Community Newsletter: Q&A: 4/14/06 Advice needed on using Wi-Fi access in public
- 4/13/06 4:18 PM
secure yourself for free with these programs
by mamouthweb - 4/17/06 10:33 AM In reply to: Other advice from our members by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
my computer hasnt been hacked over public wireless, but it is extremely easy for it to happen, you can simply make it tougher by having a whole bundle of security software on a laptop, and not doing taxes and banking on the road.
all the security programs i use are free and they are very effective.
Zone Alarm Free-its great, but its annoying until you get the program control working
AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition-great, the interface needs some tweaks but it is great at what it is advertised to do. l
Spybot-Search & Destroy-I think it is the best anti-spyware program, because it updates frequently and immunizes your computer from threats.
CCleaner-this is what i use to get rid of the crap left behind after using the internet, it works great on the temp files and cookies carrying your personal info, the only bad thing about this free program is that its not a shredder, and the registry cleaner isnt that great either, but its the best you can get for free
all of these programs i got free off of Download.com, just search for them.
WI-FI SECURITY FIREWALLS
by joshpeary - 4/14/06 2:12 AM In reply to: 4/14/06 Advice needed on using Wi-Fi access in public by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
GENTLEMEN: RECENTLY PURCHASED A DELL INSPIRON 600M, INTEL PENTIUM M PROCESSOR LAPTOP.THE MACHINE HAS MICROSFOFT WINDOWS XP HOME LOADED ON IT WITH SERVICE PACK 2. THE MACHINE ALSO HAS MCAFEE 6.0 ALSO. AT THIS POINT IN TIME, THE MACHINE HAS NEVER BEEN TURNED ON AND I PLAN TO TAKE THE LAPTOP WHEN I TRAVEL FROM ONE HOME TO THE OTHER. HOWEVER, CAN YOU TELL ME WHAT SOFTWARE OPTIONS I HAVE TO ENSURE SECURIT USING THE WI-FI IN PUBLIC PLACES? IS THERE SOME TESTING PROCEDURE THAT I NEED TO DO TO ENSURE THE WI-FI IS WORKING AND SECURE? THANK YOU.
TO THIS END, DOES THE MCAFEE 6.0 OFFER SUFFICIENT PROTECTION OR ARE THERE OTHER OPTIONS TO CONSIDER FOR PC SECURITY. THANK YOU.
REV. RICHARD ANDRESKI
410-551-5253
P.O. BOX 1344
MILLERSVILLE, MD 21108.
P.S. CAN YOU TELL ME WHO TO WRITE TO AT DELL TO GET MY SO-CALLED REBATE BACK? THEY NEVER SENT ME THE REBATE.
dell laptop answer
by kodiak314 - 4/14/06 5:36 AM In reply to: WI-FI SECURITY FIREWALLS by joshpearydude, read the directions. they will tell you how to turn the WI-FI on and off. the quick way is located on the keyboard. Usualy you hold down the FN key and hit F2. if there is Wifi around it will usualy pick right up. No Mcaffffrie sucks (in my humble opinion), norton is tops. its expensive, but the option under Norton are vastly better than mac.afffrie
WI-FI SECURITY FIREWALLS...Dell Rebate info
by HeartzX2 - 4/14/06 5:50 AM In reply to: WI-FI SECURITY FIREWALLS by joshpearyTo the Rev:
A simple search on Dell's site found this page on rebates:
https://support.dell.com/support/rebates/index.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs
Ditto on the Norton...it rocks!
Good luck!
Help with Dell rebate
by codonnell - 4/14/06 8:26 AM In reply to: WI-FI SECURITY FIREWALLS by joshpearyGee, I'd love to help you with this one, but you addressed it to "gentlemen." Thereby eliminating the possibility of help from the many skilled and knowledgeable women who visit this Q & A section.
Too bad!
Cute!
by Cadillac84 - 4/14/06 9:11 AM In reply to: Help with Dell rebate by codonnellI guess your study of the English Language in high school was deficient.
Apparently you were in HS some tome ago, Caddillac.
by Dave Konkel [Moderator] - 4/14/06 7:52 PM
In reply to: Cute! by Cadillac84
The masculine has not been the accepted form for all people for a couple of decades now, at least. "Gentlepeople" is a nice substitute, don't you think?
