The annual National Computer Troubleshooter conference was this past week, with franchisees from all over the world. It was great to see CT’s who I’ve met before and new CT’s.  With a record attendance near 150 this was the most jam-packed tech fest ever.  We had vendors and presenters covering many topics from Cloud Computing, Backup and Disaster Recovery, Data Recovery, Web Hosting, Virtual Servers/Desktops, Anti-Virus,  HAAS, SEO, CRM, iPad/iPhone repair, and many more great products to mention.

Look for future updates and website posts of new services and products to help you forget about your IT issues.

Creators of malware are using the death of Osama bin Laden to fool unsuspecting users to click on malware.

The exploitation of big news on the internet is standard operating procedure for virus writers and other criminal hackers, who prey upon natural human curiosity in their attempts to get users to click on malware. The technique is called “social engineering,” where hackers trick people into falling for a scam.

Malware creators wasted no time in creating fake images of bin Laden in death to attract users to click on malware, according to Zscaler. One site has a photoshopped image of Bin Laden and invites users to click on a Flash video player. The file contains an “adware” tool known as “hotbar.” You should always take caution about visiting unknown sites that purport to have bin Laden photos or videos.

Another scam bin Laden video takes users to a link that contains the Rogue fake antivirus software. Internet security company Symantec says it expects to see 100 million spam emails sent in the next 24 hours related to bin Laden. On Friday, the same thing pretty much happened with the royal wedding. Instead of clicking on short links or news that is passed around, security experts say users should go directly to a news site and click on the stories they see there.

Websense Security Labs also says that the web site that belongs to Sohaib Athar at ReallyVirtual has now been hacked and leads users to malware. Athar unwittingly live blogged the attack against bin Laden via Twitter posts. Patrik Runald, senior manager of security research at Websense says users should be warned about clicking on Athar’s site now.

Excerpts taken from VentureBeat.com – Dean Takahashi

CT University Center is announcing a raffle “Road to Rwanda 2011″ with a grand prize of a New Apple 32GB iPad to raise money for a mission trip to Rwanda. Kyra Vergho and Managing Partner Greg Vergho are going on a two week Mission trip to Rwanda; CT University Center is proud to help them reach their goal. Each entry donation of $5 will get you one ticket for the raffle and 20% off labor on your next service call.

The drawing will he held on April 16^th, 2011.  Winner to be announced on the CT website www.ctirvine.com. (*Winner need not be present to win)

If you are in located in our service area this is a great value for your $5 donation.  Call 949-419-6526 to get your tickets today and schedule your next service call.

Check out Kyra’s page http://kyra.vergho.com/rwanda for more information about the trip and other ways you can support them.

The I.T. Industry’s Picks for 2011

In January 2010, we revealed your list of technology needs for the upcoming year.  You said you’d be focusing on protection, upgrades and replacements, problem-prevention, remote support, netbooks, mobile web access and home technology.  For most of our clients, the first four topics were indeed very important over the last 12 months, and they will continue to be critical pieces of a strong technology foundation.  Netbooks were overshadowed by the release of the iPad and the competing ‘tablet computers’ from rival brands.  Mobile web access is still in its infancy, though social media sites like Twitter and Facebook have ensured that mobile phone browsers deliver a cut-down view of their main features.  In the home technology arena, photo sharing websites flourished and the hype of the 3D television has started to fade behind the shine of new internet-connected televisions.

So what are the I.T industry’s biggest players predicting for 2011?  Here are some of the most popular trends currently being talked about:

3D Without The Glasses – At a recent conference, brands like NEC, Samsung and Toshiba have paraded 3D television images without the need for you to wear special glasses.  Unfortunately due to current cost, the target market is commercial advertising and not your living room.

Social Media Money – Facebook game users will be familiar with earning or buying credits for virtual upgrades or additions to their games.  It’s thought Facebook may extend this to allow more businesses to use Facebook as a commerce platform for selling their goods.  Twitter also may also add a financial component, as businesses seek to capitalize on the fans (followers) that they’ve attracted.

