You can always tell a popular Microsoft Windows version by the adoption rate. While some are praised for making computing easier and are quickly adopted by the masses, others are less popular and become “skipped” versions, without much use during their short lifespan. [Read more…]
One myth that has been around for a while is that Apple Macs just don’t get viruses or malware infections. Some people say it’s because there are so many more Windows PCs out there, making them bigger hacker targets, others tout excellent Mac operating system (OS) security as the reason. [Read more…]
Operating system (OS) updates come with a mix of emotions for many computer users. Excitement about the new cool features, fear of what bugs might be included, and annoyance at having to stop what you’re doing to install an update. [Read more…]
When people get a new computer or laptop, they’re not generally thinking about the hard drive that came with it right away. It’s later down the road when their computer is going slower and their storage space is nearly gone that upgrading the hard disk drive (HDD) becomes a consideration. [Read more…]
There’s no longer one type of computer virus that can wreak havoc on a system. Cybercrime and the use of malware has only become more prevalent since the very first computer virus was created back in 1986.
Those that design and release these threats on unsuspecting computer users and corporate networks have only gotten more sophisticated and now several forms have branched off from what we considered a “virus.”
Malware is now the broader term used for multiple computer threats which encompasses everything from ransomware to adware to spyware. Our Pro Tech Guy Defense Team has seen and eradicated them all.
If you’re thinking that an antivirus and malware program built in to a new computer is enough to protect you, you could be putting your computer, Wi-Fi network, and everything that connects to it at risk.
While programs like Microsoft’s Windows Defender may help as a baseline of protection, they’re not designed to be as robust as other anti-malware and antivirus programs.
We often get frantic calls for virus removal, after an infection has occurred, and we never want to leave a client after removing the malware without giving them a way to defend themselves against future threats.
That’s why Pro Tech Guy is always on the lookout for the best and most robust anti-malware software, and one program that is particularly tenacious and designed to provide a triple level of protection is Emsisoft.
We’ll get into why we like Emsisoft a bit more later in this article, but first, let’s talk about what threats are out there and why you need an antivirus now… more than ever!
It seems that malware creators never sleep! In 2017, there were 360,000 new malicious computer files detected every single day. And that’s a 14% increase over the prior year. (Info Security Magazine)
While some hackers just create troublesome viruses to prove they can do it to other hackers, the main reason for the rise in malware attacks is money. Hackers use methods like holding your data hostage and demanding a ransom to a spyware script meant to steal sensitive information (like online banking logins).
According to Statista, the financial costs of a malware attack were divided into these types of expenses:
What’s the difference between the types of malware out there? Here’s an overview of 5 common types of malware.
The most well know is the typical computer virus. They are designed to modify a legitimate file on your system to allow the virus to be run along with it. They’re the only type that “infect” another file, which is why they’re difficult to eradicate.
This is one of the fastest growing types of malware because of the financial pay-off for cyber criminals. Ransomware has been used against hospitals, large companies, and municipalities. It is a script that encrypts the files on a system, or otherwise locks the users out, and the crook demands a ransom, usually in the thousands of dollars, to give access back to the files.
This one has less of a system damage or financial loss risk because it’s meant to drive malicious advertising. It’s incredibly annoying because it can take over your browser searches to drive you to look-alike pages with product promotions.
One of the more insidious types of malware is spyware because it can sit on your system quietly for years and you don’t even know it’s there. It’s not designed to start making your computer act weird or redirect your browser, instead it silently records every keystroke you make, working to get passwords and logins to your personal data.
This type of malware is designed to trick you into downloading it onto your system by disguising itself as something else. You might visit a malicious site and see a pop-up that your computer is infected, and you need to download their cleaning software, but it’s really a trojan worm. Trojans are designed to get the user to purposely download and install them (kind of like inviting a Vampire into your home) so they can bypass other protections, like firewalls.
Most types of malware utilize similar delivery methods for getting into your computer.
The most popular is the phishing email, where you might receive an email from a seemingly legitimate source (like a shipping company or bank), and that even might use their logo on it. But it’s designed to trick you into downloading a malicious attachment or going to a dangerous website.
Here are the top delivery methods for viruses and malware:
The best defense is a strong anti-malware program. As we mentioned earlier, Emsisoft is one that’s a favorite of ours because of its triple threat protection engineered to protect against multiple methods of intrusion.
