Virgin Media’s Email Robots!

Virgin Media have introduced an extra level of security for those who use their webmail service. When you sign in, you are now faced with the statement “I am not a robot”.  It has a tick box by the side. (see picture). Tick the box, and if you are lucky you get to see your email.  If you are unlucky, you get a further box with a number of pictures. You are asked to “tick all pictures with airplanes”, for example (or pasta, or cars, etc).  Tick the right ones and they let you in to see your email.

 

Needless to say, a lot of users are a bit annoyed about this.  see the user forum here.

The idea is that it is an extra layer of security designed to protect you, and stop unwanted automated logins by hackers.    Apparently some users have been hacked in recent days, hence the change.

Virgin also say, in a separate development, that they are planning to change how their webmail service looks, so stand by for more confusion!

All this does not apply to customers who use a program like Windows Mail, thunderbird or Outlook for their email.

 

For information and computer support, contact me at PC Care

Windows 10 gets closer…

If you are a Windows computer user, you may have noticed a new little “icon” has appeared in your “tray” – on the bottom right of the screen, near the time and date.  It looks like this: See the square icon on the left?  Microsoft has put this there to encourage you to register to download Windows 10. Windows 10 is due out later this year, and it promises to be much, much better than the ill-fated Windows 8 (later 8.1). Upgrading from Windows 7 or 8 (8.1) will be free for the first year. What should you do? There’s no harm in registering – you will be notified when the download is available.  You can download it, but I would not advise installing it right away. With all new systems there are “teething problems”, and it would be wise to wait a month or two before jumping in. If you currently have Windows 8, or 8.1, there is every reason to then install Windows 10 and enjoy the ease of operation it offers.  However, if you are a Windows 7 user, there is no compelling reason to upgrade as yet. Windows 7 works well, and you are familiar with it.  Windows 10 will be similar, but invariably there will be new things to get used to.  It looks like this: Note the “tiles” on the right of the start menu. These are modified from Windows 8.1, but we have the start button back, and a much more familiar desktop. Windows 10 will hopefully be a vast improvement on 8.1. It may not be much of an improvement on Windows 7, but at least you will have longer life.  Support for Windows 7 ends in January 2020. Apparently There will be no Windows 11, but Microsoft will update Windows 10 as it goes along.  We shall see how it all turns out. For more details and advice, and to help install Windows 10 when the time comes, contact me at PC Care

Help! My internet’s not working!

It’s happened to all of us – you switch on your computer or laptop, eager to get on the internet to book your holiday or check the price of peas at Tesco. But it all grinds to a disappointing halt as the message comes up “Cannot connect to the website”. Then you try to check your e-mail, only to find the same problem – your internet has stopped.
As with most computer problems, there may be a number of reasons why this has happened. But here are some of the most common issues, and how to solve them.
1. Firstly, check your router. This is the little box which plugs into the wall somewhere, and actually connects your computer to the internet. It should have a number of lights on, some solid, some flickering a bit. If all the lights are off, check that it is plugged in to the mains correctly. If that is the problem, plug it in properly and give it a few minutes to for the lights to settle down. Try the internet again.
2. If that’s not it, switch off your router, by taking the mains plug out of the wall. Also switch off your computer. After a few minutes, plug the router back in, and restart the computer. Wait a few minutes for the lights on the router to settle down. Now see if your internet is restored. A lot of problems will be solved in this simple way.
3. If you still cannot connect – pick up your landline phone and see if you can get a dial tone. If you hear nothing, check that all the leads are plugged in securely, If they are, and you still hear nothing, then the problem may be with your phone line provider, eg BT, Talktalk, etc. They may sort it out themselves within a few hours, but if not, you will need to report the fault to them.

4. If that is not the problem and you still can’t get online, it may be that the website you are trying to reach is notworking. Try a different website.

5. Try a different “browser”. Many computers have more than one program to access the internet, called “browsers”. Common ones are Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Safari and Firefox. These all do basically the same thing, and it is useful to have more than one in case you have a problem. If you cannot connect with one browser, and you have an alternative, try it.

If you still cannot get online, then give me a call on 01903 533586, or send me a message via my contact page.

Beware the scammers!

With computers being quite complex affairs, liable to go wrong, run slow, and be generally frustrating, there are those who take advantage of the unwary.

I have recently been contacted by a number of customers who have had phone calls from someone purporting to be from “Microsoft”, “Technical support” or some such plausible title.  This person tells you that your computer has a problem.  Either someone has ‘hacked into it’, or it ‘has a virus’, is ‘running slow’ etc.  Because at some time most people have trouble with their computers, you answer “oh yes, that’s true.”  Then they invite you to view certain files on youir computer which they say “prove”  it has major problems.  A favourite is called the Event Viewer.  This is a standard part of the Windows system which shows hundreds of apparent errors, “warnings” and “critical failures”, etc.  In reality very few of these are of any significance at all, but it can scare the daylights out of you if you don’t know.

The scammer then offers to sort this out.  He asks you to go to a certain web page and allow him to take control of your computer. At this point the motives of the scammers seem to vary.  Some will download free software on to your PC, and charge you for it.  Others may put a virus on your computer which may start sending them information – bank details, passwords etc. – and charge you for it. Or both.
If this happens, your computer will need checking by a reputable local computer engineer to make sure anything nasty is removed.