Location Based Services – When Google adds nearby businesses to your search results (Google Places), you know that location-based content is going to be big.  Instead of wading through information that spans your entire city, perhaps this year it will be the easiest to find the ‘nearest’ product, service or special deal.  Watch to see if advertisers target this ‘close by and ready to buy’ market.

Tablets Move Into Business – The tablet computer has developed a reputation for addictive games, but its portability means it naturally crosses over to your work desk from your coffee table.  This year you may see more business-focused applications, especially those designed to assist sales teams.  One day you may even see every realtor carrying one.

Cloud Computing – This is the one that the I.T industry is placing all of its bets on.  Though still fairly quiet in the small business sector, larger businesses have already been strategizing how using other people’s servers could reduce their infrastructure costs.  This year, more small businesses will attempt to figure out if paying for technology on-demand will be significantly more affordable than purchasing their own I.T infrastructure.

Contact your local Computer Troubleshooters to discuss how you can benefit from the advances in technology this year or for any of your computing needs.

Seasons Greetings & Trading Days

Season’s Greetings from Everyone at Computer Troubleshooters

Thank you for trusting us with your technology needs during the year. We really do appreciate working with wonderful clients like you!  From all of us at Computer Troubleshooters, have a wonderful, restful holiday season.  We look forward to helping you prosper in the New Year.

We will be taking some holidays ourselves from Christmas Eve until New Years Day. If you need to contact us urgently, call us on our regular number and leave a message and we will call you back when we can.

Have an enjoyable break and we will see you in 2011!

What you need to know about Google’s latest change

Google has recently completed the biggest change to its service in at least 5 years.  This will impact how your website appears in the search engine’s list of results.  The impact is being felt the most by small, local businesses who may have suddenly disappeared to page 2 or beyond of the search results.

The new ‘Place Search’ sorts information around locations, making it easier to compare results in your local area.  These results will automatically appear at the top (under the paid ads) if Google thinks you’re searching for local information.   It’s important to note that as these appear before any other free search results, all other free listings are pushed further down the page.  You can also click on the Places link to the left of your search results to see the Places listings.

To be listed in the Places results, you need to have a free Google account and claim your own Places listing.  It’s a simple process and only takes a few minutes:

1.  Visit Google Places (http://google.com/places) and click the Business Owner link.

2.  Log in, or if you don’t yet have a Google account, you can sign up for free.  Make sure that you use an email address that will not change as it’s permanently tied to your Places listing.

3.  Take the time to completely fill in your business information, not just the required fields.  If your business only provides onsite services and you don’t want to display your address, you can choose to not show your address on the listing.  Specify your operating hours, accepted payment methods and add any additional details (such as on-site parking or years in business).  It’s also recommended that you add photos and video links.

4.  Google will then seek to verify your listing by sending you a PIN number, either via a postcard mailed to your listed address (within 3 – 4weeks), a recorded message phone call to your listed phone number or an SMS to your mobile phone.  Enter this PIN number into your listing and it will then show as an owner-verified listing, which will also help with its ranking.

Your Places listing is not the only thing that Google takes into consideration when ranking the Places results.  You also need to make sure you have a page on your website containing your physical address and phone number, as well as employing other search engine optimization techniques on your website.

Talk to your local Computer Troubleshooter if you need any help claiming your listing in Google Places or any other technology needs.

Is Microsoft calling you?

If you answered your phone and it was Microsoft, telling you that your computer had a problem and they could fix it, should you believe them?  What if they said they were your internet provider?  Unfortunately this telephone scam leads innocent computer users to hand over their credit card details and allows an unknown person full remote access to their computer.

The caller pretends to be from some reputable internet provider or Microsoft itself, telling the victim they are following up on a report of a computer problem or virus infection that has been detected on their computer.  They then direct the victim to visit a website to install software that allows the scammers full remote control of the computer.  Then, they spend some time opening log files and other system areas to show where the problems are and convince you to pay a subscription fee for them to fix everything.

They now have your credit card details and full access to your computer and all of your personal information.

