Triona's Tech Tips

Each year I give parents a roundup of the best parental control software on the market.

Parental control software offers automatic blocking of inappropriate sites as well as content and image filtering. You can schedule when the Internet is available to your kids, log instant messages, keep tabs on social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, and monitor mobile communications. New to parental control software is the ability to protect from cyberbullying.

I continue to like SafeEyes, available for Windows and Mac. NetNanny and CyberPatrol have also been upgraded with new features. While Windows and Mac offer built-in parental controls, as do many security suites, they are no substitute for a dedicated program.

Hardware parental controls are physical devices that sit between your home network and the Internet. At this point there are none I recommend because they slow down your network and can easily be removed by wily kids. However, you can configure some home routers to perform certain parental control functions like content filtering.

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It may be hard to believe, but some of the best software is free. Try out these fabulous freebies:

1) AVG Antivirus (Windows)
AVG offers some of the best security suites on the market, and they make the antivirus component free for personal use. If you’re looking for greater protection, try the paid AVG Internet Suite which also includes anti-spyware and a firewall.

2) Malwarebytes (Windows)
I use Malwarebytes to rid computers of the worst spyware infections. It doesn’t offer continual protection (you’ll need a security suite for that) but it can help get rid of anything that may sneak through.

3) CutePDF Writer (Windows)
Need to create a PDF file? Try this quick, free program. (Mac users, use the built-in Print to PDF option under the File menu.)

4) Mozilla Thunderbird (Windows and Mac)
A free email program that rivals Outlook and spotlights Outlook Mac equivalent Entourage’s shortcomings.

5) OpenOffice (Windows) and NeoOffice (Mac)
Why pay for Microsoft Office when you can get the same functionality for free? OpenOffice and NeoOffice can open and save Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents with ease.

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We’ve got another off-schedule emergency update, this one for Adobe Reader and Acrobat. It applies to both Windows and Mac users and will be released sometime next week. I encourage you to check for updates (under the Help menu) and make sure you install this one when it comes out. You can read Adobe’s advisory here.

The new update will take version 9 users to version 9.3.3 and version 8 users to 8.2.3. However, if you’re still on version 8, I recommend you move to version 9. And if you’re on a previous version (like the omnipresent Acrobat Reader 7), you definitely want to move to version 9. Acrobat 7 was the standard for a long time but is now obsolete and can be used as a entry point for viruses.

In case you’re wondering, the difference between Adobe Reader and Acrobat is that the former allows you to read PDF files while the latter also lets you create them. Adobe Reader used to be known as Acrobat Reader and is still referred to as plain ol’ Acrobat. So, yes, these updates apply to you regardless of whether you have the full version of Acrobat or just plain Reader.

You can also visit this web site to find the latest versions of all your Adobe products.

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Everyone needs backups, but you may not have a lot of money to spend. Here are some great bargain backup ideas.

1) Buy an external hard drive
Many external drives come with their own backup software and are simple to set up. You can get one terabyte (that’s 1,024 gigabytes, or about 256 DVDs’ worth) of storage for around $100-120. If you have a lot of pictures or music, this is your most cost-effective solution.

2) Use an old computer
What good is that ten-year-old computer? If it’s still functional and has a large enough hard drive, you could turn it into a dedicated backup station. You may not be able to back up your entire computer to it, but you will probably have enough room for basic documents. You’ll need to network it to your existing computer and share files between them.

3) Burn it to disc
Almost all computers these days have writable CD drives. Many newer computers also have DVD burners. The media is inexpensive and stores well over long periods. It’s easy to create duplicate backups for off-site storage.

4) Use a flash (USB) drive
Flash drives are inexpensive and portable. However, their long-term storage abilities have not been tested because the technology is relatively new.

5) Use an online storage service
These services are often inexpensive, but are not available if your Internet connection goes down. Security may also be a question.

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My column in today’s Northwest Herald talks about the importance of regular maintenance for your computer, and how a qualified computer professional can help keep your systems up and running. But there are also some things you can do on your own to maintain your computer.

Don’t forget, if you subscribe to my Tech Tips email newsletter you’ll receive tips like these, plus tech support tricks and other ways you can get the most out of your PC or Mac computer. Click here to subscribe or send email to techtips-request-at-guidryconsulting-dot-com, subject “subscribe”.

• Turn your computer off. Some people like to leave their computers on all the time, and that’s fine. But computers benefit from a proper shutdown, so be sure you turn it off once a week so it can refresh itself at startup.
• Check your security software. Double-clicking on your software’s icon in the lower right-hand corner of your Windows screen will bring up a status window. As for Mac users, don’t forget that you need antivirus software too. I’m fond of Intego VirusBarrier.
• Run a cleaning utility. I like CCleaner for Windows and Snow Leopard Cache Cleaner for Mac (also works on Tiger and Leopard). These programs don’t do anything on their own but instead provide a convenient way to run the built-in utilities for Windows and Mac, which means they are very reliable and safe to use.