• Surf Protection: Protecting you from scripts on malicious websites
• Behavior Blocker: Monitoring new threats by looking for strange system behaviors
• Real Time File Guard: If a dangerous file is downloaded, it identifies and quantines it through a dual-engine scan
In today’s connected world, every computer, tablet, and smartphone connected to your home Wi-Fi could be at risk if even one of them downloads a virus.
Don’t leave your security to chance, contact Pro Tech Guy today for a security check to make sure you’ve got the best defense.
A common data nightmare that’s experienced around the world is thinking all your files are backing up automatically. Then a computer crashes or a device is stolen, and you find out your backup has been stalled for months.
Data loss can result in digital family memories or sensitive personal or work files being gone forever. And these days, often there may not be a printed copy of those treasured files, only digital.
While many services like iCloud, OneDrive, and Google Drive offer a way to backup cherished images and other important files automatically, they’re often space limited. And if there’s a glitch after an operating system update, you might think everything’s being saved, then find out later it’s not.
Our Backup & Recovery Team at Pro Tech Guy is often called out to help find and restore documents that may have gone missing. We also help to ensure backups are done correctly before operating system updates or if a computer needs a full reset to factory restore condition.
Technology has made it easier for more people to either telecommute or freelance from home, so many times those home computer files are not just personal photos or other family files. Home computer files are often work related and backing them up properly is as important as it is for any business.
Are you positive your data is being backed up correctly in case of a computer disaster? Read on to learn about different types of backups and the 7 ways you can make sure you’re backing up the right way.
There are lots more options for backing up your data than there used to be just 10-15 years ago. You can choose a local backup or a cloud-based one, and then have multiple sub-options in each group.
But no matter which backup method you choose, it’s important to make sure you’re backing up your data regularly… or it could cost you.
In a study by the Ponemon Institute, they estimated the cost of a lost or stolen file that contains sensitive and confidential information to be an average of $148.00 per record. But many files are priceless if they can’t be replaced.
Local Backup
Local backup means the storage of your backup files is done in the same place your computer resides. Here are the different methods of a local backup.
Pros include that you have direct access to your backup files when you need them.
Cons include that if there is a fire or natural disaster, your main computer and the backup might both be damaged.
Cloud Backup
Cloud backup means the storage of your backup files is on a server in another location owned by the cloud service. There are multiple different cloud storage services, here are a few of the most popular.
Pros include that your files are safety offsite and can be accessed from any device when you need them.
Cons include that you need an internet connection for the backup to work and for access to your files.
Once you’ve chosen the backup method of choice, you’ll want to make sure you’re following these 7 tips to ensure your backups are going smoothly at all times.
We’ve worked with customers who never double checked the files being included in their backup, only to be devastated later when they realized they left out an important folder.
When you set your backup parameters, make sure you know which files are being included and which aren’t. It’s a good idea to just include everything if you can.
Life gets busy and it’s easy to forget to do a backup if you are doing it manually. Save yourself the hassle by choosing a backup method that backs up everything automatically. Cloud backups typically offer this option and you can also set it up with a hard drive or SSD using a tool similar to Apple’s Time Machine.
Do you tend to save your things everywhere on your computer and rely on “Recent Items” to find something you need? If so, it’s a good idea to organize your files into folders that make sense to you before you start your backup. This will help “future you” find files years later in case you need to recover your backup.
One backup’s great, two are even better! If you like the convenience and safety of a cloud backup, but also like having your files where you can grab them at a moment’s notice, back up using both methods and double your security.
When is the last time you looked at your automated backup to see how it was going? Have you reopened a backed up file to make sure the files are copying correctly? It’s easy to think all systems are “go” once you click “backup”, but things can go awry. Your backup can get stuck or run out of space. Be sure to check in on it regularly to make sure there are no problems.
You might think that backing up once a week is okay for your home computer. But what happens if you’ve been working on a client project from home for a few days and your computer crashes? That’s hours of work down the drain if you can’t recover what’s on your hard drive and don’t have a backup. Backing up daily or automatically whenever a file change occurs are the safest intervals.
We are all doing more on our mobile devices and that’s the first place we typically capture treasured memories or download eBooks. Make sure any backup plan includes your mobile devices as well, so all your bases are covered.
We’ve worked with every type of backup method out there and if you need some advice on your perfect backup tool, we’re here for you!
