February 2, 2012

Posted on 2012/02/02 by Philip

Thanks

I have fun figuring out how things work. Then I often have an urge to share what I discovered with people who would be interested. I also like messing about with computers and in cyberspace. Putting those two attributes together, it’s no surprise that I’d have a website or blog related to those interests.

Having a computer club audience to motivate my writing is, as they say, “Priceless.” Thank you readers. I appreciate whatever attention you pay to my ramblings.

Security

One of the nice things that came from preparing the two presentations on security we’re going to have in February is a way to put what I’ve come to know about security measures in perspective.

First, a firewall is essential. Your PC will be seriously infected within hours if not minutes if you have a broadband connection to the Internet. The threat is so bad that many times the first malware to get in sets up it’s own defenses to prevent keep competing malware from spoiling it’s conquest.

There are many threats that a firewall can’t, or at least doesn’t stop. And a firewall plus an antimalware suite won’t get the whole job done either. You need to take a wide range practical precautions to be sure of your online defense. That approach is commonly referred to as layered security.

But what’s the relative value of those layers? And what’s a good way to express that? There are many dimensions – how you use your computer, how much you know about threats, which software you use, etc. – that affect security.

It is hard to generalize the relative values for all situations. But I’ve landed on a solution that, while somewhat subjective, sums up what I’ve learned. The “Concise Index” that emerged from getting ready reflects a robust security plan in effect.

I simply assigned some risk multipliers to each element of that plan. They are my considered estimate of how much more risk the average user would would face if that particular element was missing.

The “Road Map” gives an overall view of the topics important to security, and how they are interrelated. It provides the 30,000 feet view of the comprehensive security system that I hope to make approachable.

Tablets

I’ve written about tablets here before. Marcia and I have a basic Kindle that we both like very much for reading books. I’m interested to see the Windows 8 tablets that emerge later this year. I just read a well written article by Woody Leonard that is close to my impressions about tablets so far. If you’re also interested in the tablet scene, I think you’ll find it interesting.

Uncommon sense

“Another thought to disturb restful slumber, especially if you are vain: in a mirror you can kiss yourself only on the lips.” —Neil deGrasse Tyson
Think about it…

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CyberCoyote — Jan 26, 2012

Posted on 2012/01/26 by Philip

Meeting notes

Today we talked about partitioning hard drives, drive images and file backup. We got to file restore when things went off the track. What I thought had been backed up before the meeting seemed not to be been backed up. But it’s likely that’s not true. We were out of time anyway, but I’ll get to the bottom of it, and we’ll demonstrate some restoring next week. [see the outline]

Wrapping up and moving on

I plan to use about half the time next week to cover restoring files and other loose ends about backup, and then move on to an introduction of online security (we’re going to have a whole series on that in February).

I’ve written a lot about online security in the past, and provided step-by-step plans to implement. Many others have done the same, but when you look at any one of them closely, including mine, you realize that they make good checklists for experts, but don’t really help ordinary users as much as they could.

I’ve now developed a new way to approach online security that I think provides a conscientious user the perspective they need to see what the objective is and how to go about achieving it. The key is to think in terms of visible and invisible threats.

You’ll find the skeleton for that approach, and some of the content we’ll be working on under the “Security” menu at the top of HTCC website/blog pages, or in the road map. Some of the early details are roughed in, with plenty of content to get us started.

Wintry mix

I was amused to see this portion of the forecast when I checked the weather in Spokane Valley the other day. It’s a perfect picture of a typical weather cycle there. First some snow to get packed down and make you worry, then some freezing rain to coat the roads with black ice. Finally, more snow on top to hide the black ice. After that the morning commute starts, with much fun for all.

Then at about 2:00 in the morning a day or two later, there’s a warm wind blowing, it’s 52 degrees and it’s raining. In a couple of hours the roads are all clear and ready for the next cycle. Yippee! Nice to be in Arizona.

BTW, if you enter your ZIP code at the top of the NWS page you’ll get your own forecast. Now, double-click the little map at the exact spot you want, and you’ll have your own pin-point forecast. There’s a ton of other great weather stuff at the NWS site too.

Cybernauts, restart your computers

Last week I mentioned in passing that I was going to use True Image to restore my main PC to an earlier time. I decided to use the restore partition that HP puts on a computer instead. I found that the last useful images I had were a couple of years old. It’s been limping along for over a year, and I just lived with it. Going back two years meant I’d have to update or replace most of my programs anyway. I figured I might as well go all the way back to “factory fresh”. So that’s what I did.

When I started the refreshed system, I learned that I needed over 100 updates for Windows. You can imaging that I had some tense moments along the way. I did the updates in batches, and on one batch of 17 the process seemed to stop half way through downloading. Oh bother.

