Computer Repair UK

In today’s world a computer is pretty much a necessity. Most of us at the very least will use them regularly for simple word processing tasks, sending and receiving emails and browsing the Internet.

Unfortunately with this popularity has come an increasing risk from hackers and other people of malicious intent. It seems that not a day goes by without a news item about some new computer virus, trojan or worm intent on wreaking havoc with your computer’s hard drive. For more please visit computer training

The threat posed by computer viruses should not be taken lightly. They come in many different forms depending on what their creators have designed them to do. This could be feeding back to the hacker information held on your computer; slowing it down and making it unstable, or even deleting files from it.

Computer virus programmers will usually disguise their wares as the type of common file that you’re used to using everyday e.g. an mp3 music file, or they’ll send an executable program file as an email attachment that gets activated as soon as you open the email.

A lot of the protection you can give yourself from these nasty pieces of code comes down to commonsense. Don’t open emails if you don’t recognize and trust the sender. Make sure the security settings on your Web browser are set to ‘high’. Try to stay away from the ’shadier’ areas of the Internet. Don’t use peer-to-peer file-sharing programs. For more please visit computer training courses

Make sure that you have up-to-date versions of the two must-have pieces of software on your computer and that they are activated at all times. What are the must-have pieces of software that everyone should have installed on their computer? An Antivirus program and a Firewall.

There was a time when you could probably have gotten away with just an Antivirus program but, especially with the advent of always-on Internet connections in this era of high-speed Internet access, this is no longer enough. You really must invest in a good Firewall program as well.

Because new computer viruses are being invented virtually every day you should invest in an Antivirus program that checks for updates automatically every time you access the Internet. Most of the top ones will do this as a matter of course.

Remember, this is definitely one area where prevention is much better than cure. Don’t leave your computer vulnerable to attack. If you don’t already have a reputable Antivirus program and Firewall installed on your PC, make yourself a promise to sort out that omission today - the potential consequences of not doing so don’t bear thinking about. For more please visit computer training

written by DavePF

As a computer repair expert I do my best to track common threats and learn as much as possible about new and existing threats. Over just the last 2 weeks we have seen a huge surge in antivirus 2009. Because of this we have written a few guides to help people understand this threat and teach them how to fully remove this as well.

For a more detailed guide head over to here to our antivirus 2009 page. There you will find a very detailed hands on guide that takes you step by step in the removal process. You should note that you may need to purchase software to fully remove other threats as well.

Being infected with Antivirus 2009 is a clear indication that you have other threats installed on your computer as well. It is very common to have virtumonde and the zlob trojan as well.

Because of this you may want to consider hiring professional help to fully remove all viruses and spyware. I know how hard it can be to have your computer in a shop and hiring a tech to come out can cost upwards of 300 dollars. Here is a great Computer repair company that removes viruses and spyware online. Not only are they inexpensive but you can have your computer back and running in just an hour and you never have to wait in line. This company is by far the leader in remote computer repair and it’s 100% secure.

The most annoying thing about antivirus 2009 is how it constantly re-directs you to their home page. I know you are with me on this. The fake security warnings and bogus scan results is none as a scareware tactic. They try to make the user think they are being hacked in the hopes your emotions will get the better of you and you hand over your credit card information. This company has several civil lawsuits against it and Microsoft is leading the charge to shut them down. Unfortunately this never ends. You should consider purchasing real time protection to fully remove this threat and so you do not get infected again. We do offer 100% free removal guides for this but you are better off just taking the safe route and having an expert remove it our by purchasing software to protect your computer for the long haul.

I hope this quick guide has given you a few pointers and if you follow any of the advice given here be sure to post a comment to let others know what you did.

written by DavePF

There’s no doubt about it, computer viruses are a scourge on the internet community. These virus programs are written by people who just like to hack their way into other people’s computers and destroy their data. It’s hard to understand the mindset of someone who wreaks havoc with another person and never even knows who the victims are. Whereas a so-called worm works its way through your system, eating up your resources, computer viruses are written to destroy your data. So how safe can you be against the many viruses out there, looking to attack? Here are a few pointers to help you safekeep your data.

Computer viruses may enter your system from a variety of ports. They commonly enter through your browser, your email, a download or even through .ftp access, running in the background where you will never know what’s happening.

