Ask Me - THRComputer Solutions

Yesterday, I was helping my brother get his Verizon DSL up and running.  We were having a problem with the install cd, so I gave them a call on their 800 number to get him activated.  During my conversation as I always do, I asked the phone representative where his call center was located.  It really doesn’t matter to me where the support is coming from but the answer that I received was quite humerous.  He responded by telling me that “I cannot tell you”.  I asked him why and he said “Because it is a matter of security”.  I couldn’t help but to burst out laughing.  I asked him if he was serious and he was.  I have asked other companies such as Direct TV and never had a phone rep tell me that it was a “secret”.

Verizon, what are you afraid of?  I just really can’t see people waiting to take out your call center.  Or are you afraid of telling the truth??? 

SimplePie RSS is a very nicely written php program that parses RSS and Atom syndication feeds.  Currently you can parse RSS 0.91, RSS 1.0 right up to the RSS 2.0 format, and it supports Atom in version 0.3 and 1.0.  Once you have SimplePie installed you will find that the developers built in support for some of the most common feed services including Bloglines, del.icio.us, Digg, Google Reader, Technorati and My Yahoo.  SimplePie RSS is developed as open source software and released under the GNU Lesser General Public License, which means you can freely download it and use it on your websites for free.  It has been tested on PHP 4.3, 4.4 and PHP 5.0.

SimplePie is great to use if you have a website and would like to have fresh updated content.  Just download the program from simplepie and install it on your web server and then add the code to your web page and the program does the rest.

One day all of a sudden I was getting a MySQL ErrNo: 145 on one of my blogs.  To correct the problem all you need to do is the following:

• Log into your mysql database either through the command prompt, or if you are using it on a hosting package, just find the database admin tool that your provider has for you.  Typically it will be PHPMyAdmin.
• From the command prompt, or if you are using PHPMYAdmin go to the SQL tab and run the following command:  REPAIR TABLE yourtablename.
• You will probably see a couple of messages indicating the problems that the repair fixed.

One you have repaired the table, go ahead and try to access the database table again.  This should clear up Errno: 145.

WinAd is an adware program that can display pop-up advertisements on your computer.  Webroot Spy Sweeper does detect this program and can remove it. 

WinAd will typically redirect your searches to windupdates.com and then display advertisements that are related to removing spyware from your computer.  It is thought that this adware program has been distributed through the popular online game called “Yo Mama Osama” which promises a free cell phone booster as a prize for winning the game.

You can try to remove WinAd manually by following the below steps (For those who are comfortable modifying their computer files):

1. Unregister cd_swf.dll 
2. Delete the following files: osama.exe, wnad.exe, wnad-update.exe, cd_swf.dll, wnad.dat, wnad_adwarelog.txt, wnad.log, wnad.lgc, wnad

We recommend that you use Webroot Spy Sweeper to remove WinAd and other adware programs like it.  Try a free scan for WinAd and other adware programs.

Prior to Windows XP, if you had a version where users needed to logon into the system, the user would need to type both their userid and password.  When the XP version came out, windows enhanced the logon feature to allow users to click on an icon and then enter in their password.  The logon feature was also added to the xP Home Edition so multiple users in the house could more easily share the same computer.

I love the logon feature in the home edition, but do not like the fact that I am giving out part of the information needed to log into the computer.  For example, let’s say that someone was trying to steal some important information off of your computer.  You already gave them 50% of the information.  Now all they need is your password.  Take the situation where your child is off to College and is sharing a room with other students that they do not know.  You child may have some information stored on the computer that you would not want any of the students to access.

I don’t want to make it any easier for someone to break into my account which is why I like the classig logon screen.  Here is how to turn it on:

• Click on “start” in the lower left hand corner and then click on “Control Panel”.
• Look for the “User Accounts” icon and double click on it.
• After the previous step you will see a window that says “User Accounts” in it upper left hand
  side.
• Click the “Change the way users log on or off” button.
• Look for the “Use the Welcome screen” checkbox and un-check it.
• Click the “Apply Options” button.

Now go ahead and reboot your computer.  When Windows loads up you will now have the classic xp login screen where you will need to enter in both the user id and password.

I came across this new adware threat today called BraveSentry Fake Alert.  My anti-spyware program Spyware Doctor from PC Tools popped up an alert today letting me know that it quarantined this program today.  I did a little research into it and found out that sites on the internet are saying that this adware threat is actually coming from a rogue anti-spyware program called BraveSentry.  It seems that the program does nothing more than try and trick you to purchase the commercial version of their program by telling you that you have spyware threats on your computer.  PC Tools classifies this as an adware program because it seems to have the ability to display advertisements on your computer such as the fake spyware alert.

We always recommend to our clients that they have a trusted anti-spyware program installed on their computer to protect against threats like the “BraveSentry Fake Alert”.  We do recommend that they use PC Tools - Spyware Doctor for their anti-spyware protection.  Click here to get a free trial scan to see what has been installed on your computer.  PC Tools does not use scare tactics to get you to use their program and they will tell you truthfully if your computer has any threats installed on it.

The “My Documents” folder is the default storage location on your PC for any of your personal files including your music and photos.  You can place a shortcut to this folder on the Windows desktop by:

• Right click on your Windows Desktop and choose “properties”, or click on “start” in the lower left hand corner and then click on “Control Panel”.  Look for the “Display” icon and double click on it.
• After the previous step you will see a window that says “Display Properties” in the upper left hand side.
• On the Display Properties window choose the “Desktop” tab.
• Click on the “Customize Desktop” button.
• On the “General” tab, check the “My Documents” box.
• Click on the “OK” button.
• Click on the “Apply” button.

You will now see the “My Documents” folder on your desktop.

Windows XP has a feature that will automatically remove any unused desktop shortcut icons that have not been used in over 60 days.  If you are someone like me who might go a couple of months before using a shortcut, you can follow the below instructions to turn off this feature:

• Right click on your Windows Desktop and choose “properties”, or click on “start” in the lower left hand corner and then click on “Control Panel”.  Look for the “Display” icon and double click on it.
• After the previous step you will see a window that says “Display Properties” in its upper left hand side.
• On the Display Properties window choose the “Desktop” tab.
• Click on the “Customize Desktop” button.
• Uncheck the “Run Desktop Cleanup Wizard every 60 days” box.
• Click on the “OK” button.
• Click on the “Apply” button.

If you do decide that you would like to run the wizard you can get yourself back to the the desktop cleanup wizard option and either click the “Clean Desktop Now” button or check the box again for the wizard to automatically run on a regular basis.