You can not always tell if you are infected with malware but here are a few things that a sure signs you are infected.
1. Random Popup Windows
If you are not using your computer but it is turned on and random ads popup on your screen . Or if random messages popup in internet browser when your not even using your computer.
2. If Your Internet Browser Startup Page Has Changed
If your browser homepage has randomly changed you have idea how or why it could be malware. For example if had your browser set to open up www.google.com but when you open your browser it goes to www.somerandomwebsite.com
3. If You Are Redirected To Websites You Did Not Intend To Visit.
Example when you type in www.google.com are you actually sent to some other website? If so you are probably infected with malware.
4. You Get A Popup Window You Can Not Seem To Close No Matter What You Do.
If you get a popup window that you can not close and the only way to get rid of it is to restart your computer you are infected.
5. Strange Toolbars Appear In Your Internet Browser And You Have No Idea How They Got There.
Here is an example of this. If this looks similar to your internet browser. You are infected with malware. NOTE: The toolbars in this image are not all malware but if you have even half the amount of toolbars you see in this image there is a problem with your computer and your browser probably does not function correctly.
6. Your Computer Is Not Running As Fast As It Usually Does.
If your computer seems not be as responsive or seems to be running slower than usual this could be a sign that you are infected with malware.
7. If There Are Strange Icons In Your System Tray By The Clock
If you have strange icons that you dont know where they came from by your clock then you are possibly infected with malware. Example below:
There are many other symptoms of being infected with malware these are just a few. Sometimes you may not experience any symptoms at all. If you are concerned about your computer being infected feel free to contact us about a computer checkup.
The answer to that question is anyone who wants to but there is a solution. If you are interested in stopping monitoring of your internet and computer use keep reading.
First let us take a look at the problem.
Have you ever stopped to think about when you are browsing websites online or downloading something from a torrent who can see what you are doing? Maybe your doing a Google search about a certain illness you have and you would rather that remain private. Maybe you just value your privacy and do not like others monitoring what you are doing online. It would be like someone walking around with a tape recorder taping every single word you ever say. Well I am here to tell you that EVERYTHING you do online is in fact recorded and logged. Your internet service provider can see everything you are doing. Every Google search you do every website you visit and every torrent you download is logged and is personally identifiable as coming from you. If you use torrents you can see if there is any well known activity of you downloading files. You can check that out here: http://www.mypiracy.net/index.php another site that can tell you what torrents you have been downloading is here: https://www.youhavedownloaded.com/ These are just small examples that show how open you are to your activity being logged online.
If you take things another step further and think about your computer itself. What if your computer was stolen or someone had access to it that you didn't want to have access to it. Sure maybe you delete your internet browsing history on your computer or delete other files that contain sensitive information you don't want others to have. The problem is just because you delete a file and empty it from the recycling bin does not mean it is gone for food. These files can be easily recovered with free programs that can easily be downloaded.
These problems are serious if you value your privacy but there is a solution!
The Solution
The solution to achieving privacy online is not easy but at On The Spot Computer Services we will sit this up for you if you are interested. If you are interested in protecting your privacy online but it sounds to overwhelming for you to setup please contact us and we can do it for you!
When we are done setting you up your privacy will be protected in the following ways:
Your internet search history and web browsing will remain private and will not be personally identifiable to you.
Your internet service provider will not be able to see what your activity is online therefore they can not log your activity.
If you use torrents your downloads will remain private and will not be personally identifiable to you.
On your local computer your browsing history,download history,or files you want to remain private can not be recovered if deleted.
If forced to give up your password which is the key to your private files you will STILL be protected from the person accessing your private files. (Will explain details on this)
In short the internet and computer activity you want to remain private will remain private. As I said feel free to contact us about further details on this service and pricing. If you plan on trying to set this up yourself here are the tools you will need:
Want to find out if your email has been hacked into or if your password has been stolen? One way to find out is to visit this website: https://shouldichangemypassword.com/ and type in your email address. It will tell you if your email is in there database of hacked or stolen email passwords. Just because you think you have a secure complex password does not exempt you from having your password stolen in a security breach.