-- Dave K.
Some tome ago?
by Schneiderdriver - 4/15/06 10:27 AM In reply to: Apparently you were in HS some tome ago, Caddillac. by Dave Konkel [Moderator]
I was wondering how long ago that was, but I guess it depends on how thick it is and how hard/easy of a read it is. 
OK....enough!
by JMiguel - 4/17/06 1:12 PM In reply to: Apparently you were in HS some tome ago, Caddillac. by Dave Konkel [Moderator]
To COdonell....lighten up!...take time to respond to questions posted ONLY if you are willing to share your knowledge...otherwise...spare the feminist remarks!
To Dave Konkel...you mention that the masculine has not been accepted for all people for a couple of decades ago...right? Well..perhaps the person who posted his inquiry is a person who learned to use it in such way..meaning perhaps he's an older person (usually, my granmother uses words that to me make no sense, or for that matter have a different meaning).
However...if you think of yourself as an educated person...and even that as of today the use of "Gentlemen" does not apply to both genders in general..you should know that once it was proper to use it in such way, and cut some slack to people who decide to use it as such.
NOW PLEASE...STICK TO TECH ANSWERS AND DO NOT WASTE OUR TIME WITH THIS KIND OF GARBAGE. I for one, find this "blogs" very helpful, as long as no one diverts the conversation from it's original subject.
Yes it was, but grammar has not changed since then
by Cadillac84 - 4/24/06 7:09 AM In reply to: Apparently you were in HS some tome ago, Caddillac. by Dave Konkel [Moderator]
What has changed is that people refuse to acknowledge proper grammar. "Gentlepersons" is hogwash!
"he" is the impersonal 2nd person singular pronoun.
Perhaps I did attend HS when English was still taught. By your "Gentleperson" reasoning (or lack thereof), it shouldn't be called "English," should it? After all, the HS is in America and it should teach "American." Except in Canada where the HS should teach "Canadian."
Get a life!
Don't beat yourself up, codonnell.....
by Schneiderdriver - 4/15/06 10:45 AM In reply to: Help with Dell rebate by codonnellI can sense the agony that you must have been going through... Your desire to help really came through in the few words in your post. I just wanted to ease your mind, since he got help with the rebate question 2 1/2 hours before your post.
Wait a minute... He got help with the rebate question 2 1/2 hours before your post! Maybe that wasn't the purpose of your post at all! Maybe you were upset that he (whether inadvertently or not) excluded you from his request for help, and you just had to throw it back in his face! No, that wouldn't be very nice of you... Yes, I choose to believe that you simply overlooked the fact that he already got his answer, and that you were truly hurting over the fact that you couldn't help him since the question wasn't addressed to you.
Now the world is perfect again..... What's that I hear, birds singing? Or maybe I just need to replace the batteries in a few smoke detectors.
LOCATE CAPS LOCK KEY (NEXT TO THE ''A''). That's better!
by Cadillac84 - 4/14/06 9:09 AM In reply to: WI-FI SECURITY FIREWALLS by joshpearyMy Dear Rev. Andreski,
I have a number of suggestions for you which I hope you will take as seriously as I'm sure you hope your congregants take your homilies.
First, do not write email or messages in public forums with your caps lock on. THIS IS CONSIDERED TO BE SHOUTING. Most people think that is rude. if you do not wish to capitalize various letters at the beginnings of sentences people will understand and accept that, but don't shout because you will get very few responses and some of them will be insulting.
Second, though this should probably have been ''first'' never give out such personal information as telephone numbers and addresses and real names in a public forum. If you don't know better than to do that, how would anyone believe you know what you're talking about when you preach? Puh-leeeze. Protect yourself and your family from predators. This forum can be read by anyone at any place in the world -- including Afghanistan, if you know what I mean!
Third, you probably got the rebate at the time of purchase (that's what Dell usually does), but call Dell customer support and talk to someone. It's free and it's easy. Before you call, look at the bottom of your computer and write down the Express Service Code (a ten digit number that identifies your computer). When you call Dell, the automatic attendant will ask you to say the ten numbers and will then read what you said back to you. There is also a Service Tag (SvcTag) which has letters and numbers. Those two are related, so you don't really need both. [If you care to know, the SvcTag is the real ID number of your computer, but it has letters which doesn't work as well as numbers for telephone keys and voice recognition. So, the SvcTag is used to generate a numerical equivalent.]
