• How Do I Clear Temp Files?
• How Do I Disable Error Reporting?
• What is Wireless Security?
• How Did I Get Spyware?
• How to Remove Spyware, Adware and other Malware
• How to Identify Processes Running on Your PC
• Dealing with SPAM

The easiest way we at Reliable PC have found to remove Temporary Internet Files, History Files and Cookies, is to clear them from Internet Options. 

The following instructions are for Windows XP and may vary depending upon how your operating system is setup. 

Click on Start > Settings > Control Panel

Once in Control Panel, double-left-click on the icon for Internet Options. (If you do not see an icon for Internet Options, look on the left-hand side of the window for an option called Switch to Classic View) 

Once in Internet Options, you should see the following Window.

Note the tabs across the top. We will only be using the General Tab which is the default tab displayed when we first open Internet Properties.

The middle of the page is the section called Temporary Internet Files. We want to click on the button for Delete Cookies. Click OK when the following window pops up.

Next we want to Delete Files. Click on the button for Delete Files and make sure to check the box that says Delete All Offline Content, as shown in the following picture.

Finally, we want to Clear History. This button is located at the bottom of the window under the History Section. Clicking on the button will prompt the following window. Click YES to continue and clear your history.

Keep in mind that any passwords you may have chosen to save to your computer will no longer be available. Many people don’t realize this and the next time they attempt to sign into a web-based application they are prompted with user name and password. If you don’t know what it was, you may have to contact the vendor and have them email or reset your account. 

The other thing that gets removed is your history of visited sites. If you’re used to clicking on the drop down for the address bar to get to recently visited sites, you will notice that once you clear the history, clicking on the drop down will reveal a big blank. If you haven’t already, add sites you visit often to your Favorites. To do this, go to the site, then click while at the site, click on Favorites > add to Favorites and choose where you want to place the favorite link.

To clear Temporary Files on your computer, click on Start > Run and at the Run prompt type the following and click OK. 

%Temp% 

This will open your Temp Folder.  

Click on any File in the Temp Folder, hold down the CTRL button and Press the letter A. This will select all the files in the Temp Folder. 

Press Delete on your keyboard to delete all the files. You will be prompted to confirm delete, click Yes or OK to delete. 

If at anytime you get a message stating that a file can’t be deleted because it is in use, make note of the file name, Click OK to the error, then by holding down the CTRL key, Left-Click on the file the message just told you could not be deleted. This will De-Select the file and allow you to continue deleting the other files. You may have to do this multiple times as some files are in use whenever your computer is on and will not allow themselves to be deleted since they are running. An example is the JET files. Any file that begins with the letters JET most likely will not delete because it’s a file being used by your printer. 

You’re using your computer when suddenly your program locks up and you have to end task. Then you get the dreaded, “BLAH BLAH application is unresponsive. The program is not responding. Please tell Microsoft about this problem. We have created an error report you can send to us”. This is called Microsoft Error Reporting. The theory behind the design is that when your application crashes, the code and drivers, (dlls), that were being used at the time, can be sent to Microsoft for analysis. They can then determine what was wrong and create a possible solution to deploy in their next patch, update or service pack so as to minimize crashes in the future. 

There are some privacy concerns when doing this however, but I find it most annoying and time consuming. When an application crashes, the application ends and whatever you were doing is lost. You need to start all over, (hopefully you saved your work), so it’s inconvenient enough without having to deal with logging your errors and sending them to Microsoft.  

There is a way to disable this option. Remember, Windows Error Reporting is only used in Windows XP Home and Windows XP Pro, so if you’re using an earlier operating system such as Windows 98 or ME then you need not worry. 

Click on the Start Button and navigate to the Control Panel. From within the Control Panel, double-click on System. If you don’t see System, look on the panel to the left for an option that says, “Switch to Classic View”. Selecting this option will allow you to see ALL the Control Panel Options.  

