Stability

Wi-Fi Hotspots and Computer Security

By terry Leave a Comment

Are you safe when you use the wireless network at your local coffee shop or airport? Maybe. Maybe not.

Are you accidentally sharing your files on your computer? Is your computer “trusting” connection attempts from the other computers at the hostspot?

A reader asked me

To improve security when using Wi-Fi at a coffee shop or traveling, I’ve seen advice to uninstall “File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks” on the active wireless connection in the Properties menu of Control Panel Network Connections. Is it necessary to do this – is there any downside to uninstalling this? Would it be sufficient to uncheck the box, or do I need to fully uninstall it?

Filed Under: Broadband, Internet Privacy, Intrusion Detection, Networking, Security, Stability, Windows XP, Wireless, Wireless Security

To Active-X or Not to Active-X

By terry Leave a Comment

I received a question from subscriber and friend Ralph Campbell, who asked:

A number of times I have seen you refer disparagingly of “Active-x controls”.
I have seen downloads that require Active X to run properly. I have read the definition of the program, but, I guess I am just dense. What is this thing, and why do you consider it so insidious?
Admittedly, I’m technical-challenged, but can this program be explained?
What does one do as an alternative, if the program you want to download, requires Active-X to run?
Ralph Campbell

Active-X controls are downloadable programs that have full capabilities to do anything on your computer.

I’m not sure why Microsoft chose such the innocuous word “control” for a program that had no security constraints imposed upon it.

Read the rest of the article in ActiveX or No ActiveX

Filed Under: Anti-Spyware, Internet Explorer, Internet Privacy, Security, Stability, System Control, Windows Updates, Windows XP

Slow-loading Web Browser Links

By terry 1 Comment

One of my forum readers in my Windows XP /2000/etc forum (which are now shut down thanks to too many spam posts) wrote about a problem he was having.

He wrote:

IE6 SP1 browser..links take long time to download

My computer contains: Athlon 3200gb, 1 gig Ram, I have WinXP SP2 Home, and IE 6 SP1. When I click on a link in my OE e-mail, I am immediately taken to the web-site. When on a web-site, and I click on a link within the site, it takes “forever” to download the page….I watch the green progress bar, not much happens. It says “done”, but I still have to wait a long time for the page to download. I click the F5 key to refresh and still it takes a long time for the page to download.

I’ve checked for malware (AdAware, SpyBot, MS anti spyware, CCleaner….none), I ran a system scan for viruses (AVG and then TrendMicro Housecall….no viruses), I cleaned out cache, Temp files and cookies. Nothing helps.

I also ran Start/Run/ sfc /scannow with my original Win XP CD and this didn’t help. I also ran IE Fix…didn’t help.

This problem occurs on e-mails with Links from e.g. PCMag.com; Lockergnome.com; AllExperts.com, etc.

What suggestions can U offer??

I would hate to format/reinstall.

_________________

Irving S.

I wrote back to Irving with a list of suggestions — and his problem was solved.

Read how in Slow-loading Web Browser Links

Filed Under: Firefox, Firewalls, Internet Explorer, Opera, Registry Repair, Speed-up, Stability, System Control, Terry's Computer Tips, Usability, Web Browsers, Windows Repair, Windows XP

Backing Up Your Firefox Bookmarks

By terry Leave a Comment

Firefox has a convenient function in its Bookmark Manager (Bookmarks / Bookmark Managerr). Once you’ve opened BookMark Manager, which opens in a new window, just click on File, Export and choose where to save the bookmarks file. By default, the file titled bookmarks.html.

Of course, if you ever need to restore the file � or to import it into a new Firefox installation � there is a similar Import function there.

That makes it easy to back up the Firefox bookmarks. It also makes it very easy to take a copy of them with you — on a floppy disk, a CDROM or a USB Flash Drive, or on any type of memory card (Compact Flash, Memory Stick, SD/MMC card, etc) if you have a card reader to take along.

I usually do it the hard way, though � just out of habit because early browsers didn’t export and import well. Plus, my way, I always have a backed up copy from my nightly backup across my network using Karen’s Replicator Firefox actually stores the bookmarks all in one file, which you can even open with your web browser. You might need to know that, if somehow Firefox becomes corrupted and you are unable to get it to start up or to export the bookmarks.

Filed Under: Backup, Firefox, Internet Access, Stability, Storage, Terry's Computer Tips, Web Browsers

Hot-Swapping USB Devices

By terry Leave a Comment

In computer terminology, Hot-Swapping refers to being able to disconnect and remove hardware, as well as installing and connecting hardware, without turning off a computer.

Generally, this is a dumb idea, since most operating systems and most hardware aren’t prepared for you to do that.

In fact, a lot of internal hardware (drives and memory, for example) can fry if you connect them while your computer is powered. PS2 ports for keyboard and mouse are also subject to frying themselves — the motherboard connector, not the frying the cheap keyboard or mouse — if you unplug or plug a device into a PS2 port. Of course, new computers today seldomly have PS2 ports, but those from recent years have them.

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Many new devices use USB connections to connect to the computer. Examples of devices using USB connectors today are keyboards, mice, scanners, flash drives, cameras, some network adapters, and even more items.

Although hot-swapping is billed as one of the big advantages of USB, the devices are not all “hot swappable.