If you have a Gmail email account it is fairly easy to tell if someone has hacked into your email. When you login to your gmail scroll to the bottom of the page and you will see something that says "Last Account Activity: Details" If you click on details you will be presented with this screen.
When looking at this screen if you notice any strange log ins from locations you don't know then you should probably change your password. If you have Yahoo email there is also a way to tell if someone has been logging into your email. You can read about that here.
If you are noticing strange login activity on your email account you could be infected with malware. On The Spot Computer Services can do a free checkup to be sure you are not infected and that your passwords are not being stolen.
That is right you can try out the new version of Windows before it even hits stores. You can download the Windows 8 Enterprise evaluation for free and yes it is 100% legal. You can download Windows 8 right from Microsoft's website here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/jj554510.aspx
Here is what you need to know:
1. You will need a free Microsoft account in order to download Windows 8. To get one sign up here: https://signup.live.com/
2. Only install this on a spare computer or in a virtual machine because the only way to revert back to your old Windows installation is to re install Windows. I recommend using either Virtual Box or VM Player to install Windows 8 in a virtual machine. This way you can try it out without loosing your current windows installation.
If you are interested in trying out the newest version of Windows but installing it sounds a bit scary to you feel free to contact On The Spot Computer Services we can help you out.
In this simple tutorial I will give you a couple of ways to be able to download and save any YouTube video to your computer.
The easiest way to download a YouTube video is to use what is called PwnYouTube. All you do is when you are on the page of a YouTube video you want to save to your computer just type pwn before YouTube.com and hit enter. For example lets say you are on this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpRIiyAT3ys all you would do is just type pwn before YouTube in the web address. It would look like this: http://www.PWNyoutube.com/watch?v=kpRIiyAT3ys then you would just hit enter and you would be taken to a page where you can download the video in different formats. I recommend downloading the video in .mp4 format since that will play on any Apple device as well. You can click on the link above to see an example of what it will look like. You can also download the audio only of the video in mp3 format.
Another way to download YouTube videos to your computer is to use a free program called Freemake Video Converter. It can be downloaded here: http://www.freemake.com/free_video_converter/
The nice thing about this program is not only does it support YouTube it supports tons of other video websites as well and lets you download video from them. Once you download and install Freemake Video Converter its very simple to download a YouTube video. All you have to do is go to the page where the YouTube Video is and copy the url where the video is for example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpRIiyAT3ys and then click "Paste URL" in Freemake. You can add as many urls to Freemake as you want then when you want to download them click what video format you want the videos in at the bottom. I recommend either doing "to MP4" or "to AVI" after you click it you will be asked where you want to save the video and how good of quality you want the video to be. Then just simply click convert and your video will be downloaded and saved to your computer. Freemake Video Converter is nice program and can do much more than just download online videos to your computer. You can also rip DVDS that you have to a video file and save it on your computer.You can also convert video files to DVD format and burn them to DVD to be played on a DVD player and so much more... Freemake also has some video tutorials explaining how there programs work. You can check them out at: http://www.freemake.com/how_to/
There are many other ways to download and save YouTube videos to your computer these are a few.
How would you like to get high speed internet, a home phone and a cable tv alternative for $30-40 a month! If you like the way this sounds keep reading because from personal experience I can explain how this is done. On The Spot Computer Services can also setup these services for you and show you how to use them. Feel free to contact us about setting up these services for you.
To explain this in simplest terms your home phone and cable tv will come over the internet. So all you will need is a high speed internet connection in order for this to work. You will need a 10 Mbps high speed internet service for this work. Most high speed providers this is the bare minimum plan usually runs $30-$40 a month. Once you have high speed internet lets take a look at how you will get your home phone and cable tv.
HOME PHONE/ $29.95 A Year!
For your home phone you will be using a service called Magic Jack. You may have heard of it and thought it was one of those "As seen on tv" junk items. I am here to tell you from experience it is not. You can read a little more about it at http://www.magicjack.com/ Magic Jack service cost $29.95 for a year of service! Most of you reading this probably pay that in a month for a current home phone. With Magic Jack you also get these features: FREE Long Distance FREE Call Waiting FREE Voicemail FREE Caller ID FREE Phone Number (You can also transfer you existing phone number to magic jack as well!)
