What Is Your Favorite Superbowl Commercial?

What is Your Favorite Superbowl Commercial?

In 1984 Apple Computer Introduced the Macintosh Computer with one of the most iconic Superbowl Commercials of all time. The Legendary Superbowl commercial which was based on George Orwell's novel, 1984, and directed by Ridley Posted Below. What is the best or most memorable Superbowl commercial you have ever seen?

Hope you enjoy the Superbowl this year. I am just gonna watch for the commercials. Make sure you chime in and let me know what you favorite Superbowl commercial ever is. Leave your favorite in the comments.

What Is Your Favorite Superbowl Commercial?

CryptoLocker Virus Prevention

CryptoLocker Virus Prevention & Protection Ideas

If you have yet to deal with a variant of the CryptoLocker virus, consider yourself blessed. This nasty little program has been infecting systems, encrypting files and making black-hat hackers millions of dollars in the last few years. Their methods, their virus program, and their distribution network has evolved and gotten better and better. Even now in 2015, this ransomware virus is a real threat to both home users and businesses.

This virus often comes disguised as an attachment, such as a bill of lading from FedEx, UPS, or other shipping carriers.  If you are in charge of computer security or support, Do NOT assume that your users know better than to open attachments from unknown senders.  Make sure your email spam filters are set properly and make sure your antivirus can scan attachments.

Backing up individual files away from the network, having cloud backup of individual files, and full system backups are a definitely a good idea. I will write later about backup options, and what’s best for you.

The newest method of CryptoLocker Virus Prevention is a little program called CryptoPrevent by Foolish IT. This free program helps to prevent execution of any programs from all the common areas where the cryptolocker  virus and its variants run from.

One other option, that you will hear me mention in several post, answers, or bits of advice, is the use of at least one Linux based computer in your network. Most all malware is designed to run on the windows platform. Therefore, having one Linux Based Computer running the Ubuntu Operating System can help prevent quite a few headaches.

I don’t like to bore anyone with extremely long articles. However, If there is something about this virus, system protection, backup methods, or something else I have not mentioned here the ask your question in my Information Technology Forum. The questions you ask may not only help you, but it could help other people who have the same questions.

Happy & Safe Geeking Ya’ll

CryptoLocker Virus Prevention

Computer Questions Got You Stumped?

Computer Questions Got You Stumped?

Computer Questions, or IT questions can vary from extremely simple to extremely difficult. Sometimes its hard to find an answer. Then again, some of the time an easy answer can be found with a few minutes on Google. Some questions however, aren’t that simple, and you can spend a lot of time researching without finding the right solution.

This is where the world of Forums come in to play. Most any problem that has been dealt with by computer users have been addressed by someone posting a question in a forum related to their issue.

That is why I created an Information Technology Forum: The One Geek Collective. It’s a simple question and answer forum where anyone can ask computer questions, networking questions, or whatever IT questions they need answers to. Anyone can post questions without having to log in or register.

If you want to post answers go ahead. Posting answers requires users to sign in by social media or by registering as a user on this website. Welcome to the One Geek Collective, where you can find quick responses and solid solutions to all of your computer questions.

Computer Questions Got You Stumped?

Speed Up Your Windows Computer With MSCONFIG

MSCONFIG

Speed Up Your Windows Computer With MSCONFIG

I am always surprised at how many people either do no know about, or do not use the Microsoft’s System Configuration Utility or MSCONFIG. This tool the first thing I open and use when I am troubleshooting a computer with speed issues. What MSCONFIG does for the user is control what programs and services start with windows and continue to constantly run in the background.

This is important because there are many programs that you don’t need running at start up or constantly running in the background. For instance, Quicktime (which is the integrated program most people need to install in order to view apple trailers and other movies on the Internet), adds its own startup entry whenever it is installed or updated. You do not need this running all the time and especially at Windows start-up. Therefore we need to stop this from happening. Here are the steps to using MSCONFIG to tame these items and speed up your machine.

Type MSCONFIG in the windows search box and then either press enter on your keyboard or double-click on the MSCONFIG program that appears in the  results.

 

 

 

 

The Microsoft’s System Configuration Utility will open. You need to click on the “Startup” tab, when it does.

 

 

 

 

 

 

You simply uncheck the items you do NOT want to start automatically (The name and manufacturer will give you a better idea of whether you need the program or not). Once you uncheck everything click apply and either click restart or exit without restart and you are done.