I waited 15 minutes or so and nothing happened. I also tried several ways to get the process to restart, including restarting the computer, but nothing worked. Then, for some reason I don’t quite remember, I shut the computer down (instead of restarting).

When I started it again, 16 of the 17 updates had been installed after all, even though it had appeared before that they hadn’t even been downloaded. I think the reason the download process seemed to stall in the first place is that the download progress bar stalled, not the process itself. I got the 17th one installed too.

Moral of the story

After this, I’ll remember to try a hard shutdown when a restart doesn’t work for updates. I’ve done that for other hangups, but never needed it for updates. Some problems even require removing all sources of power before restarting. My advice to you: Burn the three restart methods below into your occipital lobe.

  1. Simple restart.
  2. Shutdown and then start.
  3. Shutdown, unplug the power cord (and remove the battery if it’s a notebook), press the start button (to drain residual energy, reapply power, and then start.

Microsoft (vs Windows) Update

Maybe it’s just me: I’ve been confused about the difference between Windows Update and Microsoft Update almost forever. Well not quite. When Microsoft Update was first introduced it all seemed to make sense. But there are confusing indicators when you go to use it. The big question is: Have I found all the updates I need? Trying to make sure of that has been a chore each month.

I should have taken the time to figure it out a long time ago. The answer was fairly obvious now that I have. But people are satisfiers [see p47], and I’m a people so I was satisfied just to cope. The confusion got to be too much when I was doing all the updates I wrote about above though. I’ve posted an expose on what I discovered, so if you’ve been confused too, read it and learn the difference.

 

Party guest

More fine art from my collection (click to enlarge).

Uncommon sense

“Wherefore being all of one mind, we do highly resolve that government of the grafted by the grafter for the grafter shall not perish from the earth.” —Mark Twain

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A Jump List for Control Panel

Posted on 2012/01/25 by Philip

Serendipity strikes again

I just discovered that Windows 7 will show the “Jump List” for Control Panel if you set it up right. There’s already a link for Control Panel on the right side of the Start Menu, but a jump list is not available.

However, if you “pin” the Control Panel shortcut to the Taskbar and/or the Taskbar, you get the Jump List just as you do for any other pinned shortcut.

  1. Start Control Panel the usual way. Control Panel will open and the icon will appear at the right end of the icons on the Taskbar.
  2. Right-click the Control Panel icon and select “Pin this program to taskbar.”
  3. To also pin the the icon to the Start button, return to the Start menu, and type “control” in the search box.
  4. Right-click the upper icon on the search results, and choose “Pin to Start Menu.”
  5. Now you can unpin Control Panel from the Taskbar if you like. It will still be pinned to the Start Menu.
  6. You can also semi-permanently pin Control Panel applets you have previously opened to the Jump List by clicking associated thumbtacks in the Jump list.

Note 1: Windows 7 “Help and Support” (link in right-hand column of the Start menu) has excellent content on “pinning”, “Jump Lists”, etc. The online version of Windows 7 Help—Windows Help  and How-to—also has much of, if not the same information on Jump Lists, and using Jump Lists.

Note 2: If you pin Control Panel to the Taskbar, it’s possible to click-and-drag icons right from the Control Panel pane to the icon on the taskbar, and they’ll be pinned to it. They’ll show up in the Jump List for the icon in the Start Menu too.

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Topic – Backup

Posted on 2012/01/25 by Philip

This post was the outline and notes for a 2012 presentation on image and file backup, and in particular using Acronis True Image and Windows 7 Backup.

View/save a clean copy of the core document.

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Microsoft (vs Windows) Update

Posted on 2012/01/22 by Philip

Click the images to see them larger.

Windows Update

Windows Update checks Windows, and only Windows against available updates. It’s the default setting for Windows Update, which has an applet in Control Panel.

Microsoft Update

Microsoft Update is an update service for Microsoft Office and more. You may, or may have already seen an offer to activate Microsoft Update. The offer indicates that you will receive updates for Windows, Office and other Microsoft software. Sounds as if you’d get the whole enchilada. Fine so far (sort of). That’s not part of the applet, or even Control Panel. It’s a webpage. What the heck?

Confusion sets in

If you accept the offer, it will seem that you’re all set. You are, but if you are observant, you’ll see that you are still using Windows update.  What’s up with that? I wanted to use Microsoft Update, not Windows Update. I’m missing out on Office updates, and all that ain’t I? And if you can find a link to Microsoft Update, Microsoft will perversely redirect your click to the Windows Update applet. Nowhere do they make it clear whats up.

De-obfuscation

The way Microsoft implemented Microsoft Update was to tack it on to Windows Update as an option. I can understand that they didn’t want to change the name of Windows Update to Microsoft update (I would have bit the bullet myself).