FREE Directory Assistance
The way the Magic Jack works is you plug it into your internet connection into one side and plug a phone into the other and you have phone service. You can then cancel your home phone service and use the Magic Jack as your home phone. The sound quality is just as good as well. Also if you ever need to dial 911 on your Magic Jack the 911 operator will see your home address because you provide it when you register your Magic Jack. So there you have it cancel your expensive home phone and get a Magic Jack for $29.95 a year and save ALOT of money. You will be saving near $400 dollars a year. Feel free to contact us at On The Spot Computer services if you have any further questions about this or would like us to set this up for you. Below is a video demonstration of a Magic Jack and what it looks like:
There are also several other uses for a Magic Jack. One is if you travel out of the country you could take Magic Jack with you and make and receive phone calls just like you were right here in the USA. No need to worry about international phone rates! With a Magic Jack you basically have a phone wherever a internet connection is available.
CABLE TV ALTERNATIVE/ FREE DEPENDING ON WHAT YOU CHOOSE
Are you sick of your monthly cable tv bill that is $40 plus! Well I was so I canceled my cable service and found an alternative to take its place and have never looked back. Let me start by saying that the alternative that I am going to introduce you too will not include all the live channels you currently have with cable tv. And not everything will be in HD. But this option if you so choose can have the content you want when you want it.
Let me introduce you to the Roku. The Roku is media player that streams video from the internet straight to your tv. There are several models you can buy. I personally own the Roku HD which is $59. You can also get the LT which is even cheaper at $49 dollars but does not support HD. You can look at all the models here: http://www.roku.com/roku-products#3
There is no monthly fee to use the Roku so once you buy it you own it. Once you own a Roku lets take a look at the content you can get right on your tv from the internet.
MOVIES AND TV SHOWS
There are many ways to get movies on your Roku. One of them is through the channel called Crackle which comes installed on your Roku. There are lots of movies and tv shows on Crackle. Including Bill Murray in Groundhog Day and Adam Sandler in Big Daddy. And tv shows like Seinfeld and Sanford And Sons. To check out all the content you can get on Crackle FREE. Check out the website at: http://www.crackle.com/
If you enjoy classic tv and classic movies from the 40s,50s and 60s you will be in heaven with a Roku. A Channel called Pub-D-Hub offers hundreds of classic shows and movies all right on your roku for free. You can also subscribe to the Pub-d-hub Gold for $2.50 a year and get even more content. They update every single week with more content. To learn more about Pub-d-hub check out their website: http://pubdhub.info/You can also get a better idea of the content by reading here: http://www.rokuguide.com/channels/pub-d-hub
If you enjoy classic western movies you can download the channel free channel Cowboy Classics for some oldtime western films. Read more about this channel here: http://www.rokuguide.com/channels/cowboy-classics
Another channel for westerns is called Classic Westerns. This channel includes westerns with John Wayne, Roy Rogers and Tim Mccoy as well as a few others. This channel will cost you a one time fee of $1.99
Another channel that is great for old time movies is Movie Vault. It has nearly 900 classic movies in almost every genre you can think of. This channel cost a onetime fee of $3.99 but is full of content. If there is one channel you get for classic movies this should be the one. Read more about it here: http://www.rokuguide.com/channels/movie-vault
There are many other FREE channels to get old classic movies such as American Pop and Retrovision.
As far as getting newer tv shows and movies on your Roku. Your best free option is Crackle which I already mentioned. Some of the others are the Netflix channel on your Roku but that will set you back $7.99 a month but Netflix does offer thousands of movies and tv shows. You can checkout some of the content of the Netflix channel here: http://instantwatcher.com/
Another option for newer tv shows and movies is the Hulu Plus channel. This channel has many new tv shows and episodes are posted after they are aired on tv. Hulu plus is also $7.99 a month. For an idea of the content you get with Hulu plus check out this website: http://www.hulu.com/plus/content
I personally have opted not to get Hulu or Netflix. As there are other ways to get this content as will be explained much later on.
