FREE AVG 9

Download Link to CNET

Basic Rules to install
1. Download and SAVE new version
2. Set a restore point
3.Come OFFLINE
4. Uninstalle old version
5. Install New Version from saved location
6. Go back ONLINE and UPDATE

Some Reviews

AVG is a global security software maker protecting more than 80 million consumers and small businesses in 167 countries from the ever-growing incidence of web threats, viruses, spam, cyber-scams and hackers on the Internet. AVG has nearly two decades of experience in combating cyber crime and one of the most advanced laboratories for detecting, pre-empting and combating Web-borne threats from around the world. Its free, downloadable software allows novice users to have basic anti-virus protection and then easily upgrade to greater levels of safety and defense when they are ready. AVG has nearly 6,000 resellers, partners and distributors globally including Amazon.com, CNET, Cisco, Ingram Micro, Play.com, Wal-Mart, and Yahoo!
New Product Offerings Deliver 50 Percent Faster Speed, Improved Performance, and Ease of Use, with Industry’s Only Free Identity Theft Protection

Boosted by significant enhancements in speed and levels of protection, AVG 9.0 is also easier to use and improves end user experience.
Additionally, all AVG users in the U.S. will benefit from a groundbreaking identity theft offering, powered by a partnership with Intersections Inc., North America’s leading and most innovative provider of consumer identity theft prevention solutions which has served more than 25 million consumers.
AVG’s new technology products ensure that users are safe in whatever online or offline activities they undertake.

Sylvia October 2009

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Links to Freeware

These are some links for useful freeware.

Download for Dock - Vista Look-alike docking toolbar

http://www.stardock.com/products/ObjectDock/downloads.asp


Christmas Stationery - EMail stationery for Christmas


http://thundercloud.net/stationery9/christmas10/index.htm


Video Tutorial for Picasa 3 - New Beta Version of Picasa has a tutorial

http://mdro.blogspot.com/2008/09/video-introducing-picassa-30-beta.html


Rainlendar - Cañendar and Diary to keep Events and a TODO list

http://www.rainlendar.net/cms/index.php?option=com_rny_download


POPTRAY - Great EMail filtering program to avoid downloading SPAM to your computer
http://www.poptray.org/downloads.php

Screenhunter - Captures areas of the screen. Creates jpg or you can paste into a Word document

http://www.wisdom-soft.com/products/screenhunter.htm

I have tested and used all these applications for several weeks so can happily recommend them to you.

Sylvia

PC Health Check

1. Delete Temporary Internet Files.. – Tools . Internet Options – Version 6 & 7 are a little different but just delete Temp Files

2. Anti-Vurus Software – Ensure the Data file is updated regularly. ADSL users keep option on AUTO update.. dial-up users can also use auto OR Manual update. If usig Manual suggest at least twice a week. RUN FULL SCAN AT LEAST WEEKLY

3. Anti-Spyware programs: Many free versions available
MS Defender – Free for licenced users of Windows- Auto update and works in background.

SpyBot – Free Version and can auto update and guard in background

AVG Anti-Spy – Free version will give auto updates for 1 month and guard in background. After one month then manual updates and no background guard.

Spyware Docter – Free version with Google Pack – guards in background

Lavasoft Adaware – Free Version does not auto update or guard in background.

Run Full scan using at least one of the spyware programs on a weekly basis and take the recommended action. Can be Ignore , Remove or Quarantine

After Full Scan and clean system Set a restore Point.

Sylvia April 2008

Spyware

What it is spyware or adware and how can I remove it

Spyware is Internet jargon for any data collection program that secretly gathers information about you and relays it to advertisers and other interested parties. Adware usually displays banners or unwanted pop-up windows, but often includes spyware as well.
You can unknowingly install spyware when you install new software, most commonly freeware or shareware (e.g., LimeWire, BearShare, KaZaA, iMesh, WinMX,). Many of these programs are intended to track your Internet browsing habits, such as frequented sites and favorite downloads, then provide advertising companies with marketing data.

