockBeforeSmall

Despite the “cool factor” that Macromedia Flash animations bring to a web page, you might want to limit Flash on your PC. You may have a computer with only a small amount of RAM that you don’t want Flash animations to gobble up.

Perhaps you’ve read about (or seen!) “malvertisements,” maliciously-designed Flash animations that display seemingly-helpful screens that say, “Your system is infected” or prompt you with a phony “System scan” option. Those fooled into clicking these convincing screens could end up infecting their computers with malware.

Flashblock, a free add-on for Firefox, prevents all Flash content from loading, except from the sites you specify. (more…)

WordPress 2.6.1 Released

On August 16, 2008, In WordPress, By PreparedPC

WordPress announced the release of the version 2.6.1 of its software, which includes a fix for the category description bug that many of us experienced after upgrading.

Interestingly, the blog announcement for this version says:

If you�re happy with 2.6, however, keep on using it. You need not upgrade to 2.6.1 if 2.6 is getting the job done.

Takeaway: Now that 2.6.1 is out (and the category bug fixed), take a look at the original 2.6 announcement to get an idea of the new features. Our favorite feature is the “preview a theme without activating it” — very slick. Composing posts is improved. Rather than clicking a button to edit HTML, you actually write in “HTML mode”, so you can see exactly what’s going on–no more surprises.

If you’re ready to move to 2.6.1, backup your current installation and get ready to upgrade.

NebuAd CEO Asked “Have You Stopped Beating the Consumer?”

On August 14, 2008, In Security and Privacy, Web Browsing, By PreparedPC

Bob Dykes, CEO of NebuAd, was recently questioned at a House subcommittee meeting by Rep. Edward Markey (D – MA), chairman of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet. NebuAd is one of the advertising companies which use deep packet inspection (DPI) to examine the (unencrypted) web traffic of the customers of the internet service providers (ISPs) who partner with them.

Kansas-based ISP Embarq is one of NebuAd’s partners. At issue was a data-gathering test conducted earlier this year by NebuAd against 26,000 of Embarq’s customers.

Embarq did notify its customers about the test, noting that customer’s web surfing data would be retained, and that they could opt-out of the test if they wanted.

Rep. Markey encouraged Mr. Dykes to offer an opt-in model, instead of the current opt-in option. (more…)