Phoenix PC Users Group Tip Jar

Tips, Tricks, Quips, Clips, Pix, Clix?
WebTour Links, Meeting Topics?

Links we saw in meetings?
Links from the newsletter?

Questions? Answers?
Ideas? Suggestions?

Drop them all in the Tip Jar:
Tip Jar

The newer entries (near the top)
also appear on the Home page

Install a Windows 8 Consumer Review online upgrade

Windows 8 Consumer Preview Setup will check to see if your PC can run it
| It will preview and select the right download
Setup also features a compatibility report and upgrade assistance
Built-in tools for creating an ISO or bootable flash drive
are available for some previous versions of Windows
(excluding Windows XP and earlier)
You can find system requirements plus other information on the Microsoft Website

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windo...

Double Click on the site above to start the procedure

MICROSOFT IFORMS AND ADVISES

Windows 8 Consumer Preview is prerelease software
that may be substantially modified before it’s commercially released
Microsoft makes no warranties, express or implied
Some product features and functionality may require additional hardware or software

Holiday Shopping Lists Galore

David Yamamoto recommends the following as great
sources of food shopping list ideas for the holidays.
Just print them and check items off at the grocery store.

Don't forget to Google online coupon sites as well.

http://tinyurl.com/237cgcp

http://tinyurl.com/274oknt

Dangerous Exploit in Adobe Reader

◊

InfoWorld

http://infoworld.com/t/malware/dangerous...

Microsoft Knowledge Base

Great support for Microsoft software

http://support.microsoft.com/search/?adv...

Be Careful What You Copy

Copy Machines Contain Hard Drives

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6...

Antivirus Comparison

In the January 2010 issue of PC World magazine
there is an article on the best antivirus programs.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/182539/

Security News and Reviews

See the latest security news and reviews

http://www.pcworld.com/topics/security.h...

IT Expert Voice

Interesting articles by experts

http://itExpertVoice.com/

From 2007

"free apps you can't do without"
(PC Magazine - Summer 2007)

◊

cCleaner

http://www.ccleaner.com/

Clears out/Cleans HD and OS leftover stuff

◊

File Shredder

http://www.handybits.com/shredder.htm

Overwrites a file up to 15 times to "shred" it

◊

WinDirStat

http://windirstat.info/

Graphical HD, and files by size

◊

ZoneAlarm

http://www.zonealarm.com/

Some said the best software firewall ever

◊

AVG

http://free.avg.com/

Excellent free antiVirus software

◊

A-Squared

http://www.emsisoft.com/

Spyware/malware checker

◊

Ad Adware

http://lavasoft.de/

Spyware/malware checker

◊

Hijack This

http://free.antivirus.com/hijackthis/

A spyware method finder. Creates a log file of all
processes. Useful to check for rogue apps running.
Use this only if you know how.

◊

Blacklight

http://www.f-secure.com/en_EMEA/products...

Malware/rootkit finder - use this in addition to others

◊

Belarc Advisor

http://belarc.com/

Comprehensive list of everything on your machine.
Also shows Install IDs for Windows and Office.

◊

SpeedFan

http://almico.com/speedfan.php

Temperature reports and fan controls all in one

◊

Unlocker

http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/

Reveals and can *unlock* files "in use" by apps

◊

Drive Key Boot Utility

http://h18000.www1.hp.com/support/files/...

Turns a thumbdrive to bootable

◊

ExplorerXP

http://explorerxp.com/

Windows Explorer - with Tabs!

◊

TrueCrypt

http://www.truecrypt.org/

Encryption without installing

◊

nLite

http://nliteos.com/

Windows installer but with options and update add ons

◊

SpamPal

http://sourceforge.net/projects/spampal/

Adds a -SPAM- tag to email it finds as spam

◊

UD Pixel

http://udpix.free.fr/

Easily find dead pixels on your monitor

◊

Clipboard Recorder

http://lw-works.com/

Record up to 99 copied items, even thru a reboot

services.msc

For a list of Windows services and associated
programs, click Start, Run, and enter services.msc

For more information about a service, or
services.msc itself, search in Google

(Editing services can be dangerous)

Comodo

Having switched to Comodo Internet Security
(see the August 2009 newsletter), I uninstalled
AVG 8.5, as it is not good to run more than one
virus scanner at a time, and found my computer
boots in seconds instead of minutes, and seems
to open programs faster

Barry Rose

Google Data Center

Inside a Google Data Center: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs3Et540-...
Google's Web Servers, Revealed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgRWURIxg...

ATM Skimming
and PIN Capturing

How to Spot ATM Skimming and PIN Capturing Devices: Lauren Bernat article
ATM Card Skimming and PIN Capturing Awareness Guide: Commonwealth Bank PDF

What are cookies?
Are they good or bad or both?
Should I enable or block them?
How can I control cookies?

http://www.komando.com/tips/index.aspx?i...

Tip Jar

All kinds of ideas

Drop them in the Tip Jar:
Tip Jar