Q: My Dell is running really slow lately — with websites getting hung up. I have run the spyware and virus checkers you recommend. Is there another check I can run? Would a defrag help? I did disc cleanup too. I’ve checked for new software downloads and there are none. I believe my husband may have been sent a bug in an email. — Lucy Ferris
A: The usual reason (there are plenty of others so all I can do is guess) is malware, often it’s adware/spyware not a virus. Yet you’ve done the right things to check for that and your computer is still slow.
Some of the other reasons a computer might slow down include this long list: Not having enough space left on the hard disk for storage, the hard disk could be corrupted by a cause other than malware (for instance the Windows Registry could be scrambled), too many programs may be running in the background, there could be outdated drivers or some hardware conflict, overheating by the processing chip is possible (sometimes caused by a bad cooling fan, either the main one or a tiny fan on the chip itself), not enough RAM. You see what I mean. The list goes on and on. That’s why it gets difficult for me to know what is wrong. And without knowing what is wrong it is, of course, impossible for me to suggest a way to fix it. You may need to check everything on the list — one by one. Or it could be time to get help from a professional.
Q: I keep getting an error code 9C48 when doing updates. I believe it is for Explorer 9 and I have 11 — not sure how to clear it. Could this be the problem? I suppose it may be time to call my local geek? How do I check for RAM? I’m OK on the hard disk. What about the Registry? — Paul Mason
A: Try getting rid of that earlier version of Explorer. Remove Explorer 9 this way: Uninstall IE9 (From: Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features > Installed Updates > Windows Internet Explorer 9).
Your Registry should be OK if you are correctly using CCleaner. If you aren’t sure if you are using that program correctly then go to this website and get the instructions: www.piriform.com/docs/ccleaner/using-ccleaner.
As far as checking the amount of RAM installed, do this: Go to the Start button and select Computer. Once there click on System Properties. You will see a bunch of information including the type of processor you have and the amount of RAM installed.
Sometimes you want to go
Where everybody knows your name,
And they’re always glad you came;
You want to be where everybody knows your name.
That’s great when it comes to restaurants and neighborhood bars like the one on the old TV show “Cheers.”
But, when it comes to the Internet, it’s the last thing to wish for unless you enjoy having merchants — and perhaps hackers — tracking your every move.
Your best bet — as far as being secure when online — is to be anonymous. I should start by telling you that’s hard to do. But that would be a lie. It isn’t hard; it’s impossible.
However, there are ways to reduce your profile. In this column, I’ll stick with some sensible and fairly easy steps to close the obvious gaps. And for those of you who don’t mind taking some drastic and even unpleasant steps — I’ll offer web links that explain how to go beyond my modest efforts at making you a bit more anonymous.
For most folks, today’s moderate changes will be enough. So let’s get to work.
Your web browser is a blabbermouth
Have you ever noticed that shortly after searching for some product or service — anything from a tennis racket to a new car — ads for that very product will start popping up on random web pages? And that you’ll receive marketing emails from folks that sell that sort of product or service. What a coincidence.
It’s no accident. Search engines sell that information to marketers that use what they know based on your online activity so you can be targeted — heck, bombarded — with ads. That’s why — instead of Google or Yahoo or other mass market search engines — you should take a look at a search engine with a goofy name. It’s called DuckDuckGo (duckduckgo.com).
Search engines are just the start of the problem when it comes to browsers. Your browser offers anyone, even a non-techie, a lot of information about you. You can go to this address — www.stayinvisible.com — and see what your specific browser tells the world.
If you want to take an extra step there is a browser called Tor that comes close as reasonably possible to masking your privacy while online. You can read more or even download the free browser here: www.torproject.org. Let me warn you, using and installing Tor is not as easy as sticking with your regular browser. But feel free to check it out, there’s no harm in seeing whether the extra protection is worth the hassle to you. And it does get high marks for privacy.
Your email address opens up the gates of hell
You probably get more junk mail — spam — than notes from your friends. That’s annoying. But that’s trivial compared with the way crooks use your email address to send dangerous attachments that can hijack your computer. And that’s not the only problem. Hackers take over email accounts so frequently that I’ll bet it’s already happened to you or to someone you know.
Consider using a separate email account when dealing with strangers and limit your main account to trusted friends and important contacts such as financial institutions. Lord knows it’s easy to create as many free email accounts as you like.
But also consider taking a second step that may prevent a hacker from taking over your email account. Email accounts almost always use security questions to establish your identity. If a hacker can guess the answers to those questions he can use that ability to impersonate you and seize your account. The security questions can be pretty nosy — they may want to know your mother’s maiden name, the city where you attended high school, your favorite pet and things like that.
You won’t be shocked to learn I can probably find the answers to some of those questions using your name and a search engine. So here’s what I do. No matter what the question asked I use the same phony answer. For instance, where did I go to high school? Godzilla. My mom’s maiden name? Godzilla. I use the same silly response for each question. It works fine and hackers will draw a complete blank.
Go beyond a firewall
You probably know that a firewall is either a hardware device or a software program that tries to cloak your computer from intruders while you are online. For most casual users the firewall is the software program that comes free with Windows. Others go an extra step and use a more robust firewall program that they buy or download for free. All that is fine and good. But a good router — either a wired one or a wireless one — serves as an extra layer of protection. Even for those who have just a single computer, it’s a smart move to add a router.
OK. There’s so much more that you can do and we’ve just barely started. That’s why — as promised — I’m going to offer some web links for those of you who want to do more. Some of the suggestions will be extreme, but some might suit those of you who really want to fade into the woodwork. So take a look and, hey, be safe out there.
www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2363304,00.asp
www.digitaltrends.com/computing/how-to-be-anonymous-online/
www.wikihow.com/Be-Online-Anonymously
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