Once at the System Window, click on the Advanced Tab. Towards the bottom; note the button for Error Reporting. Click on it to open the Error Reporting Window.  Choose the option to Disable Error Reporting and check the box that says, “But notify me when critical errors occur”. Click OK on the Error Reporting Window, Click OK on the System Properties Window and you’re done. 

This won’t prevent application crashes. Application crashes will continue to happen on anyone’s computer at anytime. If you continue to have the same application crash on or about the same time, try reinstalling the application or request updated drivers from the manufacturer.  

Wireless technology for your computer can be made quite secure, however keep in mind security for your wireless Internet is similar to security for your house…if someone wants to get in, they will find a way. What wireless security features attempt to do is display a locked down secure wireless network to any that might be within range. Similar to a home security system, it basically tells the intruder that if he wants to get onto the network, he’s going to have to work at it and it might be easier to go to your neighbor’s house where there is no security. 

Most newer wireless networking devices are pretty much plug and play. That means there’s not much more to setting them up than to plug them into a power supply and running a network cable to your modem or DSL. However if you want to secure the network there are a few things to consider. 

All wireless networking devices arrive out of the box with what’s called “factory settings”. A default password, standard IP address and disabled encryption are the norm for most products. Not changing the default password is the first mistake made when installing a wireless network. The default password is something like “Admin” or “Password” and allows access to the wireless networking device. By failing to change this password, anyone with knowledge of how to access the device can do so by putting in the default password. Since most wireless hardware vendors provide updates, drivers and manuals at their sites, even if an attacker doesn’t know the default password he can find out by searching the manufacturer’s website or even by doing a quick search on his favorite search engine such as Google or yahoo. All he’d have to do is put “Linksys WAP54G Password” into a search engine and look through the results to find out what the default password for a Linksys model WAP54G is.  

The second big mistake is not enabling encryption. Changing the default password will keep anyone within range of your wireless device from changing your device settings, but it won’t keep them off your network. If you’re running an unsecured network, then anyone within range of your wireless device can access your bandwidth. Don’t mistake this statement with access to your files or folders, although that is a possibility if your computer doesn’t have some kind of firewall protection such as Windows XP SP2. What it means is that anyone can use your connection to access the Internet. So if you just installed a wireless device and your neighbor has a wireless Internet card and is within range of your device, he can access the Internet using your device. How bad is this really? Since he’s just “borrowing” your Internet connection without your permission, it might not be bad at all, or it might be very bad. It really depends on the individual and how they feel about sharing their connection. But it can also be very bad if your neighbor is the kind of person that might download “questionable” material or is the kind of person that opens every joke email they get and doesn’t run virus protection. Also you might notice considerable deterioration of your own connection speed as it’s related to the amount of connections made to your wireless device. All the wireless device does is split up the connection provided to you by your Internet Service Provider (ISP). Bandwidth is just like our freeways; there are only so many lanes and the more traffic using those lanes, the slower everything goes. So if your neighbors are sharing your Internet connection via an unsecured wireless device you may notice your connection speed slowly declining. And if your neighbor’s use any kind of file sharing software to download files or music, you may notice significant slowness, as they are not only downloading from the Internet, but also allowing others to download from them, hence the term “File Sharing”. With multiple connections from the Internet attempting to access your neighbor’s files, you may notice severe slowness when trying to connect to or access information on the Internet. And remember, file sharing is illegal and your neighbor is borrowing your connection to do it, therefore if anyone is trying to determine who is sharing files, it will point to you since technically it’s your connection. 

Wireless security can be safe, with the proper tools and security techniques in place. 

How Does Spyware and Adware Get Loaded on my Computer in the First Place?

The most common question we get over and over again pertains to spyware and adware and how it was installed on the computer in the first place. Time and time again, the answer is that it was installed either willingly or unwillingly by the computer owner.

Often the way spyware and adware programs get loaded onto a computer is by the user using the computer. What will happen is the person using the computer will install a program they find or is recommended to them. For the most part, the program will work as promised. But what many miss is what else was installed.