Speed Up Your Windows Computer With MSCONFIG

How to Lower Computer Repair Costs

Computer Repair Costs can often hit your pocketbook when you are the least prepared for it. In fact, it is often that most any repair costs will hit you at the worst time possible. There are ways that you can control, or at least be prepared for the cost of computer repairs when problems arise. Here are a few tips to save you money.

• Call a tech and address the problem as soon as possible: This little bit of advice and the second little bit of advice are inter-related. The sooner you call a computer technician to get your system fixed, the smaller the chance of the problem getting worse.


• Shut down computers hit with malware at the first sign of infection: As stated above, the less time a problem has to affect other aspects of your machine, the fewer the problems that will have to be fixed. This is especially true with spyware and viruses. Malware is designed to dig itself into your system and corrupt or change as many things as possible. It is designed this way to do the most damage and become hard to remove. Therefore, the longer you leave your system on after you know it is infected, the more time you give the malware to set up shop.


• Write down as many error codes or messages as the problem or your system will allow: The more information your computer tech has about the problem, the more accurately he or she can estimate the costs of repairs.


• Know and give your computer specs: You can look just about anywhere on the internet or most often right click on My Computer (In Windows), and select properties and you will see all the specs you need to give your PC technician (such as processor speed, available memory, operating system information etc.). There are methods to get the same information from Linux or OSX as well. The bottom line is that the more information you give, the easier it is for your computer tech to help you.

The bottom line is that time is money. The more time you allow a problem to grow, the worse the problem can become. As problems worsen, the time required to fix those problems can grow as well. Just as problems that are allowed to get worse can cause your technician to need more time to fix the issue, giving as much information as possible can save your technician time.

 

Most computer repair technicians like to be prepared. However, it is difficult sometimes, to know what to be prepared for when we go out on a service call. If we know your machine specifications, and as much information about the problem as possible, then we can research before we even give an estimate and be able to save our time and your cost. In short, the phrase “Time is Money,” is a good phrase to remember when dealing with computer repair costs.

How to Lower Computer Repair Costs

Information Technology Forum: The One Geek Collective

Information Technology Forum: The One Geek Collective

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Happy New Year

Happy New Year Everyone. May this be the best year any of us has ever seen. I hope that everyone had a safe, fun and wonderful New Years Eve, and I wish You all the best for the year to come.

I saw this Poem and I thought it was perfect, although I cannot credit the author because his or her name was not given.

Even during the worst of times

When I feel the years go slipping by

Life seems rife with possibilities

When the New Year arrives.

Buoyed by hope at the new year coming

I feel renewed and want to start living.

This year I’ll travel and see the sights

I’ll be bold, I’ll be courageous

I’ll reach out and go beyond

I might even try being flirtatious!

I’ll be a new fish in a brand new pond.

This new year I’ll be brave and I’ll be strong.

Even though time does fly

I won’t let this year be wasted

I’ll look forward to new adventures

And be open to opportunities I am graced with.

I’ll learn and laugh and have good times

I won’t dwell on years gone by

I’ll start each new morning a brand new way

I’ll pretend it is New Year’s Day!

May we all live every day as a new and wonderful day filled with opportunities to grow and to shine. Have a Happy New Year & A prosperous 2015.

 

Happy New Year

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Merry Christmas From One Geek Solutions

Merry Christmas Everyone and My Family & I wish you the best this holiday season. No advice do I bring, just a sincere wish that everyone has a safe, happy, and wonderful holiday season.

May your holiday season be blessed and may everyone be very happy and safe.

Merry Christmas From One Geek Solutions

Send In a Hacker

I have always heard that to stop a monster you need another monster. I have also heard the phrase fight fire with fire. The news has been filled with debates over the proper response to the cyber-attacks on Sony. Obama said that the U.S. is reviewing whether to put North Korea back on its list of state sponsors of terrorism. He also vowed that the U.S. would  respond “proportionately” to the attacks and wouldn’t be “intimidated by some cyber-hackers.” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., called the cyber-hacking “an act of terrorism” and suggested re-imposing sanctions on North Korea and adding the country to the terrorism list. While all these responses are normal and are perhaps the way to respond to the usual attacks in the real world, they do not apply to the people who committed this attack. To stop a hacker or catch one we need to send in a hacker.