Give us a call anytime at 508-364-8189 or <a href="https://protechguy.syncromsp.com/wf/new-check-
Have you been struggling with an increasingly slow computer? Getting near your storage limit and not sure which files to delete to free up more space? These are both common problems that a simple upgrade can help solve.
Before you give up on a computer or laptop that can’t seem to keep up with you anymore, consider upgrading to a Solid-state drive (SSD). It’s an easy upgrade that can make a huge difference in your device performance and extend the life of your system.
At Pro Tech Guy we pride ourselves on helping people solve any and all IT issues, from cracked screens to virus infiltrations. We also like to ensure people get the most out of their computer investment, which is why we often recommend an upgrade to SSD when a computer needs more speed or storage space.
A hard drive can have more impact on your processing speed than you think. While it can’t make a processor go faster or slower, an inefficient drive can leave your processor “waiting on hold” while it’s accessing information. This type of data bottleneck can slow your whole system down.
SSDs are one of the best and most affordable upgrades that offer a big step up from older hard drives. If you’re not sure what one is or if it’s right for you, just read on! We’ll tell you all about them and what they can do for you.
Instead of physically writing information to a disk, the SSD uses flash memory with memory chips to record the data. It has no moving parts, so you won’t hear that “whirr” of the hard drive “thinking”, the SSD does its work quietly.
Two of the speed advantages of an SSD over an older hard disk drive (HDD) include:
While SSDs used to be priced at a premium, the cost has come down considerably in the last several years. They’re now much closer in price to HDD’s while often having considerably more storage as well as the speed advantage.
According to the MarketsInsider, a survey of employees in the private sector found that an average of 5.59% of an employee’s time was wasted on IT issues. That’s about 27 minutes per day, or a full day each month.
Whether you use your computer for work, personal, or both (like most of us do) that’s a lot of time you could get back with a faster system.
Speed of course is the biggest reason that computer users upgrade from HDD to SSD. But that’s not the only advantage that it has.
When our Pro Tech Guy Team is on one of our monthly maintenance visits, we often have clients ask us what other benefits they’ll get from an SSD upgrade. Here are the benefits of a Solid-state drive.
SSDs are easier to fit into small spaces like thin laptops, tablets and similar devices. They are smaller and lighter than traditional hard drives, making them much more portable.
Because SSDs have no moving parts to wear out, they’re generally more durable than HDDs and have a longer lifespan.
If you’ve ever had a hard drive crash, then you know the importance of a reliable drive, especially since it holds all your files. SSDs malfunction less than HDDs and have reliability features like error-correcting code (ECC).
If you treasure peace and quiet while on your computer or laptop, you’ll love an SSD. No moving parts mean no sounds being made. This is a drive that goes about its business silently.
Who doesn’t love longer battery life on a laptop or tablet? SSDs require less power than HDDs, which means less drag on your battery life.
Whether you like to watch Netflix on your computer or like to stream your local news on a mobile device, an SSD can make the experience go smoothly. Their high performance is able to handle video streaming without crashes or lags.
Speed of course is the main SSD benefit for most people. It has an access speed of 35 to 100 microseconds and is about 100 times better than the performance of HHD. You’ll notice the difference in boot time and how fast your programs run, especially those that need to access a lot of data.
Are you thinking about upgrading to an SSD for more speed and performance? Don’t pick one out without asking a professional, like us! Pro Tech Guy can help you choose the best Solid-state drive for your device and we can even install it for you too!
Contact us today to learn more about an SSD upgrade. You’ll be so glad you did!
Here at www.protechguy.com we know that computers can be complicated. We also know that pushing one wrong button may mess up a system or lose an important file. Whether your computer is a home computer or one for a small business, those kinds of things can ruin your day. At the same time, computers are standard tools in today’s world. They need upgrades from time to time. Right now the Windows operating system is still offering a free upgrade for Windows 10 from Windows 7 or 8. The deadline for this offer is fast approaching. People who have not upgraded should seriously consider doing it soon. Why? For these reasons:
How do I do the upgrade?
Here’s the beautiful part: you don’t have to do this alone! We can manage this for you. Just contact us at www.protechguy.com in one of these ways:
What will happen to my computer?
The Windows system will undergo an upgrade, kind of a larger version of an update. Your files, pictures, etc., will be right where you left them.
How will my computer be different after I upgrade to Windows 10?
Windows 10 returns to some of the system details that Win 7 had. So while it will be the newest upgrade, it may also feel familiar to you, as well.