Fourth, turn the computer on and NOT when you are at a public Wi-Fi place. (Did you notice that I ''shouted'' the word ''not''?) There's a good reason for having caps lock off, huh?
When you first turn that computer on, you are going to be directed to Microsoft's website for a large number of security updates. I strongly recommend you do that while connected to the Internet by high-speed. I assume you do not have high-speed access at home or at your office. Ask one of your congregation who is perhaps a lawyer, an accountant, or maybe even a computer geek if you can bring your new computer to his/her place of business and use a high-speed connection. Even though you have SP-2 (Service Pack 2) you will find that Microsoft is releasing security and other fixes and updates almost daily. My guess is that you will spend over an hour getting all that done even on a broadband (high-speed) connection. AND, all that needs to be done BEFORE you use Wi-Fi because many of the security updates apply specifically to wireless security issues.
Fifth, regarding Anti-Virus and Firewall issues! When you bought the Inspiron, the McAfee Security Center software was pre-installed. That is a ''paid service'' which you received free for a term as an inducement for you to purchase the service when the free period expires. The Anti-Virus is out of date, and one of the first things that will happen when you turn on the computer is McAfee AV will ''call home to its mama'' and get all the latest updates. That will be free, won't take very long, and is absolutely essential. Virus signature files change daily (and sometimes more often than that!). Keep in mind that the McAfee is NOT FREE -- it is only free for a while. Be prepared to renew it or get something else when the free term expires. More . . . .
I can't tell you how many times I have dealt with trashed hard drives because people bought the computer which had ''xyz'' anti-virus and they assumed that meant they never had to do anything. Once the free term expires, no more updates, some jerk sends an infected email and you are in computer hell. Whatever you do about anti-virus, be sure to keep it up to date.
You have been advised that McAfee ''expletive'' and you should do such and so. I don't really care what you do about that, but I'll tell you this: I hate both McAfee and Norton and wouldn't use either of them. When I buy a computer from Dell that has a choice of McAfee or Norton, I choose McAfee because I think it is easier to get rid of. Regardless, I uninstall and then I install e-Trust EZ Antivirus from Computer Associates. I renew it yearly and I have about ten licenses so each of my children and grandchildren has a fully licensed version which I renew for them each year. All of my business clients use it and most also use it on their home systems; it is THAT GOOD!
Why do I like e-Trust and not the others? Well, for starters, the program is the only one I know of that will install on a machine that has an infection and will remove the infection during the install process. McAfee and Norton will NOT do that. If you fail to renew McAfee and get a virus and then attempt to update your McAfee, you will very likely end up dead in the water (personal experience on a customer machine!). Also, I have used e-Trust EZ AV and it's predecessors on several ''fleets'' of computers and for almost ten years and I've NEVER had a virus at all -- EVER! Also, e-Trust EZ AV is very much less intrusive than the others (especially Norton). If you are interested, go to www.my-etrust.com and once the page settles down, look down the left edge for the heading ''Trial Software'' and click that link. Follow the prompts to download a fully functional trial version which will work for thirty days. All you have to supply is a valid email address, and you can decide if you want to purchase during that thirty days. If you want, you can use up the free McAfee and try the e-Trust EZ AV later -- though that is not what I'd do.
Computer Associates (e-Trust) also offers a Firewall product which I use on my laptop. It is called EZ Firewall (oddly enough! ) and can be purchased as a separate item or in a package called EZ Armor (I think) which may also include another ''anti'' something.
My laptop, also a Dell Inspiron, is MS Windows XP Pro SP-2 and is protected by e-Trust EZ AV and EZ FW and I am a happy camper.
Good luck to you --
Oh, here's another tip for you. You said you plan to take the laptop when you travel from one home to the other. You probably did not buy an extra a.c. adapter to charge your battery at different places. You should know that a.c. adapters are peculiar to the computer, so don't use one that seems to fit; if you need another one, get it from Dell.
When you operate on battery and are NOT using a wireless Internet connection, use the Fn key and the F2 function key as follows to turn your wireless system off. Look just below the screen on the right side of the computer (I think) and observe if a blue light is present. The Fn key is at the lower left of the keyboard. Hold the Fn key and touch the F2 key one time. The blue light should go off (or come on if it was already off). Practice doing that a couple times so you are familiar with it. Keep the wireless OFF when not in use and especially if you are on battery power because the power drain of the wireless equipment is significant and you'll get much longer use when it is off.