 

Yeah, that’s right, send in a hacker to catch or beat one. It’s OK to enact sanctions, but the only ones able to get in and go “zero dark thirty,” these bad guys are the types of hackers we either have locked away, or working for security companies and antivirus corporations. You guessed it, some of the programmers that make our computers safe are former hackers themselves. There are all types of questions over how the public response should be. To me its simple. Don’t send sanctions, don’t send Seal Team Six, send in someone like Penelope Garcia, although this reference may not be the one to paint the right picture. There are hackers that have been locked up in this country for some pretty strange things, including hacking the Defense Threat Reduction Agency server. The DTRA is an agency of the Department of Defense charged with reducing the threat to the U.S. and its allies from nuclear, biological, chemical, conventional and special weapons. 

So let’s hope that while they are talking about these things on the news and discussing what they intend to show the public as their response, they are actually making sure several lines of code are being sent out to hunt and destroy the hackers responsible to cracking Sony studios. With the amount of our lives and the percentage of information and actions that are stored and controlled digitally in this country and every other country, we need to take this as seriously as any other threat, and send in a hacker or a whole team of hackers to protect us from what is an understated, yet very real threat.

Send In a Hacker

Great Uses For Your Old Computer

 

Now That Santa Brought You a New PC: Here Are Some Great Uses for Your Old Computer

Ok, so you got that brand new hottest fastest computer you were so hoping Santa would bring. You have unplugged your old machine and setup the new one in its place and you are good to go. Now what? Are you going to just throw away your old machine after all you two have been through together? I hope not. In fact here are some great ideas to get new uses out of your old machine, instead of sending it packing like guest who has long overstayed their welcome.

Use your old machine as a Network Attached Storage (NAS) device: Lots of people pay good money for a NAS device to have files available to everyone on their network. FreeNAS is a small lightweight program that is easy to install and can turn just about any old PC with available storage into a, No investment required, Network Attached Storage device.

Make a Media Server: Most of the LCD TVs on the market today come with some type of input that can connect your PC directly to your TV. You can serve up images or even movies from your PC to your TV directly using one of several media serving programs. One Program that can make this easy is XBMC:Kodi, which is formally known as the Xbox Media center. This is a feature rich media center available on all operating systems that is easy to install and to use.

During the holiday season I have one final suggestion for that old PC: Install linux and make it a guest computer: This is really easy to do and sometimes you don’t even have to install anything new on your machine most versions of linux allow you the option to install linux or just run the operating system from a live cd. My two favorite versions of the many linux choices out there are Ubuntu & Linux Mint due to the programs built in and the ease of use. Both of these distributions of linux are lightweight and run great on older hardware. The good thing about making an old PC into a guest computer running linux is that guest can have access to the internet, email and several programs without risking any of the computers that you use every day.

Great Uses For Your Old Computer

Computer Virus Alert

During the holiday season, businesses and individuals have hectic schedules. During this time is when people can easily be targeted with email scams or viruses. Therefore, One Geek solutions is sending out a computer virus alert to everyone who uses a PC at home, or at work. The newest virus circulating is the UPS/Fed Ex/USPS Delivery  Failure. You will receive an e-mail from UPS, Fed Ex, or  USPS along with a packet number. It will say that they were  unable to deliver a package sent to you on such-and-such a date. It  then asks you to print out the invoice copy attached. DON’T TRY TO PRINT THIS. IT LAUNCHES THE VIRUS! Pass this warning on to all your PC  operators at work and home. This virus has  caused Millions of dollars in damage in the past few days. Snopes confirms that it is real. http://www.snopes.com/computer/virus/ups.asp

Since this is the time of year where there is more packages being shipped than any other time of year, this virus is causing quite a bit of  damage. Even the smartest, most cautious, and savviest of computer users and business owners can be fooled by an official looking email from what seems like UPS, Fed Ex, or USPS. It is especially easy to be fooled when you are expecting a package to be sent. Keep your system secured with your chosen antivirus, and turn on email attachment scanning if it is available in your program. Most importantly, users make sure to keep this computer virus alert in mind when going through your daily email tasks.

If you need any advice on this warning email me at onegeeksolutions@gmail.com or submit your questions through my contact page. Be careful out there, and Happy Holidays from One Geek Solutions.