Whenever Windows upgrades, there probably will be some people who really dislike it. For most of us, however, it’s more a matter of adjusting to the new layout. Give yourself some time. Windows 10 is a good thing to get used to, and it will be commonplace soon.
Windows 10 is being offered for free upgrade for a few months more. After July 29, 2016, it will be available for full price which will be $119 for the home edition and more for professional editions. The time to decide whether or not you want to upgrade to Windows 10 is now. Remember, Pro Tech Guy can help. We can assure the upgrade goes smoothly and that your computer gets properly updated without any data loss.
*The Windows 10 license is free until July 29, 2016; however, this does not cover labor and back ups.
Audio Transcription:
Hey guys welcome back to the Pro Tech Guy channel I wanted to do a quick video Kind of a follow up to my last major video that I did when Microsoft gave me a call. Now I have customers asking I have people asking on YouTube channel on the comments. So I wanted to explain what exactly happens when they call and you let them into your computer.
Now as you can see in the video we didn’t get that far because I didn’t want to spend more time on cleaning up with their screwing up there was nothing on the computer anyway, there was a brand new fresh build, fresh OS installed so that’s nothing to worry about per say really, it was connected to the network so I did’t really wanna risk anything, I didn’t have the time to isolate the computer on the network to do a full in depth test to see exactly what this number would call Called what they would actually do.
So I wanna do a quick video of what exactly happens when they get into your computer. So first and foremost, you’re probably watching this video if they already gotten in your computer, or if you’re just kinda curious on what exactly happens so if you haven’t watched the original video and when they called me you better watch the kind of set up base of what exactly happens if you are not familiar with the scam yet, but what happens is they call in they say they are from Microsoft, they say there is an issue with their computer and they gotta remote in to fix it.
So there is a few things that can happen they can remote in tell you you have a bunch of Viruses or Malware and things like that and offer you this antivirus iii any antivirus or anti-malware program that will fix the problem right so as many of you may or may not know if you get a virus and you Install an antivirus that doesn’t solve the problem, the virus is already infected with the computer and it’s already doing has done what it’s designed to do usually something negative right.
So that’s one option they can sell you this overpriced scammy antivirus program that will really do nothing for you at best I mean even if it’s a legit antivirus iii that is not how you solve a computer problem, or how you solve a virus malware infection. That’s one option, that’s really the best of all of them, the second option is they try to sell you this plan is like manage service plan and I keep using this air quotes cuz they are not really what We do as professionals in the industry these are all scams none of them are legit, if they were legit and these people were actually if this were legit professional companies and they were cold calling you to see if you have an issue then they wouldn’t tell you if you have an issue cuz there is nowhere for them to see your computer And they wouldn’t be claiming that from Microsoft so keep that in mind.
So the second thing is when they remote in and they try to sell you this plan it’s some hundred dollars a month, you either accept it and it has a scam right there you are not getting anything for your two, three, four, five hundred dollars that you paid for the year, or Pre-decline it they sabotage your computer and that’s when things get really interesting and that’s where a lot of the scams can lie so when they sabotage your computer for whatever reason you deny their service or you say you don’t wanna do anything more, they already have access to your computer right and most people who are not professionals in the industry You don’t know how to remove that access so they can remotely manage your computer anytime whether you are sleeping, as long as your computer is on and has an internet connection they can most likely remote in.
So they can sabotage it in many ways they could put cryptolocker if you haven’t heard of that I’ll probably do a video on it soon or you can YouTube it or Google it It’s a pretty wide spread issue and well known issue. There is different revisions of it. I think one, two and three and then they are kinda evolving from the third iteration of the the infection.
So crypt a lock will basically in a nutshell will basically lock all the files in a computer. ask you for encryption key that you basically have to buy for three hundred and some more dollars the n you present them, you give them that money they give you the key to unlock it and you may or may not actually unlock your files then you still have the whole [INAUDIBLE] still have access to my computer Get in who really knows unless you have a professional come in and look at it.
The second thing is they can lock your computer down with a like a Sis admin password, It’s different than a regular windows login you kind of lock the computer those are fairly easy to resolve but for us professionals but. but it’s not a situation you really wanna be in, in the first place.
They can steal your credit card information, they can steal passwords, you might store in a computer. A lot of people think passwords for these programmes and Windows, and Outlook are much more secure than they actually are in real world and unfortunately a lot of people use the same password for everything so they pull this password.