So what happens when you activate Microsoft Update is that Windows Update takes on the responsibility for getting the rest of the Microsoft Office stuff. Notice in this last image that the suggestion to, “Get updates for other Microsoft products,” has changed to a little notice about, “You receive updates…” Maybe it’s obvious, but I never quite understood what it meant. Notice that it still says “Windows Update” in large font size, and nowhere do you see the words “Microsoft Update”. Why not change the title to “Microsoft and Windows Update”? That’s what it is.

The sad thing is, you could have skipped this little adventure by clicking [Change settings] in the left column of of the Windows Update applet in Control Panel. Actually, they could have named the applet simply “Updates”, but they always want to include their branding (Windows and Microsoft) in anything they give a name. Stupid Microsoft.

 

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CyberCoyote — January 19, 2012

Posted on 2012/01/20 by Philip

True Image

Some of you may know about my dependence on drive images. :D In fact, I’ll be using one to restore the very computer I’m using right now – after I finish this post and get some things backed up just in case. I’ve used True Image for disk imaging for years. It has always worked well for me, and it’s “priceless” when, for example, your PC is suddenly no longer able to install programs. ;)

Gene Barlow and his wife were here to tell us about using True Image, and he also described the new “Sync” capability that’s now included. There are many ways to sync via the “cloud” these days. The True Image solution looks like it would be easy to set up for syncing between family, friends or associates.

Gene described a three tier strategy for drive images. It involves creating two new partitions on your hard drive. That gives you three – one for your programs and Windows, one for more-or-less static files, and the third for files that frequently change or that you want to back up as soon as they are added or changed.

Trouble is, most PC suppliers these days usurp three partitions for their own recovery schemes (to avoid giving you a 15¢ recovery DVD). If you add those to the original C: drive, that makes four. And four partitions is essentially all you can have in this situation, so you’re stymied.

The alternative is to make a drive image of the whole drive once a quarter or so, and to use a conventional backup program for the other more frequent backup jobs. True Image actually has that capability.

Gene Barlow’s User Group Store has 50% discounts for True Image, and the Disk Director partitioning program. He also has some nice technical articles in “Resources” at the bottom of this page.

I will be demonstrating an example of setting up True Image next week, along with discussing several other backup approaches. In particular, we’ll look at partitioning questions, and we’ll also look at using Windows Backup, which is an integral part of Windows.

Windows 7 Class

We put the session scheduled for January 19 off until January 26 to avoid conflict with the Happy Trails parade. So January 26 will be our last session.

Uncommon sense

“Most people on the Internet are telling other people on the Internet they’re wrong. That’s just wrong.” —Curmudgeon

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CyberCoyote — January 12, 2012

Posted on 2012/01/12 by Philip

Let ‘er rip

George gave us the rundown on ripping CDs, MP3 files, burning audio and MP3 CDs. He also discussed capture of YouTube videos and streaming music, and extracting MP3 files (just the sound) from Video files. Before I give you a few details (there’s more coming from the Yahoo! group), here’s a definition from my legacy website:

MP3 is the audio track that’s part of an MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) file. MPEGs are movie files. MP3 is derived from “MPEG Audio Layer 3″, the formal name for the audio track in these files.

Windows Media Player is an audio/video player that comes with Windows. Version 12 for Windows 7 can do most of the ripping and burning that George described, but there are several other programs that many find to be more capable, or easier to use. If you want to follow up on this topic, here are some links to get you started:

Windows 8

Microsoft announced that Windows 8 Beta will be released at the end of February. I’m looking forward to trying out this new build of Windows on the club’s ancient laptop. I’ll also be installing it on my vintage PC in Washington. Paul Thurrott portrayed the wait for this event better than I could have:

So, here we sit in a weird middle area between the Developer Preview, which is magnificent but flawed, and the Beta release, which is mysterious and exciting, but still an unknown quantity.

Serious WiFi router vulnerability

My father often used to say: “Some dumb engineer…,” when something broke that was obviously designed poorly. Well some dumb engineer must have thought it was a good idea to make it easy to install new routers by putting a PIN number on the label of the router.

The problem is, that PIN is only 8 digits long (my router key is 53 characters), and it can easily be cracked in a couple of hours by an unattended PC. Something that thousands of miscreants are willing to try.

If you have one of these easy-peasy routers, and are located somewhere in the middle of Happy Trails, you may be OK. But if you spend time in an ordinary residential area, or in a RV park you may be vulnerable.

In this case, older is better, and my old routers are not vulnerable. You can check on your router, and learn how to mitigate the problem if you have one by following these links.

My father never said this, but I often do: “It’s just one damn thing after another.”

Uncommon sense Calvin and hobbes.

Japanese Proverb: If you believe everything you read, you’d better not read.

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