EZ Internet Security Suite
by RandyWill - 4/14/06 1:37 PM In reply to: LOCATE CAPS LOCK KEY (NEXT TO THE ''A''). That's better! by Cadillac84EZ Internet Security Suite includes EZ Antivirus, EZ Firewall, Pest Patrol anti-spyware and EZ ant-spam. All programs are bundled and you need only renew one license for the bundle. It's a little more convenient and cheaper. I agree with the previous post, it is less intrusive on your system and does the job well. I've been using it for years with no problems.
This is a must for a safe wireless or broadband internet connection.
Agreed, but . . . .
by Cadillac84 - 4/24/06 7:02 AM In reply to: EZ Internet Security Suite by RandyWillYou probably won't see this because the thread is too old, but
I agree the bundle is a bit cheaper and had a lot of nice stuff. I don't use all of those features on all of my systems, because:
1) I have a few setups that are behind well structured Linux firewalls and those clients don't really need the features of the EZ FW. I do, however, install it on any laptops since they often operate outside the Linux firewall.
2) In the early days of InoculateIT, for example, the updated AV product was not compatible with the Armor product. In order to be able to use the (then) newest AV ''engine,'' I uninstalled Armor and installed the new AV and the separate FW product. That is probably an out-of-date reason; I would guess all the parts are compatible now.
3) Oddly enough, some people don't care about firewalling. I would pay for a nice firewall just to keep pop-ups, pop-unders, pop-afters, pop-befores and all the other pops under control, but folks have different ideas (obviously! )
A kind-of interesting thing related to EZ AV that I experienced one time:
A lady called me (employee of one of my business clients) and said her computer was taking forever to boot and she was sure she had virus and had talked to McAffee about it. Her old McAffee had not been kept up and she was having to upgrade more than one version and after buying the upgrade she got ''hung up'' where the new version wouldn't install because it needed to remove the older version first and it couldn't remove the older one because .... (something).
What had happened was the McAffee uninstall programs had become ''infected'' and wouldn't run!
The machine was a Compaq Presario which had been updated to Windows Me and perhaps the Windows update was not ''legal'' -- I think I remember she didn't have the CD.
Anyway, I took the hard drive out of the machine and installed it in a Dell Optiplex as a 2nd (slave) drive. Booted the Dell, ran virus scan on drive D: and the EZ AV removed 124,000 + infected files. I couldn't believe it and I decided I'd print out a list of the files removed. That was not a smart move, by the way, and I quit when the Laserjet 4300-tn ran out of paper in drawers 3 and 2. It occurred to me (duh!) ''Who's going to read this? What difference does it make? Who cares what the file names were?'' 
So, after the infected files were removed, I put the Dell back like it was and made sure it hadn't ''caught'' anything.
Then I put the ''cleaned'' drive back into the Compaq and I just KNEW I would see a ''no operating system'' message when I turned it on, but the last chapter had to be written, so I turned it on.
I could NOT BELIEVE MY EYES!!! The machine booted, I installed a 30 day trial of EZ AV and ran a scan. It was clean and I took the computer back to the lady and told her she was blessed!
I had long before become ''sold'' on e-Trust, but that was icing on the cake!
Public Wi-Fi access with a mission
by bob3160 - 4/14/06 3:14 AM In reply to: 4/14/06 Advice needed on using Wi-Fi access in public by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Hi Dawn,
We are currently away from home because my wife needs a liver transplant.
http://home.comcast.net/~bob03160/HelpAlice.html
With out Wi-Fi, I'd have no way to communicate and update my family and our many friends.
It may not be as safe as a dedicated ISP and a home computer but when communication is essential, at times it's a lifesaver.
As already mentioned by others, greater caution and more vigilance should be used while utilizing unsecured public Wi-Fi access.
While using public Wi-Fi access, i would not make on line purchases but it's perfectly OK to communicate with your friends. (Depending on what your discussing)
Be safe, stay alert but most of all stay on-line.
( Please do one more thing, Become an Organ Donor:
http://www.organdonor.gov/ )
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