When in doubt, call a professional. It’s easier to fix small problems before they become too large, and it’s best to have a trained expert assist with your computer needs.

If you’ve ever run into a computer emergency (and who hasn’t?) here are my top five fixes.

1. Reboot
   Yes, you’ve heard it before, but it bears repeating: Rebooting your computer should be your very first troubleshooting step.
2. Try a different program
   This helps to isolate the problem. For example, if you can’t print, is the problem only with your word processor or are you also unable to print from the Web? If you can’t get on the Internet, are both Web and email not working?
3. Scan for viruses
   Virus-writers don’t exactly quality-check their handiwork. Viruses or malware will often cause your computer to slow down or behave in strange ways.
4. Check the Frequently Asked Questions
   Almost every software and hardware vendor has a support area on their web site where you can check for the solutions to common problems.
5. Reboot your network
   For Internet problems, try turning off your cable or DSL router, then your hardware firewall if you have one, and finally your computer. Turn them all back on in the same order waiting about twenty seconds between each one.

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Did you know you can expand your web browser’s functionality? Extensions (also called add-ons or plug-ins) are little programs that run within Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, and other web browsers. While extensions offer increased options, they also pose security risks.

Some extensions are probably familiar to you. One of the most popular, Flash, lets you see video content on the Web. Flash also illustrates the risks of extensions. Viruses can enter your computer through malicious Flash content, especially if you’re running an older version of the extension. Most people don’t realize that browser extensions, like all software, need to be updated.

To solve that problem, several months ago Mozilla introduced a check for Firefox to help users find and update their extensions. Mozilla is now offering this free service for other browsers. To maximize your computer security, become familiar with the extensions you’re running. The easiest way to do that is to visit Mozilla’s extensions check page, but you can also find them under Tools>Manage Add-Ons (Internet Explorer), Tools>Add-Ons (Firefox), and Help>Installed Plug-Ins (Safari).

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Those of us who have used computers for a long time remember the days when floppy diskettes offered the best in computer data storage. Then we graduated to hard drives, CDs, DVDs, flash drives.. and now, network attached storage (NAS).

A NAS is a unit containing one or more hard drives with a network jack. The biggest advantage of a NAS is that it is much less expensive than a server. Instead of spending thousands of dollars for the hardware and software needed to run, say, Window Server, you can spend mere hundreds for one terabyte (that’s 1,024GB, or about 728,000 floppy disks!) of storage capacity. And the device is barely the size of a shoebox.

The key to NAS is its redundancy. NAS writes your data across multiple hard drives using a technology called RAID. The drives are hot-swap, meaning you can replace them while the unit is running. You can also add additional storage capacity simply by sliding in a new drive.

NAS is cross-platform. If you work with both PCs and Macs, you can connect both easily and conveniently to the NAS. You can set up file shares, users and groups on a NAS, just as you would on a server. Some come with built-in backup software. Configuration is done through a simple web interface.

NAS is a terrific server replacement for any small business or home office in need of centralized storage at low cost.

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My tech column in today’s Northwest Herald is about how to protect your passwords and your privacy on the Internet. Remember, to create strong passwords:

• 6 to 12 characters in length
• Mix of lower- and uppercase letters and numbers
• Symbols if allowed
• Not easily identifiable (your spouse, your kids, your dog)
• Create a passphrase
  • fourscore and seven years ago = 4Score&7Yrs (don’t use this one!)
• Different password for every account
• Change your passwords regularly, at least every 3 months
• Don’t re-use or cycle through the same set of passwords
• You can write them down, but keep them in a safe place

No one is immune to having their accounts compromised, and weak passwords are often the method. So take some time this weekend to secure your world by setting strong, unique passwords for all of your accounts.

Here are links to the resources I mentioned in the article (they’re all free):

• About the Twitter worm
• KeePass password manager, available for Windows, Mac, and smart phones
• ExpandURL for expanding shortened links
• McAfee SiteAdvisor
  • and, in a similar vein, LinkExtend for Firefox

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There are continuing reports of problems with Apple’s 27″ iMac, which is now delayed indefinitely. Unconfirmed reports say that Apple has suspended production of their flagship iMac until the problems can be resolved.

If you have a 27″ iMac, you should install the most recent firmware updates to fix any flickering display problems. If your display remains black after the update you should contact AppleCare for assistance. Note that there are now two firmware updates for this model. The first was the 27″ iMac Graphics Firmware Update 1.0. This most recently released one is the 27″ iMac Display Firmware Update 1.0. Yeah, that’s not confusing at all.

You can find a great deal of discussion on this topic on Apple’s forums. At fault appears to be the particular graphics card used in the computer.