How to remove it

Unfortunately, you cannot fully remove most spyware and adware programs by using the uninstall option in the Windows Add or Remove Programs control panel. To completely remove spyware from your Windows computer, use one of the recommended programs - Windows Defender- Spybot – Lavasoft Adaware – AVG Anti-Spyware – Spyware Doctor .
Run FULL Scans using one of the recommended programs on a weekly basis and take the recommnded action to either remove or quantine the infections

How to avoid it

Do not install file sharing applications may contain adware or spyware unless essential. If you do then ALWAYS run an immediate Spyware and Virus Check afterwards. Before opening a downloaded file request a Virus Scan. Under Windows Explorer.. right click on the file name and select Scan with (your Anti-virus program) Follow the same proceedure with any new CD´s , memory sticks etc
Reduce your use of cookies
Avoid Advertisements
Avoid clicking links in Instant Messaging
Frequently scan your computer with spyware detection software

Sylvia April 2008

Good and the BAD

Viruses: The Good and Bad

Some information about viruses, spyware and other malware.
The number of malware programs on the Web today is predicted to increase to one million this year. But there is actually some good news!
With antivirus, anti-malware and anti-rootkit software doing better and better as time goes by, the chance of a new threat ever reaching your computer is dwindling down. Malware programs written faster in order to keep up and few programs actually get the chance to infect a user's PC.
According to stats by Sophos, 85 to 90 percent of malware families have a fix created almost immediately. Also, e-mails with viruses attached have less of a chance of getting through to your computer. In the past, one out of 40 attempts would successfully infect your computer. Now, that number is one out of 1,000. That is great news for all of us and more of a reason to keep your protection up to date.

JUNK MAIL

Please read and put into action. It does greatly lessen the chances of receiving unwanted or destructive mail as well as viruses etc.,

It is an excellent message that ABSOLUTELY applies to ALL of us who send e-mails. Please read the short letter below, even if you're sure you already follow proper procedures.
Do you really know how to forward e-mails? 50% of us do, 50% DO NOT
Do you wonder why you vet viruses or junk mail? Do you hate it?
Every time you forward an e-mail, there is information left over from the people who got the message before you - their e-mail addresses and names. As the messages get forwarded along, the list builds and builds and builds. All it takes is for some poor person to get a virus and his or her computer can send that virus to every e-mail address that has come across his computer. Or, someone can take all of those addresses and sell them, or send junk mail to them in the hopes that you will go to the site and that person will make five cents for each hit.
How do you stop it? There are several easy steps:
1. When you forward an e-mail DELETE all of the other addresses that appear in the body of the message (at the top). That's right DELETE them. Highlight them and delete them, backspace them, cut them, whatever it is you know how to do. It only takes a second. you MUST click the "forward" button first and then you will have full editing capabilities against the body and headers of the message. If you don't click on "Forward" first, you won't be able to edit the message at all.
2. Whenever you send an e-mail to more than one person do NOT use the "To" or "Cc" fields for adding e-mail addresses. Always use the "BCC" (blind carbon copy) field for listing the e-mail addresses. This way the people you send to will only see their own e-mail address. If you don't see your "BCC" option, click on "To" and your address list will appear. Highlight the address and choose "BCC". It's that easy. then you send to "BCC" your message will automatically say "Undisclosed Recipients" in the "To" field of the ones who receive it.
3. ALWAYS REMOVE any "FW" in the subject line. You can re-name the subject or even fix spelling.
4. ALWAYS hit your "Forward" button from the actual e-mail you are reading, not from the one who sent it to you!! Ever get e-mails where you have to open ten pages first to read the one page with the wanted information on it? By Forwarding from the actual page you wish to be view, it eliminates extra e-mails people have to wade through.
5. Have you ever received en a-mail that is a petition? It states a position, asks you to add your name and address and then requests that you forward it to ten or 15 people or your entire address book? As it is forwarded on and on, it can collect thousands of names and e-mail addresses.
FACT: That petition is worth a lot of money to a professional spammer because of the wealth of valid names and e-mail addresses on it. If you want to support the intent of the petition, send it as your own personal letter to the most effective source. Your position may carry more weight as a personal letter than does a laundry list of names and e-mail addresses on a petition.
And think about this --- Who is supposed to actually send the petition in after the names are collected? And don't believe the ones that say that the e-mail is being traced. It just isn't so!
6. On of the worst e-mails is the one that says something like this:-
"send this e-mail to ten people and you'll see something cute run across your screen",or sometime they just ease you by saying something really good will happen soon TRUST ME IT JUST ISN'T GOING TO. Some the very same e-mails were doing the rounds ten years ago!
Don't let the bad luck e-mails scare you either. Trash them (which is possibly why I haven't won the lottery yet!)
7. Before you forward an Amber Alert or a Virus Alert or some of the others floating around nowadays, check them out before you forward them. Most of them are junk mail that have also been circling the net for YEARS! Is it real or not? Almost everything that is questionable can easily be checked out at http://www.snopes.com/. Take that moment. If it's not real, don't pass it on.
Please, let's stop the junk mail and the viruses!