Let’s say it’s [email protected] and the password is 12345, you use 12345 for everything then they know your password and your email that you’ve probably used for everything else. So it’s very easy to get in there, it’s very easy to get those passwords and put them on the computer especially for people that all they do is they scam people and they steal stuff.
So, keep that in mind and they can just put traditional malware, viruses and things in your computer as a sabotage fact or basically to entice you to buy their programs, they You say hey. You say no they worn a couple of usually pop up coming up the computer is slow. You might say I gotta call Microsoft back this scammers.
And I need a computer fixed I will by you a $300 service plan or whatever it is. That’s how I get you on that scam. And not only you are you buying. buying most likely a scammy software from them but you’re also giving them your credit card information, or your banking information and who knows what they will do with it after that? So here’s what you got to do, this is the takeaway, okay? Here’s what you got to do if you haven’t not watched this video before To the fact shut the computer off immediately disconnect it from the internet.
Okay if you are disconnect it from power and unplug if you are using a cable. just to be sure it’s offline. And maybe you it went into maybe you think you shut it out. Those are two ways to be sure the computer is no way for some one to get into it from the internet obviously some one can physically save the computer but.
we’re not worried about that right now. Call a professional, someone in your area, if I’m in your area give me a call, I’ll definitely take care of that for you. You wanna be sure that there’s nothing on the computer that they can get into. So really what the ultimate solution here is to completely wipe off the computer, back up your personal files if necessary if you don’t already have back ups and please if you’re watching this video right now and it hasn’t happened to you get a backup solution.
I’ll put a link in the description below you guys can grab that over there it’s a really good company that I like to work with called Hold back please and let me back up five dollars a month, it is cheap, cheap, cheap insurance for more things than just this type of stuff right.
Get that done if you haven’t done it already if you are watching this video after then hopefully you have back ups already set So the professional working on a computer can just resort those back ups. That’s really the best way to handle it because they don’t what to do to the computer, you don’t know what programs they got on there they don’t know what they might have stolen, you store credit care information.
So people still store passwords and credit card information. In Notepad files on a desktop I was extremely vulnerable if you are a scammer and you go into a computer and you see let me click on that notepad document there that says credit card and password or whatever it may be those are things that they can steal or they could steal other people’s information on our computer.
Maybe you have an address list, an email address list, they can start targeting and scamming all of those people and you’d really hate to be responsible for that. So please secure your stuff, backup your stuff. If you’re watching this after the infection shut your computer down, disconnect from the Internet and call a professional.
I just wanted To make this quick video for you guys. Hopefully I got all my thoughts across. It’s kind of a one-off, just thought of it today. Saw somebody in the computer professionals group that I belong to and I figured this might be helpful for my customers, potential customers, YouTube people out there, you guys watching this video thank you very much, or if you know someone who might benefit from this video please share it out to them.
Until next time, I’ll see you guys later and thanks for watching.
Audio Transcription:
Hey, everybody. I just wanted to offer a quick tip to clean up your computer. What you’re going to want to do is on any Windows machine you can search or navigate to the Windows Start Menu however you choose, you want to search for Disk Cleanup. So if you start typing in disk, you should see Disk Cleanup come on right up. This might take a few minutes depending on how quick your computer is for it to aggregate all this information, and then what you’re going to want to do is immediately click on Cleanup System Files. That’s going to basically give you a few more options so you can clean up things that are real deep in the Windows system and you want to be able to clean those, get them out of there, because you don’t need those files. Just give this a few minutes here. Once again, this is going to depend on how much stuff you actually have on the computer and how fast your computer is, how old your computer is. So you want to click basically anything here that you want to remove. Anything is safe as long as you do not have any pending Windows updates, I would avoid clicking this, and if you’re unsure, I would also avoid clicking that. You can make sure you have pending Windows updates. I can show you that in another tech tip video, but just check your Windows updates if you know how to do that. So check anything here that you want. You scroll down. Click a bunch of stuff. This computer is pretty clean, but for sake of demonstration purposes we’ll just show you how to do it on here, and you click OK. You just click on Delete Files. Everything should clean up– especially on this computer– really quick, because it has an SSD, and there’s not that much on here, and then you’re good to go. You saved a bunch of room on your computer. Quick, easy thing to do to clean up, save some space on your computer so you can put more of the stuff that you actually need. If you guys have any questions for me, hit me up over at protechguy.com, and I’ll see on the next tech tip video.