Computer Virus Alert

Changing Technology:

With all the changing types of technology these days, its hard to keep up with what one needs in today's technically evolving world. words like quad core, vmware, ssd hybrids, android, and iOS, can overwhelm the mind. However the solution is simple. Keep it simple, and take time to research. Its not important to have the latest and greatest, it is only important to have a tool for everything you need to do. Make a list of how you need to plan your day, and what you need to accomplish, then make sure you have all the tools. Its all about being productive, if you have what you need to do that, then that's all you need.

Changing Technology:

With all the changing types of technology these days, its hard to keep up with what one needs in today's technically evolving world. words like quad core, vmware, ssd hybrids, android, and iOS, can overwhelm the mind. However the solution is simple. Keep it simple, and take time to research. Its not important to have the latest and greatest, it is only important to have a tool for everything you need to do. Make a list of how you need to plan your day, and what you need to accomplish, then make sure you have all the tools. Its all about being productive, if you have what you need to do that, then that's all you need.

It is nice to be part of a community which has banded together to help one another after the horrible storms tore through our county last week. We went out to help move debris from the yards and homes of families that were hit by the storm. We were gald to see others helping out during this time.

Passwords

Computer security is as serious for most home computer users as it once was for businesses. Now with more and more comfort with using computers for banking, buying online etc, It is important to keep your PCs secure. One thing I have come across too often is a lack of a login password. Even though cyberspace is full of threats, some of the biggest threats are users in the home going to sites that the computer owner doesn't know about untill they have a virus. It is also an extra level of security for your home network. The short and simple of security and password protection is this...

• Make sure all PCs and Macs in your network have their own login passwords


• Make sure you are using some measure of wireless encryption (WEP, WPA, etc.


• Make sure your router (if you have one) has a password you chose


• Make sure to use all available protections provided by your router (mac address filtering, wireless security, password protection etc.)


• Also it is always a good idea (for home network users) to change your home network name to something other than MSHOME or WORKGROUP which are windows defaults.

I just had to share this post because I have had too many customers have to call me out more than neccesary because they would not password protect their computer from their children. Children aren't always to blame, but for my customers their problem was teenager related. Multiple tech calls can get costly no matter how fair your tech's prices may be, so protect yourself and your computer from all threats external, and internal.

New Beginnings

Here is the thing. Each day holds new promise. Just keep movin forward and you can go anywhere. That's all I had to say for now

Hi again from One Geek Solutions

I just wanted to put up a post for anyone who drops by and is a PC user. The viruses and spyware we have to deal with is becoming more aggressive and sophisticated every day. One bit of Mal-ware I have had to remove for several people lately is AV360. There are several sight that detail removal of this nasty little bugger. I recommend to any PC user that even if you aren't infected, go ahead and download Malwarebytes-Anti-Malware. This program is effective in ridding you of AV360, but once infected its hard to go on the web, so unless you have 100% foolproof antivirus and spyware protection, its better to be prepared in advance. Most of the PC users I have removed this little bug for, have gotten infected while on myspace. I'm not sure if they got infected by a myspace page or if they clicked on a link from a users page. The bug looks like this..

Its made to look very respected and official but it IS the problem not the solution. When you get these warnings please remember a few things

1. Does the warning already have softare that it wants you to install? (actual security alerts would only warn you that you are unprotected.
2. Does the warning or window give you an option to close or say no? (When in doubt use Ctrl+Alt+Delete, select the processes tab, right click on iexplore.exe, and choose end task)
3. Remember where you went online when you got infected, others may want to know.

If you do get attacked by this little nasty, install the Malwarebytes program, scan, and let malwarebytes remove the problem. I'm not sure how this program does on all infections, but it is 100% effective against AV360. I hope this information is helpful to everyone. Till next time...

Thanks for Reading

One Geek

Hi

My name is Cleon Sellers, owner and sole technician of One Geek Solutions. As of rite now I'm the new geek in town. To reach all my customers I am gonna post this blog monthly. with helpful advice, articles, links, warnings, and any other useful bits of information I can share. My hope is to help my readers and customers to enhance and protect their computer systems. If you have an area of interest please drop me a line here: onegeeksolutions@gmail.com. thank you for reading and...

Happy Computing from One Geek,
Cleon Sellers