The hackers are always looking for a hole in your operating system’s security, which is why you are constantly being reminded to download the latest update, plugging newly discovered holes. When you receive notification that a new update is available, jump on it. Otherwise, you may be the next victim of a computer virus. Are you affected by viruses? if so try Laptop Repairs in Cape Town

It’s long been publicized that you should never open an attachment to an email from a source you don’t know. Some people mistakenly think that if the file attached is not an .exe format, they can come to no harm. This is a myth. An .exe file can be disguised, so that what appears to be an innocent text file on your email reader is in fact a cloaked .exe, ready to take over your system. If you’re not expecting that email with an attachment, delete it, empty your email trash bin and then empty your system recycle bin. Are you affected by viruses? if so try Laptop Repairs in Cape Town

One email attachment exception is the .zip file. Zip files are encrypted and must be extracted before you see the content files and they are still not open. In this case, you’re pretty safe.

How many times do you unthinkingly download files, simply because they’re free? You’ve got to be especially vigilant with downloads. If the file is in an .exe format, don’t take a chance. On the other hand, .pdf files are generally safe. These files require a reader, such as Adobe Acrobat. The reader, downloaded separately, does not allow any system commands to be executed, nor does it allow writing to or deleting of files. Nonetheless, with any download, always view the security certificate verified by an independent third party, such as Verisign. The security certificate shows that the file(s) have been inspected and are encrypted. The date must be current, not expired.

Computer viruses can be fatal to your PC. A firewall provides reasonable assurance of the security of your machine. Unfortunately, there’s always another hole to be found by the hacker. No precaution is ever failsafe, but if you are cautious, skeptical, and proactive with system updates, your chances of acquiring a computer virus are as low as they go. Are you affected by viruses? if so try Laptop Repairs in Cape Town

written by DavePF

The threats posed by spam are always evolving, and phishing is one of the most recent scams the spammers have come up with. Your most important protection against phishing is vigilance and a healthy skepticism. You can, however, supplement this with Anti-phishing software programs

Anti-phishing Software
Anti-phishing software works by detecting phishing content that may be contained in an email. It is genrallly used in conjunction with your email service as a toolbar. This tool bar will display the real name of any website you visit, and expose any spoofed websites that phishers may attempt to use.

This software is offers a second line of defense to for blocking phishing attacks and sites that might have foiled and bypassed by your browser’s built-in protection. Here are a few of them:

Earthlink Toolbar Scamblocker
Offers a check towards a phishing blacklist of sites
Checks the owner and location of the web site
Prevention against phishing and pop ups

Earthlink offers a free browser toolbar that includes ScamBlocker, an application that protects you against phishing scams and phishing pop ups. It will, for example, warn you when you attempt to connect to a website that is on Earthlink’s balcklist of fraudulent sites. It will analie each web page hat you visit and display a security rating of the webpage on its toolbar.

Netcraft Anti-phishing Toolbar
When a one recipient of a phishing email reports it, the relevant URL is blocked for the rest of the Netcraft community members.

Spam Protection
It will display for you the website’s hosting location, which will help expose fraudulent urls. Say, for example, you are on the bankofamerica.com website, the hosting location is unlikely to be in Poland.
The toolbar will also detect any web addresses that contain letters or characters that are only used in the URL to deceive.

written by DavePF

Smitfraud is one of those super annoying spyware applications. While it does not tend to do a whole lot of harm to the computer it does make working on your system that much harder. Check out this Remove Smitfaud site for more info on the actual removal process.

Smitfraud has many different variants and it will infect your system differently depending on what variant you have. In most cases your desktop will of changed to an image that you did not select. This can be something simple or a pornographic image. We have even seen a few say tons of curse words and taunt people with statements like “You have been hacked Mother !@#$%^”.

As well as your desktop taken over most people who are infected with Smitfraud find their home page has been hanged, they get constant re-directs and a fake security product that gives out bogus scan alerts. Check out this Remove Smitfraud site for more information on that particular variant.

While Smitfraud and Smitfraud C do not destroy files on your computer it is often a sign that you have other spyware and viruses installed. You should take immediate action and get these variants removed. Waiting will only worsen the problem and deepen the infection.

We are not here to recommend any particular product in this article. We do recommend you do your research and or visit the sites mentioned above as they have guides and recommended software to use. One thing we would like to point out for all those that are not tech savvy, is to consider hiring a pro to remove this threat for you. There are many local shops that can remove this threat for you for around 150 dollars. If you would like to save a little green you can also consider this Online Computer Repair company. These guys remove all spyware and viruses for 89 bucks and it’s a U.S. based company. They remote into your computer and can get you up and going in no time. It’s by far one of the better companies out there for remote computer repair.

Regardless of what method you end up choosing you need to take action today if you are infected. If for any reason you do not have protection you should get it soon as well. Remember no free client out there offers live upfront protection. They only kick in after you get infected. Only you can take the next step and get protected.

written by DavePF