The following links to a comparison chart showing a comparison of some of the more popular file and music sharing programs, and what else they install when they are installed. http://www.benedelman.org/spyware/p2p/ This is a GOOD Article for those that have time to read the whole thing. For those that don’t – (Summary: If you’re going to use a file sharing program, use limewire as the only ad you will see is an ad promoting the “pay for” upgraded version of limewire. It doesn’t install any other 3^rd party software).

Freeware is never “Free”. Remember that statement and think of it every time you are about to download and install a program. True Freeware is often limited or trial version that lasts 30 days or so. You pay for other Freeware in the form of marketing and advertising. Microsoft Windows has recently reacted in an attempt to aid individuals in determining what they should or shouldn’t install. Although the warnings are just that, “warnings” they do prompt the user several times before the actual installation of what could be a very bad thing.

One of the warnings you may see is the Certificate Security Warning. This window requests the user to accept the certificate from the company producing the download. If you accept the certificate, your download will start, or you may get another warning. DO NOT check the “Always trust content from….” Check Box unless you are ABSOLUTELY sure you trust the company. Microsoft, Symantec and McAfee are a few that come to mind that are ok to Always Trust. When unsure, simply accept, but don’t check the Always checkbox.

With the introduction of Service Pack 2, another security warning was introduced alerting the end user that they are installing and ActiveX Component. What is ActiveX? To find out visit http://www.active-x.com/articles/whatis.htm but very simply put, it’s a component that Allows certain “things” to happen on your computer that might have previously not been allowed. Opening a port and transmitting personal data and information to a remote IP Address probably isn’t a “thing” most people would allow, but by ignoring the warning it’s possible. If you’re unsure of what you’re installing, open another browser and search for more articles on the product. Include the word “Spyware” in your search and see what you get. In the example below, the ActiveX component belongs to Gator. Although Gator’s website www.gator.com claims to be spyware free, one of the first links you will see is “Advertise With Us”. If you do a general search on www.google.com or www.yahoo.com for the term “gator spyware” (without quotes), you will find numerous articles on Gator’s products containing spyware, products to remove Gator and other spyware.

And yet another warning prompts you just before you install the program. It says, “Are you sure you want to install this software? Have you done your homework and you’ve checked the publisher and you feel confident that the program you are about to install is trustworthy and will do what it’s supposed to without installing any adware, spyware, viruses, Trojans, malware or hijackers?” Well it doesn’t say all that, and even if it did, it would eventually get overlooked. If you’re like me, you’ve become accustomed to simply clicking install and barely giving the warning a second thought.

The following is a screen shot installing Flash from Macromedia, another trusted vendor.

When installing a downloaded software product, be sure and read the fine print. What most have become accustomed to is simply clicking on the “agree” button and clicking next to accept the agreement. If you take the time to read the agreement, in spyware and adware related cases, the agreement states that by accepting you are in fact allowing 3^rd party research software to be installed, your private information to be used, shared and/or sold to other agencies, and allowing the research and marketing ads to run on your computer such as pop-ups or home page hijacks and re-directs.

Read too what you are downloading. In some cases even legitimate downloads will ask you if you want to install another product at the same time. This can come in the form of a toolbar or other application that is supposed to help you. But over time, you can have so many different toolbars that they end up taking up most of your browser’s window. When I went to Macromedia’s site to download Flash, I noticed that by default the download was going to install Yahoo toolbar as well. I didn’t want the toolbar, but needed the flash. Both programs are ok to use by the way, I just prefer not to use Yahoo toolbar. By removing the checkmark to download and install the Yahoo toolbar, I was able to download just the flash plug-in. This way I was able to get Flash (a free and useful tool) and not download or install any extras that I didn’t want, spyware or otherwise.

The fact is the security measures are in place but the software designed to protect us isn’t as smart as us and needs our researched and constructive input to make the decision. If you have any doubts, take the time to read the fine print and do some research. After all, you are sitting in front of one of the largest research tools known.