THE COMPUTER CUBE®  

April 2004©    

Your Columnist

 

 Welcome to the April 2004 Edition of The Computer Cube® 

The purpose, the mission, of the Computer Cube Column is to share with other computer users, information on how to perform basic computer tasks.  Every single one of us, especially when we first begin using a Personal Computer (PC) find ourselves intimidated, frustrated and feeling helpless in performing basic computer tasks.

Does that mean we are dumb or inept?  No it does not.  We are just in that place where we have not yet come to terms with or gained the knowledge of how to use this what seems like a monster in a plastic box.  We all have been there or are there right now.

While a computer can perform what seem like incredible things, it is only as smart or capable of performing these "things" as we are. In other words the old adage, Garbage In - Garbage Out, is applicable.

Thus, here in The Computer Cube, I will endeavor to not only provide basic information on, "How Do I Do That", but also whenever possible do so in Illustrated Step by Step Help Files.

Tis' true that most if not all of Editions of The Computer Cube will begin with the subjects of Virus, Worm and other nasty critters.  And at times, what I write concerning this subject will seem like a rant with straight forward - in your face information.  Why?  Because stemming the tide of the damage wrought by of these nasty critters is the not just the responsibilities of large corporations and the so called computer guru's, but every single person who has a PC in their home.

While I never will be mistaken for a computer guru, I have managed to learn over the years, how to perform many basic computer tasks.

Please do feel free to contact me privately with questions concerning, How Do I Do That?  If at all possible I will do every thing I can, via this column, to help you with that computer task you are trying to perform. You are not the only person who currently does not know how to perform the task. 

PERSONAL BUSINESS

While the Computer Cube Column is free.  I have found it necessary to begin including advertisements in this column.  Even writers need to eat.  This column is the only venue I have for letting folks know of products I endorse and receive a small pittance if you access the websites where they reside via this column.

Being that the the rules, and rightly so, of the Lists I belong do not allow advertising, The Cube' provides me with a method of letting you know about computer products that will enhance using your computer and about the small business I have begin, even though it has nothing to do with computers.

I would like to announce in this Newsletter that we have created a second Website.  The rational for doing so is to separate what is hobby related from that which is business related.  

The Computer Cube will remain here at the http://www.twospirit.net/ Website. Along with what will be the hobby side of My Rockhound and African Violet Addictions.

The, NEW, "I gotta' make a living" or business website is  at: 

 

Before I begin the serious business of my column, I thought it would be entertaining to share with you, Dr. Seuess's take on Computer Problems.  I would like to thank a Dear Friend, Kristina, for this piece.

   DR. SEUSS

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The continuing Worm, Virus and SPAM problems have not abated. There are new variants/versions of My Doom, Bagel, SoBig and NetSky which not only have increased their presence but in some cases are now becoming malicious.  Instead of just hijacking your computer to be a server for launching Denial of Service Attacks, and recording your email addresses books, there have been incidents where files within the Attacked Personal Computer have been corrupted or destroyed.

It seems that there is a contest occurring between the hackers and virus authors. On the one hand, there have been instances of stealing each other's code and now some of these nasty critters are joining with SPAMMERS. In this scenario, a virus could be a passenger in SPAM Email and SPAM type adware and spyware when the user is surfing the internet.

Thus, vigilance by each and every computer user is no longer just very important, it is now critical.  Critical enough that one ISP, COMCAST has begin blocking the accounts of their customers from which SPAM and who knows what else is being sent out on to the Internet.  In most cases, these users just like you and I do not even know they have infected.  Why? because they have not taken every step that is possible to keep their computers clean of the Nasty Critters.  I would like to share with you an article published in the PC World Computer Newsletter on March 14.

    COMCAST CUTS OFF SPAM ZOMBIES by PC WORLD COMPUTER NEWS

Well, that is an eye opener, isn't it?  Do I foresee other  ISP's implementing what COMCAST is doing? I have not a clue if that will occur.  However, I do know that several Email Newsletters with large subscriptions lists are having all kinds of problems with AOL and Yahoo.  These two ISP's have there Spam Filters set as such levels that the numbers of email files from these Newsletters are being blocked.  Thus, one might conclude that in their quest to minimize SPAM, they are greatly inhibiting the free flow of email information that is not SPAM.  AOL and Yahoo are employing overkill as they block the good with the bad.  New approaches must be addressed for controlling SPAM. 

One might say that I am not surprised:
1.  That my Norton Antivirus 2002 is receiving virus definitions updates every night via Norton Auto Update.  

