CrexTechs Blog

We thought our local customers might be interested to know what we have listed on eBay.  Remember, if you buy from us on eBay you can pick up your items at our Grantsburg shop and save the shipping costs.

Link to CrexTechs on eBay.

Here are three ways you can make 2011 cost you less by spending a little.  In order of most important to less important:

1. Backup--This is the most important because if you are blown away by a virus, a good, timely backup will help you get up and running faster and cheaper. Most users can back up pictures and documents easily and cheaply with a thumb drive.  Make it easy on yourself by saving all pictures to My Pictures (you can use individual folders within My Pictures to organize your photos) and all  documents to My Documents.  Check the size of these two files before saving to the thumb drive to be sure you have enough room.
2. Malware scanning--get yourself a good set of anti-malware programs and use them religiously.  We use Vipre and Malwarebytes.  Daily with the Vipre and weekly with the Malwarebytes should keep most users malware-free.
3. Surge protection--component failure is the the second most prevalent issue we see in personal computing.  The biggest cause of component failure is electrical surges that may not blow you out of the water but take a daily toll on your equipment.  Most users can get adequate surge protection for under $30.00 (minimum 1800 joules--power strips are not surge protectors, look for the rating in joules before you buy).

CrexTechs wishes all our readers and customers a very happy and productive New Year!!

Stuck for a gift?  CrexTechs has gift certificates.  From laptops to Vipre Anti-virus subscriptions just about anyone can find something they need right here.  Gift certificates can also be applied to service bills!!

We at CrexTechs wish all our customers and readers a very Merry Christmas!

Your Grantsburg Chamber of Commerce Newsletter special offer password phrase is "Show me the Discount!"

CrexTechs and Vipre (Sunbelt Security) recommend running a program called Malwarebytes at least once a week.  You can get a free download by clicking this link.  Why do we and Vipre recommend Malwarebytes?  Because two sets of eyes on a problem are always better than one.  The cyber attacker's  arsenal is ever more complex and requires unbounded creativity to keep up with the latest weaponry.  And because Vipre and Malwarebytes are compatible with each other which means they will not see the other as an enemy program and try to shut it down.

Here is how to use Malwarebytes once you have downloaded it.

Click on the icon on your desktop or on your task bar.

When the program opens, select the tab for updates.

If updates are found, you will see this screen as the updates are downloaded.

Updates will install.

Now click on the scan tab.

A deep scan can take an hour or more.  Once the scan is complete, you will see the quarantine screen.  You can delete the quarantined items.

You will also see a log that is generated during the scan.  You can close that--no need to save it.

Running Viper daily and Malwarebytes weekly (and whenever you feel like you might have gotten infected), will go a long way to keeping you up and running.

And remember, if you have your Vipre scheduled to run at night and you shut down your computer, you will not get a Vipre scan.  Check out this link to set your Vipre to scan and shut down.

Once again, Sunbelt Security News says it better than I could. Here are some guidelines to follow to keep your computer and accounts safe while shopping online. (To peruse back issues of the newsletter go to the easy to use Sunbelt Security News archives.)

For the rest of your holiday shopping, we present you with some pointers on staying safe and secure. We could write a book about this but want to give you a short easy to implement guide.

1. Keep Your PC Secure: The bad guys are trying to get in to your computer. They are releasing 70,000 (that's thousand) malware variants daily. Keep your Antivirus and Firewall up-to-date. We cannot overstate this enough, having seen so many computers get infected just because their security software was out of date.
2. Don't Be Stupid: Really I hate to put it so bluntly, but truly if you knew how many PC's got infected just because the user did something dumb, you just might scream. You have to stay aware. Avoid going to controversial sites, aka porn, file sharing sites, etc.
3. Think Before You Click: Is that photo of Angelina Jolie or Justin Bieber really that important that you are willing to risk the security of your computer?
4. Look Where You Are Going: Be certain you are doing business with a legitimate merchant. Don't just click on a link as it may be a scam. Phishing tips: lousy grammar, poor spelling and of course incorrect URL's.
5. Secure Site: And before you whip out your credit card make sure you're on a "secure "site. The URL should have instead of http, an https at the beginning (s for "security") and there should be a small gold lock in the lower right corner of the browser. This isn't an iron-clad guarantee, but still worth looking for.
6. Check Your Accounts: When you are shopping online, you want to make sure there haven't been any "accidents" of a financial nature. It is a good idea to regularly scrutinize your accounts to make sure they are not being abused.
7. Avoid Public 'Puters: Don't do your banking or any other financial transactions on public computers or terminals, which could have keystroke loggers or other malware on them, and while we are at it, also do not use a laptop and Wi-Fi doing financial things in public places.
8. Reviews: A good way to check on merchants and products is to read user reviews and ratings. But even these can be spoofed. So read with a critical eye, and use your judgment.

We want you to enjoy your holidays. These eight points will help you do so securely.

I would also add, always log off a site when you are done. Most secure sites will time you out if your computer sits idle but it is always a good practice to log off any site where you are conducting business  when you are finished.

And check for a confirmation email when you have made a purchase. Every online purchase should send you a confirmation email as your receipt. Save these to a file just for your e-transations.

Happy shopping!!