Computer Troubleshooters franchisees worldwide have seen a recent increase in this alarming scam, especially in the USA, the UK and Australia.  Law enforcement agencies, Microsoft and other major technology companies have issued press releases warning of these calls.  Stuart Strathdee, Microsoft Australia’s chief security adviser says “Do not be fooled.  Microsoft is not cold calling consumers in regards to malfunctioning PCs, viruses or any other matter.”

In reality, Microsoft, your internet provider and other third-party companies do not have access to see any errors on your computer.  They also can’t match your computer to your home telephone number.

If you or someone you know has fallen victim to this scam, call your local Computer Troubleshooter.  We can thoroughly investigate your computer and remove all traces of their remote control software, to give you peace of mind that they can no longer access your system.  You may also want to consider calling your credit card company, cancelling your current account, and requesting a new account number.

To combat these spammers, the best thing you can do is to spread the word to your friends, family and colleagues to never give an unknown person remote access to their computer.  If you receive a call of this nature, simply hang up on them.  Develop a trusted relationship with your local Computer Troubleshooter.  They can use secure software tools to remotely monitor your computer for problems and give you the best advice on how to address them.

Make it easy to clean your Windows!

Remember when your computer was shiny and new?  Windows ran smoothly, applications opened fast and error messages were few.   Over time you may have noticed some changes though.  As applications were installed, patched, upgraded and uninstalled, as data files were created or downloaded, and perhaps as the occasional virus or malware jumped in (and hopefully was promptly squashed by your protection software), your shiny new PC began to slow down.   Between leftover temporary files, changes to the configuration files, and other debris often left behind by normal applications, it’s no surprise that your computer is slower, less reliable, and more prone to errors than it was when you first unboxed it.  The best way to give your computer a new lease of life is to wipe all of the information and start again with a new software load (commonly known as a ‘rebuild’ or a ‘wipe & reload’).

Computer experts regularly rebuild their own computers to restore their performance and sometimes it’s a better alternative than trying to remove a particularly nasty virus.  However, before the rebuild proceeds, there are a number of things that you can do to make the process easier:

1. Know where you’ve been saving your files: If you create a new document or copy some photos from your digital camera, where do you save those files to?  Whilst we can search for common file types, it’s a much quicker process when we know that you’ve been keeping everything under ‘My Documents’ (for example).

2. Know what software you use: Let us know if you use any specific software packages (such as accounting, sales or customer management software), so we can check other locations for hidden data.  These types of software can store your information in locations which may not be obvious.

3. Know your account details: Your computer may be set to store and ‘remember’ your login details for certain websites.  This information will be lost during a rebuild and will need to be re-entered, so make sure you have a list of any usernames and passwords.  You may also have username, password and mail server details in your email client that will need to be re-entered.

4. Locate your software installation files: Get into the habit of storing all of your software CDs in one box, to make it easy to find the original files when you need them reinstalling.  If your software was obtained via an internet download, store all of your downloads in one folder on your computer (e.g. name ‘Source’).  You also may need to provide a serial number, license number or product key, which would have been supplied when you originally purchased the software.  Keep these details filed in a box or in a folder on your computer to ensure they can be easily retrieved for the rebuild.

5. Your computer’s new look: If you’ve spent some time customizing your icons, menus, screen saver etc, much of this will be lost as your computer returns to the default software settings.  Take a photo of your menu layout before the rebuild or take the opportunity to create a new look afterwards.

Talk to your local Computer Troubleshooter about the benefits of rebuilding your computer and how you can help to make the process go much smoother by providing the above important information.

Finally some Internet justice!
An email spammer gets caught -read below . . .

Serial Facebook scammer fined $873M

Ashok Patel and his Computer Troubleshooters continue to substantially exceed expectations in every respect associated to the streamlining of my new mobile and remote computer needs.  From recommending products that are perfectly suited to my needs, to installing them and seeing that they function properly, Ashok’s performance is superlative.  I highly recommend his service, respect his tremendous skill set and am fortunate to be the beneficiary of the substantial background he brings to the table.  I highly recommend him.

Joel Burnstine