2. My antivirus has been intercepting and placing in quarantine 6 to 12 email messages on a daily basis containing the NetSky & Bagel Virus's

3. The I HateSpam application installed in Outlook Express 6.1 has been deleting many more email messages in the last three weeks containing easy identifiable SPAM and messages with suspicious subject files.

4.  That my  PopUpStopper is busier than usual when I am suffering the Internet.

5. My purchased version of  the Lavasoft AdAware application is automatically intercepting and deleting many more adware and spyware packages than previously, before they can be placed in my System File while using the Internet. 

So, what is it we can do to ensure that we are not a part of the problem?  I know I may be preaching to the Choir here, so to speak, but here is a check off list for you to consider:

   KEEP YOUR COMPUTER FREE OF NASTY CRITTERS

Um, I had not planned on spending some much time on the nasty critters. However, being that things are worse and not better out there in the world of Online, instead of just say what is happening, it would be a good idea to provide you with the knowledge and tools to keep it all at bay.

How long has it been since you cleaned your computer? Was it last week, a month ago, a year ago, perhaps never?  You clean your house frequently so it is clean and contains a healthy environment, don't you.? If your are, as an example, an avid African Violet Collector, you do all you can to keep your African Violets clean and healthy, is that correct?

In the event that you did not know you should physically clean your computer, keep forgetting to do it, or do not think it is necessary, have I got news for you.

   YOUR COMPUTER MUST BE CLEAN TO REMAIN HEALTHY

Let's continue with keeping our computer clean and healthy.  Now, however, we address keeping your computer clean and healthy electronically.  The first and perhaps the most important thing we can do is keep the virus and worms out of our computer. The primary tool for doing that is having antivirus software that is versatile and can be configured to provide optimum protection.  

There are many different brands of antivirus software out there that can and will provide excellent protection.  However, unless we let that software know what we wish it to do, it will only be able to perform the barest of protection.  My personal preference is Norton Antivirus from Symantec.  Norton Antivirus is one of the offerings which can either be purchased as a stand-alone utility or as part of a suite of products to keep your computer electronically healthy.  Thus, Norton Antivirus can be purchased as part of Norton System Works.  

I recommend purchasing Norton System Works.  In this edition of the "Cube" I will begin discussing how to set up and use, Norton Antivirus. Over the next few additions I will provide help files for using the other utilities contained in Norton System Works 2002. Regardless of whether you have the 2002 or 2004 Edition, what I will be sharing with you is basic to all editions.  The newer editions have more bells, whistles and capabilities.  However, Norton Antivirus 2002 will provide excellent protection if configured properly.  Are you ready for some show and tell?

  

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An Antivirus program, such as Norton Antivirus 2002, is feature rich in being able to provide comprehensive virus protection.  While some of the features are set by default during installation, others must be individually selected.  The following illustrated Help File will take you step by step through the process.

  Configure/Set-up Norton Antivirus 2002

Now that Norton Antivirus has been configured to provide optimum automatic Virus and Worm protection, there is one other item we need to address.  Even though, we are protected, it still is prudent that we do a complete virus scan  at least once per week.  Norton Antivirus has a very good application for scanning your whole computer for potential infected files including, but not limited to, all of your documents, photos, etc.  This scan can either be performed manually or you can schedule the scan do be done automatically.  The following illustrated Help File will provide step by step instructions for performing a Manual Virus Scan of your Computer.

  Perform The Manual Norton Antivirus Scan

Performing a Manual Scan as illustrated in the previous Help File provides peace of mind.  The difficult part is having to remember to perform the Manual Scan each week.

Would you like to let Norton remember to perform the Scan for you?

Would you like to only have to read the Post Scan report and click on "Finished"?

Well, Norton can do all of this for you as it contains settings within in the setup screen that will do it all for you.

Following is a help file to walk you through the set-up process.

  Activating Norton Antivirus Auto-Scan operation.

 

How about one more Illustrated Help File?  If you are a member of an online email based List, there are times when you would like to contact the person who posted a message.  In the "From" Box of that message is just a name, such as "Dri". 

So, you copy and paste, "Dri" into the "To:" address box of a New Message Form, create your message and then  click on the "Send" button.  Instead of your message being sent, you get a message that might say, "Can not send - Address Invalid" or something like that.

Now you are perplexed and feel your only avenue to contact that person now is to post an Off Topic message to List asking that person to contact you privately and providing your email address for them to use.  Well, that will work.  However, this is not necessary and I will now provide a help file for you to contact them without having to go the route of posting a message on the List asking for them to contact you.

The problem you have encountered by entering, "Dri" in the To: Box is that it is a user name only and the email address is embedded in the name.  You must have the actual email address in order to send an email to Dri.

The following illustrated Help File will provide you with the information you need to be able to easily determine what the email address is that is hidden by a User Name.

