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Do you have a Windows 7 PC that asks for a user name and password when you try to connect to your wireless network? I was having the same issue with a friend’s Windows 7 laptop. I did some searching and finally found the answer.

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written by Ian Brown \\ tags: connect to wireless network user name password, router asking for user name password, user name password wep network, wep encryption windows 7, windows 7, wireless network asking for user name password

I just had a client who was infected by this nasty spyware. No, it was not a virus. It was spyware acting like an antivirus program.

First and foremost, never…
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written by Ian Brown \\ tags: adobe, antivirus soft, being forced to visit adult websites, ie highjacking, internet explorer hijacking

This is a little known, but very handy tip that you can use whenever you want to hide your files and folders for whatever reason (e.g. the files have valuable financial info, you don’t want anyone else who uses your computer to see them, etc.). It’s very easy to do, but I still felt the need to do a video about it. I also added the text below the video in case you prefer to read.

Here is the video!

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written by Ian Brown

Ever have some files or folders that you want to make private so only you can see them, or so that when you bring your Mac in for repair (which is rare), your files are hidden? Well I just did a video that shows you exactly how to do it.

Check it out!
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written by Ian Brown

If you’re having issue with Avira Antivirus updating on your system, you have a couple of options:

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written by Ian Brown

Here are some simple things that you can do to avoid getting a virus on your computer:
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written by Ian Brown

Is your PC running slow or giving you a lot of popups? Spybot is one of the programs that I use to handle that type of situation.

You can download this free software for free at www.download.com

Here is a video that I made that shows you exactly how to perform a scan on your computer for spyware and malware with Spybot: Search & Destroy 1.5 (the latest version at the time of this post):
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written by Ian Brown

1. Click Start
2. Click Control Panel
3. Click Administrative Tools
4. Click Local Security Policy
5. Click the “+” next to Local Policies
6. Click Security Options
7. Doubleclick “Shutdown: Clear Virtual Memory Pagefile”
8. Select the “Enabled” radio button
9. Click OK

written by Ian Brown

Most likely either the windows user name was changed after it was set up, or the user name consists of two words with at least one space in between (TI does not like spaces in user names).

Here is the work around:

1. While logged in to your normal Windows user, go to START>CONTROL PANEL>USER ACCOUNTS and create a new user named “Backup” (no quotes); make sure you set it up as an administrator account
2. Create a password for that user
3. Once that is done and that window is closed, then open True Image 10, start the wizard for creating an incremental backup, and when it comes to the window asking for the computername\windowsusername (where you got the “Login information is not correct” error), LEAVE the computer name as-is, delete the windows user, and enter “Backup” as the windows user (no quotes). It should look like this:

computername\Backup

4. Then enter the password you assigned to the “Backup” user when you created that account
5. You should be able to continue past that window now and finish the scheduling of the task
6. Success!

written by Ian Brown

If you feel you might have some Trojan Horses on your computer, or if your Anti-Virus software says you do, then download, install, and run these two programs separately.

Trojan Hunter
http://www.misec.net/trojanhunter/

Trojan Remover
http://www.simplysup.com/tremover/download.html

written by Ian Brown

It is best to keep Windows XP up-to-date with the latest security patches, service packs, and updates. To set your computer to do this, follow the directions that are located here:

How to Set Windows XP to Automatically Download and Install the Latest Updates

written by Ian Brown

Seeing that Internet Explorer is the most widely used browser by PC users, that is the browser that most of the authors of spyware, malware, etc., target. So, I suggest that you switch from Internet Explorer to Mozilla Firefox (a free program) for your default Internet browser. This will not only greatly decrease the chances of you getting spyware, but it will also increase your security.

Here are some reasons why Firefox is more secure than Internet Explorer:

• It is not integrated with Windows, which helps prevent viruses and hackers from causing damage if they somehow manage to compromise Firefox.
• There is no support for VBScript and ActiveX, two technologies which are the reasons for many IE security holes.
• No spyware/adware software can automatically install in Firefox just by visiting a web site.
• Firefox doesn’t use Microsoft’s Java VM, which has a history of more flaws than other Java VMs.
• You have complete control over cookies.

Even the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team advises that you not use IE (story).

Another reason why Firefox is a great browser is that you can set it up so that when you click on a link to go to another website, it opens up the new website in the same browser window, but in a different tab, much like Netscape. That way, you can very easily switch back and forth between many browsers by just clicking on the tab for that website, which is located toward the top of the browser (see screenshot below).

(click to enlarge)

For tips on switching from Internet Explorer to Firefox, go here.

To get your copy of Firefox, just click on the download link below:

title="Take back the web - Get Firefox"> width="80" height="15" border="0" alt="Get Firefox"/>

written by Ian Brown