SPAM- Star Letter in Computer Active

I have decided to post this on the WE Group Blog as it sets out very well the dangers of exposing our EMail addresses when forwarding jokes etc. This is something that we cover in our lessons quite frequently and I know that all group members behave in a responsible manner. However, at times some of our friends do not and perhaps politely pointing out the implications to them might help.

Sylvia

Star Letter of the Week

Your warning not to publish email addresses on the web (Letters, issue 248) struck a chord with me. Some while ago, I naively used my main email address while registering with employment agencies. Unbeknown to me, my details were widely distributed to other agencies and openly published on the web. As a result, this
email address now attracts a very high number of unsolicited messages.
Similarly, I have had lots of problems with friends and acquaintances sending jokes and chain letters via email, with all the destination email addresses visible at the top. It doesn't take very long for these emails to reach vast numbers of people, and the last chain letter I received was addressed to 44 people - it was even sent to an online store, as the sender had obviously selected every name in their address book.
I dread to think how many copies have been forwarded, exposing my address, from just this one message. What makes this particularly irritating is my lack of control - other people are compromising my address and I can do very little to prevent them doing so.

(signed)
Editors Reply
It can be incredibly annoying when your email address attracts large quantities of junk messages, and even more so when your address is made public by someone else. It's also true that chain letters and jokes passed on via email can spread quickly, with a huge list of addresses accumulating at the top of each email. If this list appears on the web, or falls into the wrong hands, each address could become a target for spam. The best way to avoid this threat is communication: explaining to friends that you want to keep your email address private should do the trick.

SPAM - Filter

Anti Spam Filter - Freeware

This anti spam filter is freeware from

http://www.spamihilator.com

Before you start to download and install this, make a note of your email incoming mail server account details as these are changed during installation. Should you want to uninstall Spamihilator it should reset these details, but it is safer to make a note just in case.

For Outlook Express click on Tools, Accounts and highlight the account by clicking on it. Select Properties, Servers and note the Incoming Mail Server (SMTP) details and POP3 account.

Download the software. The latest version is 0.9.9.27.

Spamihilator works between your E-Mail client and the Internet and examines every incoming E-Mail. All your mail is downloaded first so it is not a method to filter out large files for those on a Dial-up connection .
Useless spam mails (Junk) will be filtered out. This process runs completely in the background.

The Setup Wizard
Use the setup wizard to configure your mail client. The wizard will be launched after the installation of Spamihilator.
Full HELP documentation will download with the program installation.

S*P*A*M

Unsolicited Email messages have increased by up to 300 per cent in the last 4 months using home PC´s which have been hijacked.

How does it operate?

Once a computer has been infected it automatically contacts the Spam operator’s system for instructions. It links to other hijacked computers to create a network called a BOTNET. This is used to send hundreds of millions of Spam e-mails every day.

The system

The BOTNET operator sends out virus containing a Trojan horse. Email addresses are harvested by roaming the net and taking them from chat rooms, exposed Email addresses, and search sites to help find old friends , sites that you have registered with etc.

TROJAN HORSE installs a small program on the infected computer


The computer then becomes a ZOMBIE controlled remotely . Networks of Zombies can be built up.

ZOMBIES log on to an internet relay chat server, which instructs them to send out Spam mail.

SPAM EMAILS are then sent from the infected computers around the world.


Evicting a Zombie

A computer that slows down or crashes may have been taken over by spammers.

To regain control:

Disconnect your PC from the internet and use an up-to-date security package to scan for infections. Do not necessarily rely on one program.
Try AVG Anti-Spyware on full in-depth scan and take all recommended actions . Lavasoft Ad-Aware is also a free spyware program which will check and identify any problems.
Seek professional help if you cannot resolve it yourself.

Ways to avoid SPAM

Use a security package that includes an e-mail filter
Give your e-mail address only to people you trust
Set up a second e-mail account if you fill in a lot of online forms or registrations
Keep your main address private
Delete unsolicited e-mails -( Full delete rather than into the Deleted items box by selecting the mail.. hold CTRL key and click on the delete icon)
Do not download the full e-mail . Tools – Options – Read make sure the box is NOT ticked to automatically fully download the mail

SMW 30/12/06