  Find the Email Address for a person whose name is the only thing in the "From" Box of an email message

With this edition, I am implementing a new topic.  Over the last three months, I have been evaluating many different brands of Utilities that perform the same tasks. In nearly every case, I have discovered that the number of software/utility applications available that perform the same specific computer task are greater than the ten digits on my hands.

 In this and future editions, I will offer brief results of my evaluations and which Brand Names I prefer.  Do remember that I will be biased as to why I choose a particular brand.  

Biased as in: 

Most of the software I will recommend will be that which is Trialware and then Purchase or Purchase with a money back guarantee. There will be a few instances where I will recommend Freeware.  Believe me when I say that there are many Freeware applications out there that do a whale of a job.  However, they most often are limited in the range and scope of what they can do when being compared with Purchased software.  Bottom line is that if Freeware can not do what I need to be done, then I will spend the dollars to purchase software that will.

I am sure that there will be Brand Specific software that I recommend that you are not fond of and indicate that you use and are happy with a different Brand Name.  As in all things, what works for one person, may not work for another person.  However, I would love to know what you like about that particular software application and if it meets the indicated bias I use for evaluating software.  Who knows, the information I receive from you might result in my indicating in this topic a change of thought and action on my part with regard to your input.  You see, I am always learning too.

In this edition I am going to provide a short dialog on Stand Alone Antivirus applications. This will be short and sweet as if I do not finish this edition up soon, I will not get it published before the end of April.

  Antivirus Applications, Stand Alone Editions

I also would like to recommend the following for your consideration.  These Newsletters and/or Websites can really improve your computer experience: If you subscribe to the two Newsletters, I encourage you to support both by purchasing products from them.  I do not realize any monetary gain if you do.  However, they will only remain free if the subscribers purchase their computer learning products

The Newbie Club - This site is probably one of the best there is for those of us struggling to learn the basics of using our computers. You can either/or just browse their website when looking for information or you can subscribe to their Newsletter. I am a subscriber and often learn something new.   Go to:   http://newbieclub.com/

InfoPackets.com - This site is an excellent source for learning and offers information for inspiring Basic through Intermediate users. You can either/or just browse their website when looking for information or you can subscribe to their Newsletter. I am a subscriber and always learn something new.   Go to:   http://www.infopackets.com

Son Of Spy Freeware  - When I stumbled upon this site and became fully aware that it is, what the Webmaster says it is, I entered freeware heaven.  I have downloaded in excess of several dozen utilities from this site thus far.  Some are used to facilitate my work on my column and website.  They include everything from task/file management to scripting utilities. And, some enhance my general computer use. The choice you have is from A through Z.  That is, if you are looking for a piece of freeware, you are likely to find it here.  I love this place.  I present to you the Son Of Spy Freeware Webmaster's credo, "My site is about content. I'm doing my part to keep programs free, by protecting great free applications that have been abandoned, made payware and/or been lost, keeping them available for the utility and enjoyment of new generations of websurfers. I promise you'll see things here that are linked to no other site. So, if something's missing, please don't hesitate to write. My pledge to you is no shareware, no adware and no spywear".  
Go to: http://www.anycities.com/user1/sonofspy/index.html

Shields UP - The issue of whether our computers are vulnerable to attack and if they are vulnerable to being used by some one in a remote fashion to spread, worms and viruses, is so important that I strongly encourage you to click on the following URL. This site is classified as a "Trusted Site" and will test your computer for vulnerabilities.  Steve Gibson is a person that I trust.  "Shields UP" is a free service provided by Steve who is well known and respected  within the segment of the Internet community that strives to blunt & defeat Worms, Trojan Horses and Viruses.  Go to: https://grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2

Google - Google is considered the where to go place for finding information.  This search engine is one of most powerful on the Internet and contains a huge database. If you do not currently use Google, I would encourage you to make it one of your stops when searching for AV, Gessie and any other information need you may have.  I have Google set up to display its Tool Bar whenever I go to the Internet. Go to:  http://www.google.com/  

Well Ya'll, tis' time for me to put this edition to bed and get it published. 

Thank you so much for reading the Computer Cube.  

I do hope that you have found the information contained in this Edition of The Computer Cube beneficial in enhancing your computer use.  As Always, I solicit your input which will be a great help in making The Computer Cube even better.

Please feel free to contact me with suggestions or questions.  

You can contact me at: 

 

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The Computer Cube® is not associated with any List or Forum.  The content contain within this publication is the sole Responsibility of the Author, Dri-Anna Davis.  

The Computer Cube® became a part  of  RAINBOW RRE ENTERPRISES®, as of March 01, 2004

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