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November 12, 2006 Volume 4, Number 2 | |||
In This Issue · Phishing | PhishingPhishing emails are made to realistically look like they came from your bank, credit card company or PayPal (an online payment company). A REAL notice from your company will not have a link for you to click on, they will tell you to go to they website and log into your account. If you click on the link in the email, you will be taken to the phisher’s website and they can collect any information you type in. Often, the email will contain personal information they have gathered from some other source. Some of the ploys used want you to:· verify your account information· verify a recent $2,2004 computer purchase (makes you want to got there and make sure your account was not charged.)· update an expiring account.· verify changes to your account· apply for a loan· and many more ploys are invented everydayPhishtank, a service run by the good folks at OpenDNS, have published their first set of phishing statistics.
Recommendations from Ruidoso Computer ConsultantsThis is one of those situations where everything is up to you. User Beware! Don’t click on any link in the email. Go to your browser and go to the website of the company in question and access your account from there. Usually you will find that nothing has changed and there was no reason for you to have to access your account.If you get “Phished” into clicking on their link and logging in on their website then go to the company website, log in and immediately change your password. If someone else in the family needs that password, you can call them and give them the new one. Don’t send passwords in emails.
Let me work with you on your next technology purchase. I have competitive prices and you know where to find me when you need support. I sell computers, notebooks, handhelds, PDAs, camcorders, cameras, printers, MP3 players, DVD players and Office Supplys.
Windows VistaMicrosoft is coming out with a new operating system. It has many new bells and whistles and some of them actually are improvements to Windows XP. Windows Vista requires a fairly new computer. If your computer is more than two years old then don’t waste your time even trying.I installed Windows Vista RC1 in one of my computers here in my office. I took a spare hard drive, reformatted it and installed with a “clean” install of Windows Vista. (You are supposed to be able to upgrade from Windows XP.) One of the first things I found was that it wouldn’t recognize any of the other devices on the network - not the Windows XP computers, printers nor even the router. It would connect to the internet through the router.Some things had changed on the desktop. The rectangular "start" button in the lower-left corner of the screen has been changed to a circle with the Windows logo. A transparent rectangle, called the Sidebar, runs down the right side of the screen. This is reminiscent of the toolbar that used to come with Microsoft Office that was always in the way. Sidebar holds "gadgets," mini-applications that provide quick access to frequently needed information and tools. It is the gadgets that make some tasks easier though most of us don’t perform those tasks on a regular basis. Vista does have some nice features on the updated desktop, but if you don’t have them, you won’t miss them.Windows Vista will appeal to those working with different visual media and games and with businesses sharing data and collaborating on Microsoft Office projects.Windows Vista does not work well with Windows XP in a network unless you install an update on each XP machine.Recommendation: Don’t worry about upgrading to Windows Vista. For most of us, what we have will do just fine. When you do buy a new computer, make sure it is Vista ready and that you get a free upgrade to Vista when it becomes available. Microsoft is supporting vendors in this so that customers won’t hold off from buying a new computer for Christmas.I will upgrade at least one of my computers because I have to be familiar with the operating system so that I can work on your computers when you do upgrade otherwise, I do not think it would be worth my investment of money and time. The upgrade process is definitely not the best route. There are many pieces of hardware that the drivers are not compatible. This may not show up in the test you can run before you install Vista. One reviewer discovered that he could not get drivers for his sound card so he had no sound, no music.
This is an attempt to provide my customers with timely information. Let me know what you think.
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