The way to avoid all this grief is to put the phone down if you ever get such a call – and they are incredibly common.  I have had several such calls. Just don’t get involved.  And don’t be tricked into thinking that anyone on the phone can see that your computer has a problem.  They can’t.  Simple.  Unless you tell them!

For help, advice and support, visit my website at www.pccare.me.uk

New Year, new computer

After a slow November and December, January 2013 has dawned with a rash of new business! New systems supplied, another one on the cards for later this week, and of course I have had several calls to fix ailing computers.  Often its those niggling little issues which you have been thinking of getting fixed for a while, and somehow the New Year prompts you to do something about it.  So I’m grateful!

With new PC’s come s a new Operating System, Windows 8.  I have reviewed this elsewhere on this blog, but all in all it seems to be a good system, settling in well.  If you are running Vista and are getting fed up with its slowness and quirkiness, then an upgrade would be a good idea.  Not least for the price, which remains at £25 until the end of January.  If you prefer to stick with the familiar, my PC supplier is still doing Windows 7 computers.  But you will soon get to love Windows 8.  It’s the future!

Happy New Year!

How software companies trick you

When I turned on my computer this morning, I was greeted with a notice asking me to download an update to Flash Player.  Happy to do that, Flash player is important as it helps websites to display better, and it’s good to keep it up to date.  But when I agreed to the download, I was presented with this screen:

 

In the middle there is a box headed “McAfee”. Just below it is a tick box, ready ticked.  When you then go and click the yellow Download button, not only will the latest Flash Player be downloaded, but also the McAfee Security Scan program, which you didn’t ask for and quite probably don’t need.  Now, how many people will notice that, and know to “unclick” the tick box?  In my experience, not many!

This is how software companies trick you into downloading stuff you don’t want and don’t need.  In fact if you run McAfee Security Scan, and already have another antivirus program, it could make your computer more vulnerable to viruses!

I see this time and again on my customer’s computers. The lesson is, look very carefully at what the screen says, and make sure you understand what it is you are downloading.

If you have found your computer getting slower, has a virus, or you would just like me to check it and give it a service, please get in touch. www.pccare.me.uk

Regular checkups – a PC MOT

Just like cars, a computer needs regular maintenance to keep it in tip-top condition.  Why? Well, here are some reasons:

You’ve probably noticed that over time, your PC (I’ll use the term PC to mean your computer, whether it’s a desktop tower or a laptop) –  slows down! When you first bought it, you were delighted with its lightning speed.  But as time’s gone on, gradually it’s got slower.  Now it takes ages to load web pages, open up programs, and you keep getting those annoying error messages which might as well be in a foreign language?  What’s happening?

Several things!  Firstly, as time passes, “junk” begins to pile up inside the PC.  Every time you visit a website, little files are dropped into your computer.  These “temporary internet files” build up until you have thousands of the little blighters. They are harmless, but tend to slow things down!

Next, it’ll be unnecessary programs that get loaded on to your PC. There may be programs that you don’t use, but which are designed to start up every time you switch the PC on.  Windows Messenger is a big culprit here, as is Skype and a host of others.

Thirdly, you may have downloaded programs that you don’t really need.  Often a genuine program that you do need also downloads one that you don’t need, unless you opt out of the process. In this way, software providers trick millions of users into downloading stuff they don’t need.

The next thing that will slow your PC down is a virus. Viruses are very common, and even if you have an antivirus program (which you may have paid for), you can still get a virus!  Annoying, but true.

Finally, if your computer is over 4 – 5 years old, it simply may not be up to the job of running the latest software very well.  So when a program updates itself, the new version uses more precious resources, and your PC runs slowly.

So, what’s to be done?  For a reasonable cost, I can give your PC a check over and tune up, so it will run more quickly and efficiently.  Visit my website at www.pccare.me.uk

Shut it Down!

People often ask me – should I turn my computer off? The answer is Yes!. It’s very tempting just to shut the lid on the laptop, or leave the PC humming away all night. The trouble with doing that is that you don’t give the computer a chance to clear itself out. As a result it gets slower. It’s a bit like sleep. If we don’t get enough sleep, we don’t work so well in the daytime. Same with the PC. So by all means close the lid or “hibernate” the computer when you are leaving it for an hour or so, but overnight, or any long period, turn it off. Your computer will love you more and hassle you less!

What is a “friend”?

So Facebook has decided to offer us “groups”. Apparently we’ll be able to sub-divide our friends into groups, so that we can share perhaps more personal information with just a closer group of friends, rather than all of them.  That sounds a good move.  There are too many stories about people putting too much stuff on FB and then getting caught out, for example, saying things like  “my job is boring”, and getting fired as a result.  Now your boss won’t be able to see such defamatory comments.  Also, the definition of a “friend” on FB is rather wide.  I have a lot of FB ‘friends’ whom I don’t know that well, and sometimes they put things on their status that they might not say in front of me!

“Groups” is a welcome development by Facebook.  Its now the biggest social network in the world, with, I’ve heard, more members than a small country! But even so, people should be aware of the dangers of putting too much information about themselves online.  So, well done to FB for a long-overdue enhancement, but still, be careful what you put online, it may come back to bite you!

Here at PC Care, I offer website, blogging and social networking services and consultation in Worthing and surrounding areas, as well as PC and laptop servicing.