One more option is Amazon for watching new movies and tv shows. If you have an Amazon Prime Account. You get many tv shows and movies totally free. If not you can rent movies from $1.99-$3.99
There are many more free movie channels for independent and B grade films etc. You can check out a full list of Roku movie channels here: http://www.rokuguide.com/channels/movies_tv
LIVE TV
The best channel for watching and streaming live tv on your roku is USTVNOW. This channel will only be useful to you though if you can not get local channels with an antenna. As the channels you get for free are ABC, CBS, CW, FOX, NBC, PBS. They also offer a paid plan that gets you some cable channels but it cost $25 a month.
If you like to watch Christian tv networks. There are plenty of free channels on Roku to watch this channels live including TBN, Daystar, Godtv and many others. Many of these channels also provide on demand programming of certain shows and even movies.
Another free channel for live tv is Justin.tv on this channel you can find feeds for news channels many times such as FOX NEWS,MSNBC,CNN etc you can also find NEW movies as well. This channel is not the best of quality of video at times though. But it is free.
A good free channel that has live feeds of some channels is called Mummy Box. On this channel you can watch these channels: BBC, Sky News,CNBC,CNN and a few others. There are times these channels can be down.
So there you have it that is how you can have home phone,internet and a cable tv alternative all over the internet and all for the price of your internet service ($30-$40 a month). If you are paying for a house phone and dont have internet. You may want to look into getting Magic Jack and canceling your home phone. For the price you are paying your home phone you could get internet and home phone! Or maybe you are sick of your cable tv bill and think a Roku box would work for in you instead. Maybe you dont have home phone at all but want one and think Magic Jack sounds like a good deal. Whatever your reasoning feel free to contact us at On The Spot Computer Services with any of your questions about these services.
EXTRA BONUS TIP FOR ROKU
I went through the basic functions of the Roku. There is something you can add to your Roku that will open it up to MUCH more content. It is called Playon. It requires you to install software on your computer. And the Roku accesses it. You gain access to content and full shows from CBS, NBC, FOX as well as many others. See the full list here: http://www.playon.tv/content-channels
Not to mention with plugins you can get here: http://www.playonscripts.com/ for playon. You watch virtually ANY live sporting event you want on your Roku. MLB,NBA,NFL,UFC etc. If the sporting event is televised somewhere in the world you will be able to watch it live with playon. Every sport, every team, every game!
Also you can get almost any new movie that you want on demand whenever you want it! Not to mention the ability to get more live tv feeds as well. If you would like more details on this let us know and we will explain all the details.
So you have downloaded a ton of music from Itunes or some other means. Maybe you just have a ton of CDS. Sure you can put some of your songs on your Ipod and listen to them on the go. But how would you like to be able to listen to your entire music library from any internet enabled device? (Ipod, Iphone, Computer etc..)
If this sounds like something you would be interested in heres how you do it. If the setup of this sounds a bit overwhelming for you and this is something you would want just contact me and I can set it up for you. For an idea of what it will look like when you are streaming Music on your device see here for a demo: http://subsonic.org/demo/login.view?user=guest5&password=guest
First thing you need to do is download a program called Subsonic. The main website is here: http://www.subsonic.org/ if you want to read all about it. You can download the program directly here: http://www.subsonic.org/pages/download2.jsp?target=subsonic-4.4-setup.exe
After you download it just simply download click on subsonic-4.4-setup.exe and run it just keep clicking "next" on the installer to install the program.
After you do this you should get a little green icon down by your clock. Now you need to setup Subsonic to detect the music on your computer so it can stream it over the internet. For instructions on how to do this see here: http://www.subsonic.org/pages/getting-started.jsp
After you have set this up. You can go to another computer or iphone etc that has internet and type in your subsonic address that you created and you will be presented with a login screen. Login with the username and password you created and bingo! you can listen to all your music from anywhere anytime.
Also if you have a ton of Cds that you would like to save to your computer so you can listen to them over subsonic. Heres how:
Just save your music to the folder that you have Subsonic pointed to and your set.
For more advanced users I recommend Exact Audio Copy. You will not find a better Cd ripper out there. Tons of features but not recommended for the average user. You can get Exact Audio Copy here: http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/
If anyone has any questions or suggestions just let me know.
