If there are any topics you would like to see discussed in the future or if you have any comments, please contact me at JoeT@HighCaliber.com
Bullet Points
"Illegal File Sharing" Virus/Hoax
There is an email going around with the following subject line: "You use illegal file sharing."
The body of the email states that your computer has been scanned and its contents
confiscated as evidence, and that you will be charged in writing "in the
next days." There is an attached file that is supposed to contain the illegal
files found on your computer.
There is even a notice at the bottom stating that you can get more information from the
FBI's Department for "Illegal Internet Downloads."
Well, needless to say if you get this email the FBI isn't after you. However, your computer
might be infected - this is one of several messages used by the sober.c worm. You can read
about it (including removal instructions) at: http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/w32.sober.c@mm.html
Default Home Page Changes
Have you ever gone to a web site only to find that your default home page
(the one that comes up when you first fire up your browser) has been changed?
One way to stop this is to use a program such as SpyBot Search and Destroy
that can detect and remove these and many other "scumware" pests automatically:
Remember that your anti-virus software does not deal with these problems. SpyBot should
be used in addition to AV software. Give us a call if you would like some help installing this.
Converting Adobe PDF's To Word Documents
In case you haven't noticed, you can't cut/paste text of otherwise edit Adobe Acrobat
(.PDF) files. PDF CONVERTER offers a slick way to convert PDF files into Microsoft Word
documents which you can then edit.
This program will not convert image-only pages (pages that were scanned from printed paper,
not converted to PDF using Adobe Acrobat). You will need OmniPage Pro to do this, which is
not cheap.
Emailing Word Documents While In Word
To email a Microsft Word document that you have just finished to someone:
Click File
Click Send To
Click Mail Recipient
Your email program (probably Outlook) will then open and place the document either in the text window
or as an attachment, depending upon the email program you use.
How Much Memory Does My Computer Need?
The term 'memory' in computers can often be confusing because it used to refer
to completely different things: storage memory (your hard drive) and working memory (RAM).
Storage capacity determines how much data and programs you can store
on the computer. Determing how much storage capacity you need involves
determining how much space you will need to store all of your email, Word
documents, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, databases, images,
music files, etc., and the programs needed to access these files. Today's
PC's generally come with hard drives with more than enough space (40 GB and up)
for most people.
To determine how much storage space is left on your hard drive, open My Computer,
right click on the drive, and then select Properties. A pie chart will
be displayed that shows storage capacity utilization. At least 10% of the disk's
total capacity should be free.
Working memory (RAM) is volatile (that is, anything stored in it is
lost when the PC is rebooted). Computer applications like Outlook, Word,
PhotoShop, etc. need RAM to execute in, as well as to do calculations, store
intermediate data, etc. The more RAM you have, the faster your application
programs will run, generally speaking.
But how much is too much? This depends on many things including the type of
programs you run, how many you run at the same time and what operating system
you have. In my opinion, you need at least 128 MB of RAM if you are running
Windows 2000 or Windows XP.
One way to tell if you have enough is to watch your disk activity light. If
you see this light flashing frequently when you are not reading from or writing
to the hard disk, you may not have enough RAM installed. (Windows will use
hard drive space as RAM if it runs out of working memory. Hard drive access
is extremely slow when compared to accessing data stored in RAM.) If your computer
runs particularly slow, more RAM may slso help.
Google News Alerts
There are several interesting beta programs at Google's "technology playground."
One of the more useful is Google News Alerts. Just enter the word or phrase you'd
like Google to search for you and indicate whether you want daily email notifications
or as it happens. Keep the search term fairly specific to avoid overflowing your Inbox.
A similar service exists at http://www.tracerlock.com
Disabling New Software Install Notices in XP
To disable the often annoying pop up that tells you when new software is
installed in Windows XP, disable it:
Click Start
Right click on the top of the Start menu where your name is displayed
Click Properties
Click on the Start Menu tab
Click on Customize
Click on Advanced tab
Clear the Highlight newly installed programs check box
Click OK
Finding and Adding New Fonts
For the most part, any font that you may want is likely to be available as a free
download from dozens of Web sites. If you know the name of the font(s) that you
want, try going to www.Google.com and enter the font name followed by ".ttf"
The ".ttf" tells it to look specifically for the True Type Font extension, which
will narrow your search results to actual sites that have the font. For example,
if you are looking for the "comic" font, put "comic.ttf"
When you find the font that you want, you must download it to your computer
from the Web site. The exact process differs from site to site, but be sure
to remember where you saved the file on your computer. If the download file
has a ".zip" extension, it means it has been compressed and will require an
unzip utility such as WinZip.
Once you have downloaded the fonts you want, go to Control Panel:
Click Start
Click Settings
Click Control Panel
Click the Fonts icon
This should open a window that displays your currently installed fonts. Next, click on
File / Install New Font to open the Add Fonts window. Navigate to the folder
that contains the downloaded fonts by using the Folders: section. When you
get to the folder containing the new fonts, they will automatically appear
in the List of fonts: box at the top. If you want all of the fonts listed,
click on the Select All button to the right, then on OK. If you only want
certain fonts installed, hold down the "Ctrl" button on your keyboard, then
select the fonts that you want to install, then press the OK button.
The newly installed fonts will appear in the list and will now be available
to all of your programs. Remember that installing too many fonts can slow down
your system. The more fonts you install, the longer it will take Windows and some
other programs to load. The number of installed fonts will appear at the bottom
left of the list of fonts.
To remove a font, simply click on it and press the delete key on your keyboard.
To view a font, simply double-click it.
Windows XP Command Line Reference
For those of you who yearn for the old DOS days (now called the "command line"),
here is documentation for the things you can enter at the Windows XP command prompt:
If you use Internet Explorer, Microsoft Outlook Express, or Microsoft
Outlook, you're vulnerable to something called "URL Spoofing." The
best defense against this trick is to be aware of the problem and how
to detect it.
According to Microsoft, a malicious user can create a link to a deceptive
(spoofed) Web site that displays the URL to a legitimate Web site in the
Status bar (at the bottom), Address bar, and Title bar (at the top of the page).
This link is usually sent to you via email that is also made to look as if
if it originated from some firm that you already do business with.
For example, the bad guys might create a web site that looks exactly like eBay,
PayPal or a banking site. These fake sites are actually just a front for
the crooks to get you to disclose sensitive information. The send you an email
with a spoofed URL. This leads you to a form that asks you to update certain
information (i.e. password, SSN, account numbers, etc.) You enter the info,
submit it and the bad guys now have that information. Scary, right?
and click the links in the first and second paragraphs.
Remember that this vulnerability doesn't just affect Internet Explorer. It also affects
Microsoft Outlook and/or Outlook Express.
There's no way to fix this problem. Microsoft has to fix it.
In the meantime, be careful of links in email HTML messages, especially if
those messages are from anybody you do financial transactions with or disclose
sensitive personal information to (e.g. eBay, PayPal, a bank, AOL, Amazon,
credit card companies, etc.)
To check the legitimacy of a URL, click it and then type this into your address
bar in the same place you type in URL's:
javascript:alert("This site's real URL is: " + location.protocol + "//" + location.hostname + "/");
This will reveals the real identity of the site.
You can not trust links in HTML-formatted emails (emails that look like web pages)
to point to the sites they say they do.
Broadband Reports has done the best job of covering this vulnerability.
You can find their latest update at:
