When you’re blocked from visiting a known-good website, it could be your own system being over-protective.

Some protective applications use a special Windows file called ‘hosts’ to intentionally prevent the computer user from browsing to certain Web sites. This is achieved by inserting a special command line into the Hosts file that specifies that if any attempt is made to browse to a nominated Web address (e.g. BadHacker.com), the browser should be redirected to another URL or simply fail. Such a command when placed into the hosts file might look like this:

127.0.0.1 clickbank.net # This is a comment.

That line of script simply means that any attempt to browse to ClickBank.net should be redirected to the IP address 127.0.0.1. Optionally, any random comment can be placed after a hash sign.

127.0.0.1 is the standard IP address used for a “loopback network connection”, which basically means that if you try to connect to the IP address 127.0.0.1 you are immediately looped back to your own computer. In other words, the browsing request goes nowhere.

Some applications that use this ban-list technique will write literally thousands of “prohibited” URL entries to the Hosts file. Many people swear by this technique to protect them from malicious websites, but I have two problems with it:

1. Very, very few average computer users are aware of it and are thus understandably confused and frustrated when they fail to connect to a website that they know exists and with which their friends and associates experience no problem.
2. Who decides on the selection criteria for determining which URLs should be included in the “prohibited” list? The desirability of avoiding certain sites is clear-cut; if a site is well known as a source of malware or obnoxious content then its inclusion is clearly justified. But there are certain Web sites often included in these large ban-lists that are, to my mind, impossible to justify with any degree of logic or common-sense.

One site often included in these “ban” lists is ClickBank.com. Here is some information about ClickBank from their own website:

ClickBank is the world’s largest online retailer for those engaged in developing, selling and promoting digitally downloaded products and services. They process in the vicinity of 25,000 transactions daily from around the world and have 110,000 active affiliates. The company functions as a virtual business network facilitating the interactions and transactions between buyers, sellers and affiliates while providing guaranteed tracking of sales, state-of-the-art fraud protection and a totally secure platform.

The vast majority of the copies of my popular security e-book The Hacker’s Nightmare have been sold using ClickBank as the payment processor since 2004.

The problem regarding whether an inclusion is justified or not stems from the fact that most of these “ban” lists are compiled by hard-core geeks, a class of Internet user often associated with an anti-commerce stance. One provider of such a list, hosts-file.net, justifies the banning of ClickBank (which it classifies as an “FSA” site) as follows:

FSA – sites engaged in the selling or distribution of bogus or fraudulent applications. This classification is assigned to site’s being used for the distribution of ‘rogue’ security or other such applications, for example: SpyHunter, SpyFalcon, SpywareQuake, AdwareAlert, etc.

So apparently the list compilers want ClickBank to assume responsibility for thoroughly vetting all 35,000+ products offered through its marketplace. Whether you think that’s reasonable or not is besides the point. ClickBank is not itself a harmful site, and the most significant effect of its inclusion on such lists is to cause confusion and frustration to many computer users, and a completely unnecessary flood of support e-mails and phone calls as they try to get to the bottom of the problem.

In defending this position I’ve been accused in at least one discussion forum of calling the layer of protection offered by these lists as “silly”. That is not, nor has it ever been, my opinion. The judicious use of the Hosts file to protect computer users from known malicious websites is both valid and useful. But what is silly and harmful is the inclusion of websites like ClickBank which are clearly not malicious in any way. If you are going to use one of these lists you must at all times remain conscious of the fact that it is in play, so you know that a close inspection of the Hosts file should be your first action in the event of failure to contact a known-good website.

In a standard Windows installation the hosts file can be found in this location:

C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc

It is a plain text file simply called hosts and has no extension to the filename.

©2010 Bill Hely's "Computer & Online Security" Blog. All Rights Reserved.

This is an edited reprint of an article I first published over a year ago, but it addresses a concern of which Windows users need to be constantly reminded.

Since the first edition of my security book “The Hacker’s Nightmare“ was released in 2003, it has always carried a 100% satisfaction guarantee.

Yet in all that time we have received a negligible number of requests for refunds –- no more than a handful in five years. As anyone familiar with the marketing of information products online will know, that’s an extraordinary statistic, and one of which I’m very proud. It’s a clear indication of the value of the book and the information it contains.

Even of those few we’ve refunded, the majority have obviously been “scammers” if that’s the right word. A thief is a thief, whether virtual or real-world. Anyway, it’s easy to pick the thief; he buys your product and within a few minutes (just enough time to download it) he claims a refund, usually directly from the payment processor, ClickBank or Paypal. OK, we know there are dishonest people out there – that’s life.

The other few “refundees” usually offer (unasked) a good reason and even appear apologetic for making a claim. These we are happy to refund and I never give them another thought. One gentleman telephoned from the UK to Australia to say he couldn’t follow the directions and could he have a refund because it was all a bit beyond him. Turned out he was a raw beginner who had just bought an Apple Mac. No wonder it was all “double Dutch” to him – wrong Operating System!

No refund request is ever denied, but once in a while a “reason” given for requesting a refund irks me for days after.

So what’s all this got to do with security?

Steady on. I’m getting to it.

A while back one of my assistants processed a refund request for a lady who gave this reason:

“The reason I’m not satisfied with it is because most of the recommendations entail buying software to protect my computer and frankly I am not in a position to spend any more money than I already have on my computer.”

Now, first up, that’s a misleading claim for several reasons.

Many of the techniques and tools I recommend – and describe in considerable detail – are completely free.

In some cases there are free versions of commercial software that I class as “adequate”, but give reasons why the full commercial version would be a better choice. Ultimately that choice is up to the reader.

Finally, there are cases where I flatly declare and avow that a specific item of commercial software is mandatory and that the alternatives – free or cheaper or whatever – are not worthy of consideration, and I give detailed and substantiated reasons why. But even in these few cases the cost is never significant.

Then there is the educational value. It has been proven on many occasions, in many different businesses, that just reading “The Hacker’s Nightmare“, and taking no actual action, will leave the average computer user better educated, better prepared, more aware and safer for the experience.

How come? Well, you see…

The first line of defense against many Internet-borne threats is THE HUMAN BRAIN!!! And just reading through “The Hacker’s Nightmare“ will imbue an awareness that the average reader did not possess beforehand.

Mind you, “read only” is certainly not what I recommend. Far from it. But sometimes that’s the only course open to some people.

For example, at least two police forces that I know of use “The Hacker’s Nightmare“ to educate officers in the basics that will better equip them for taking complaints on computer crime. Obviously the officers are “discouraged” from implementing preventive measures on their force’s network! In an organization that’s the responsibility of the IT support person.

Similarly, several companies have purchased multi-user licenses for “The Hacker’s Nightmare“ and make its reading a mandatory condition of employment for all staff.

Most organizations have an “IT person” responsible for configurations and installations, and general staff are (wisely) forbidden from engaging in such activities themselves.

Yet smart management is awake to the fact that computer and Internet security is as much a mindset as it is a course of action. By insisting that all employees read “The Hacker’s Nightmare“ they are taking that extra educational step that can make all the difference to their organizations overall level of data security.

In other words, action without education is a half-assed approach.

And finally…

If you’ve got this great book that will tell you in plain language how to “do security stuff”, why do you need any other programs at all?

Good question. Here’s why:

There’s a lot of “stuff” missing from Windows, and there is a lot of “stuff” in it that the average user would be better off without.

There are also software components included in Windows that don’t do a very good job; the built-in software firewall is a good example.

Each of those situations is either the source of security holes or the reason we need to add extra functionality to Windows. We do that by the judicious inclusion of 3rd party programs. Unfortunately just “tweaking” what’s already there won’t come close to securing a system against even the common threats.

So what’s YOUR position on buying a computer, with Windows pre-installed, and not spending just a little bit extra on safeguarding it? One consequence that’s almost guaranteed is that the first serious malware incursion you suffer will cost you a lot more than “The Hacker’s Nightmare“ and a few protective utilities.

But if you’re still one of the reluctant crowd, here’s a little eye-opener for you. Try a Google search for the terms:

honeypot, computer or PC, and minutes

Here’s a ready-made link for you:

http://www.google.com.au/search?q=honeypot+PC%7Ccomputer+minutes

Scary, huh?

Still want to go it alone?

©2010 Bill Hely's "Computer & Online Security" Blog. All Rights Reserved.

After posting the previous entry it occurred to me that some readers will be prompted to wonder about Registry Cleaners.

First question: what is “the Registry”? Wikipedia provides this description:

The Windows Registry is a directory which stores settings and options for the operating system for Microsoft Windows 32/64-bit versions and Windows Mobile. It contains information and settings for all the hardware, operating system software, most non-operating system software, users preferences of the PC, etc. Whenever a user makes changes to Control Panel settings, file associations, system policies, or most installed software, the changes are reflected and stored in the Registry.

In other words, the Registry is a very large repository of critical system, program and user information.

As programs and settings are installed, uninstalled and modified over time, the Registry begins to accumulate redundant and unwanted items of information, such as data left behind by software that has not been completely uninstalled from the computer, or settings that are no longer of any use, or even rogue settings used by malware.

What does a Registry Cleaner do?

Registry Cleaner software is designed to scan the Registry and attempt to identify invalid entries, missing file references, broken links, etc and then, optionally, delete the unwanted values and/or repair errors.

While there is no doubt that a pristine Registry aids in the maintenance of a healthy PC, there are some claims made for Registry cleaners that warrant closer inspection. For example, every publisher of Registry Cleaner software invariably makes the claim that a major benefit of using their software will be to “speed up your PC”, and users are often disappointed when they find this hope is not realised.

Why is this so?

On computers running Windows 95/98 an excessively bloated Registry might adversely affect the computer’s startup time to varying degrees. However the improved architecture of later operating system versions makes Registry size much less of an issue. And anyway, a Registry Cleaner is unlikely to reduce Registry size by more than a few kilobytes at most — an insignificant and unnoticeable saving in terms of performance.

However there are certainly circumstances where the use of a Registry Cleaner can provide noticeable performance improvements.

For example, if there exists a Registry entry indicating that some program installed on another networked computer or server should be run at startup, and if the relevant network path no longer exists, startup can be delayed significantly, for as long as the network protocol takes to time-out. Cleaning up such a situation would probably produce a noticeable improvement in start-up time.

Thus it should be clearly understood that the likelihood of any performance improvement as a result of using a Registry Cleaner will depend on the nature of any Registry errors discovered. So while a Registry Cleaner is very useful for computer users who frequently add or remove programs from their computer, the result will probably be improved reliability rather than any noticeable improvement in performance.

Another consideration is that computer users often expect too much from Registry Cleaner software. Given the vast number of application software programs available from innumerable sources and developers, it is simply not possible for any Registry Cleaner to “know” all about the requirements and parameters of each and every program.

Some Registry cleaners are more capable in this regard than others, having a larger and more accurate database of program settings to work with. But expecting a Registry Cleaner to be able to put right every minor inconsistency in every possible program is obviously unreasonable.

Caveat emptor!

Unfortunately the Registry Cleaner software category as a whole has acquired something of a suspect reputation, thanks to the efforts of certain underhanded vendors and malware developers. Rogue Registry Cleaners are being marketed with scaremongering advertisements that falsely claim to have analyzed your PC and found serious problems. You are then confronted with bogus warnings that corrective action must be taken immediately to avoid impending catastrophe. Of course in order to take the recommended “corrective action” you’ll need to purchase their product. In some cases the product will be a real, though almost certainly substandard, Registry Cleaner. In the worst-case scenario the product will be a carrier for some form of malware controlled by its developer.

As daunting as these possibilities may appear they should not, in my opinion, be a reason to avoid using a Registry Cleaner. Clearly the same ploy could be (and is!) used with any type of software. The lesson to be learned is always know what you are downloading and where you are downloading it from. A little time spent on research using a search engine such as Google can provide a wealth of information and eliminate the possibility of making an expensive mistake.

However, since you have taken the trouble to read this far, I’ll give you the benefit of my well researched recommendation.

My personal preference

There are many Registry Cleaner tools to choose from. While most will to some extent do the job for which they are intended, it’s important to keep in mind that they do come in various flavors which can include “probably useless” to “possibly dangerous”. A substandard Registry Cleaner may not be able to determine whether a particular Registry key is still being used by Windows or what detrimental effects removing it may have. This has led to examples of Registry Cleaners causing loss of functionality and/or system instability.

This is unfortunately a caveat that applies to all utility programs, anti-virus and anti-spyware included. The trick is to determine the best performing from the most reputable — not always an easy task when faced with myriad conflicting, and often uninformed, “opinions”.

After a satisfactory trial of close to five months I have settled on Registry Booster from Uniblue as my Registry Cleaner of choice.

I won’t claim that Registry Booster does a better job of Registry optimization than any other product. It may do, but from a purely scan-and-fix perspective I was quite happy with the scanner we had used for some time beforehand.

However Registry Booster does at least as good a job, faster, with a lot less fuss, less user interaction required, easier configuration, and with an excellent user interface.

Ultimately my conclusion was that Registry Booster is a safe and reliable product that is well supported by a publisher with a responsive and customer-centric attitude. We now use Registry Booster exclusively in-house, as do many of our clients and subscribers. Between us we’ve had Registry Booster running for some months on Windows 2000, XP and Vista that I’m aware of, and we have never had a problem report to date.

Test drive a free scan

There is a free trial version of Registry Booster available which, although it does perform a complete scan of the entire Registry, restricts any fixes to just 15 of the errors discovered. On a well used computer the number of Registry errors reported may well number into the many hundreds. This is not unusual the first time a Registry scan is run.

Quite reasonably, to run a complete fix for all errors you will need to register the software. However, even then, if you aren’t happy with the product or the results, you can request a full no-questions-asked refund at any time up to 30 days after your purchase, plenty of time to give the program a real workout.

Click here to get a free trial of Registry Booster. This isn’t an online, across-the-Internet scan — the Instant Scan button will prompt you to download the trial application, which you need to install.

Please be sure to follow these software installation safe practice guidelines:

• Reboot your computer before installing any software
• Close any applications that may have started with Windows
• Install the Registry Booster trial
• Reboot your computer again

In the unlikely event that you do encounter problems during or after optimizing the registry, the remedy is simple. When you ran Registry Booster it offered to save a backup of your existing Registry — an offer which of course you would have accepted. Restoring the Registry backup will return your system to its pre-scanned status.

Regular use

Depending on the workload of each PC, I run Uniblue Registry Booster approximately weekly as part of my regimen to keep my systems healthy and working optimally.

Click here to download your free trial of Uniblue Registry Booster

©2010 Bill Hely's "Computer & Online Security" Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Just a quick post to give y’all a heads-up on a rare opportunity.

One of my most useful productivity tools, and something I use many times per day, every day of the week, is the printing utility ClickBook.

You’ve maybe seen me praising it occasionally in the past.

Well, as a “ClickBook champion” I’ve just been given a special link that, for a very brief time, will allow those in the know to purchase this great product at a very significant discount.

But be careful…

The trick to getting the discount is to only use the special link, because if you make your purchase through any of the normal website pages you’ll be asked for the full price, which in my opinion as a long-time ClickBook user is already a steal.

Now this first link I’m giving you is NOT the secret link, but you might want to follow it first to learn a bit about ClickBook:
http://www.bluesquirrel.com/products/ClickBook/

To purchase ClickBook at the discount price you need to go here:
https://www.bluesquirrel.com/cart/cart.asp?P=CBCSO

And while you’re at the shopping cart…

Give serious consideration to adding in the long reach stapler, which is also discounted. I’ve got one and they’re pretty much indispensable for assembling your booklets. I’ve had mine for some time and so unhappily I didn’t get it at the discount that’s available to you right now, but it’s been so useful I have no complaints.

But don’t mess about or you’ll miss out. This promotion is definitely time-limited and when it’s over its definitely over.

Regarding the movie on this page: If your printer is duplex (i.e. capable of printing on both sides of a page), a common feature these days, then you don’t even need to feed booklet pages a second time as you see the demonstrator doing.

Speaking as a ClickBook devotee I don’t really like that movie all that much, because it only shows one minor feature. Cool as that is, ClickBook can do so much more.

Anyway, the special link for the heavy discount again:
https://www.bluesquirrel.com/cart/cart.asp?P=CBCSO

I’ve used ClickBook for many years and it’s one product I wouldn’t be without.

Highly recommended.

PS If you are already using ClickBook please leave a comment on how useful you find it.

©2010 Bill Hely's "Computer & Online Security" Blog. All Rights Reserved.

One of the most common browser-related questions I receive is about Internet Explorer v7 or v8 misbehaving in some fashion. Even seeing the browser refuse to start up at all is not that uncommon.

Internet Explorer does not provide an uninstall option on the Windows Start menu, and it’s not all that unusual to find there is no entry for Internet Explorer in the Control Panel’s Add or Remove Programs applet. For an explanation of why this might be so see my article Understanding & Troubleshooting the Add or Remove Programs Applet.

So what to do?

Here is a process that will more often than not resolve such problems and get you back to the latest Internet Explorer version behaving as it should.

To save covering the same ground twice, I’ll assume we are starting with a broken IE8, but if IE7 is your current version just skip the first step.

Proceeds as follows…

Download IE8 to your desktop. Don’t execute it yet, just leave it there ready.

Now please note that in the following steps it is MOST IMPORTANT that you reboot your PC every time you are prompted to do so. This is CRITICAL. No matter how tiresome the repeated reboots, DO NOT DEVIATE.

STEP ONE

Remove the current non-working IE8 using this file that should already be on your computer:
C:\WINDOWS\ie8\spuninst\spuninst.exe

When that’s finished (and after rebooting) your system will default to IE7 if it was installed before IE8, or otherwise to IE6.

STEP TWO

If IE7 is the new default version, and whether it works properly or not, remove IE7 using:
C:\WINDOWS\ie7\spuninst\spuninst.exe

After a reboot your default version should be IE6, which hopefully will run OK.

STEP THREE

Now double-click the IE8 file you downloaded to your desktop, thus starting the IE8 installation.

With any luck at all, after the mandatory reboot IE8 should be running OK, but you’re not finished yet.

STEP FOUR

Open IE8 and navigate to the menu item Tools/Windows Update, and download any updates that are offered. You will probably be prompted to reboot after updates are installed.

Keep going back to Tools/Windows Update after each reboot until there are no updates left for you to retrieve. By default Windows Update will only offer you updates of type “High Priority”, but if you look in the left-hand menu, under the heading “Select by Type” you will see that there are also selections available for “Software, Optional” and “Hardware, Optional”. You may have to go into Windows Update several times to retrieve all the updates that are available.

That’s it! With any luck at all you will now have a clean working copy of Internet Explorer v8.

But in the interests of both security and productivity I really can’t finish without adding this comment…

If you look around the ‘net you will find countless reports of problems with IE7 and IE8, many similar in one way or another, some quite different altogether.

But these are not potential problem you will likely have to face if you make your day-to-day browser the far superior and far less problem-plagued Firefox web browser.

I’m not saying you should ignore Internet Explorer altogether. Unfortunately it is still necessary for some operations. I strongly recommend you make a habit of keeping Internet Explorer updated, but never use it unless absolutely necessary.

There is no problem at all with having more than one browser installed at the same time, or even running simultaneously. I have Internet Explorer 8, Google Chrome and Firefox 3 all installed, but rarely ever use anything but Firefox.

You will be doing yourself a considerable service by adopting the same policy.

Firefox is quite simply a more useful, more versatile, less troublesome AND MUCH SAFER web browser.

©2010 Bill Hely's "Computer & Online Security" Blog. All Rights Reserved.

A fairly common complaint around support forums is that one or more applications do not appear in Control Panel’s Add or Remove Programs list. The Add or Remove Programs feature is a much misunderstood application, hence these queries are rarely resolved satisfactorily in the ensuing forum discussions, and blame for the omission is often misplaced.

While superficially it might seem reasonable to blame the coding of an application which doesn’t have an Add or Remove Programs entry, there are in fact many possible reasons why the Add or Remove Programs list might not be complete, and the program itself is the least likely cause. Yes, the problem can lie with the individual application, but it can also lie with a mis-configuration of Windows itself, or even with an entirely different program which itself may appear to be unaffected.

I don’t propose this article to be an exhaustive treatment of this topic. My aim is simply to alert you to enough of the possibilities to give you the background to search out a solution appropriate to your particular circumstances. Hopefully this information will make that task much easier.

Let’s begin by looking at just how an application gets to appear in the Add or Remove Programs list to start with.

Contrary to popular belief, it’s not up to the developer to directly program his application to appear in the Add or Remove Programs list. An application’s appearance in the list is determined by Windows, which is supposed to create an entry for any Windows-compatible program that has an uninstall component. Thus all the developer has to do to qualify his application for inclusion in the Add or Remove Programs list is to provide an UNINSTALL.EXE (by whatever name), or a Windows-accessible uninstall routine within his program.

Windows will then add details of the application to a special “uninstall list” in the Windows Registry. The list is located at this Registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall

Each entry under that key represents an individual program that will appear in the Add or Remove Programs list, and each entry has several values associated with it, the most important of which to this discussion are:

DisplayName: The name that is shown in the Add or Remove Programs list.

UninstallString: The program or routine that is used to uninstall the application.

All that will be made quite clear by simply viewing some of the entries for that Registry Key in Regedit.

USUAL WARNING
Messing with the Windows Registry
can cause severe headaches!

Manual editing of the Registry key may be appropriate under certain circumstances, such as when an application has been uninstalled but still appears in the Add or Remove Programs list. Deleting the appropriate entry under the Registry key will cause that program to disappear from the Add or Remove Programs list.

There is one particularly important point about this Registry key that you must know in order to fully understand the population of the Add or Remove Programs dialog. Here it is:

The list of programs maintained at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall is ONLY automatically updated when a program is installed in Windows or when a program is uninstalled from Windows. Otherwise…

WINDOWS DOES NOT PROVIDE ANY MECHANISM
TO REFRESH OR UPDATE THIS LIST!

So obviously, if an entry in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall is inappropriately edited or deleted, the Add or Remove Programs dialog will continue to reflect that error until it is manually rectified.

To illustrate just how complex the reasons behind missing entries in Add or Remove Programs can be, let’s look  at just one way that Windows intentionally hides certain program name entries from the Add or Remove Programs list.

Use Windows Explorer (WinKey+E) to locate the folder %System Root%\Windows\inf\. On most computers that will be c:\Windows\inf\. Within that folder locate the file SYSOC.INF and open it in Windows Notepad (or any other PLAIN TEXT editor — NOT a word processor).

Here’s what a small section of SYSOC.INF might look like:

Games=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,games.inf,HIDE,7
AccessUtil=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,accessor.inf,HIDE,7
CommApps=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,communic.inf,HIDE,7
MultiM=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,multimed.inf,HIDE,7
AccessOpt=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,optional.inf,HIDE,7
Pinball=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,pinball.inf,HIDE,7
MSWordPad=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,wordpad.inf,HIDE,7
ZoneGames=zoneoc.dll,ZoneSetupProc,igames.inf,,7

Those entries containing the word “HIDE” (case is not important) will be hidden from the Add or Remove Programs list. If editing any of these entries, remove only the word “HIDE” but leave the commas in place, as shown in the last line above. A system reboot is necessary before any changes will take effect.

It should be noted that I have also heard reports that changing the “HIDE” status of certain entries in SYSOC.INF will not always see that change reflected in the Add or Remove Programs dialog. I assume that’s because one of the many other reasons that entries may not appear in the list is also having an effect.

Another oddity sometimes encountered with the Add or Remove Programs dialog is that it can have a long gap of white space between one entry and the next. One program known to cause this is certain versions of AutoCAD. The operation of AutoCAD itself appears to be completely unaffected. I’ve also heard reports that the white space may appear after the AutoCAD entry in Add or Remove Programs, or it may appear after some other different and unrelated entry, even though AutoCAD is the cause. The reason for this odd behavior appears to be a negative icon number in a Registry entry related to AutoCAD. For example:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{BIG_HEX_NUMBER_HERE}

Value Name: DisplayIcon

Value Type: REG_SZalue Data: C:\Program Files\AutoCAD LT 2000i\aclt.exe,-1

The solution to the problem is to change the “-1″ at the end of the Value Data line to “1″.

I must emphasize that this small “bug” in some versions of AutoCAD in no way affects the operation of the program itself. This example serves to illustrate that even the most expensive, upmarket, highly regarded professional applications can suffer these little quirks without any adverse reflection on the quality of the application itself. Perfection would be nice, but lack of perfection doesn’t necessarily equate to disaster or a substandard product.

Another completely different example of cause and effect…

Entries in the Add or Remove Programs list can also be affected by the Windows installation itself.

The Add or Remove Programs applet relies on the presence and correct formatting of 18 separate Registry keys. All of those keys must have been correctly set by registering the control program APPWIZ.CPL. While such registration should occur during Windows installation, it has been known to go wrong, and Registry entries could also have been affected by other subsequent events. Such events could include Registry mangling by a rogue application or some form of malware attack. If this possibility is the cause of any problem with the Add or Remove Programs list, it may help to try registering APPWIZ.CPL manually. Here’s how:

1. Click Start, click Run.
2. Type this three-letter command into the “Open” text field: CMD
3. Click the OK button.
4. At the prompt, type: REGSVR32 APPWIZ.CPL
5. Press the Enter key.

All being well APPWIZ.CPL should be re-registered and all 18 relevant Registry keys correctly entered and formatted in the Windows Registry.

Following many such discussions in technical and support forums over a long period of time leads me to the observation that, more often than not, computer users tend to jump in and lay the blame for a missing entry in Add or Remove Programs on the particular application itself, which in fact is probably the least likely reason. I can’t think of any good reason why a responsible developer would risk drawing criticism by trying to intentionally prevent their application from appearing in the Add or Remove Programs list, especially if they provide an uninstall option anyway. It just doesn’t make sense.

There is a lesson here that I’ve alluded to many times in the past:

Be wary of laying blame in relation to complex Windows problems. Not only may you be unjustly denigrating a blameless application, but you also risk trumpeting your own lack of knowledge as well. It’s very easy to make a fool of yourself by going off half-cocked.

Well, hopefully that gives you a useful glimpse into the complexities of the Add or Remove Programs applet, and perhaps some ideas on how to rectify related problems you may encounter.

©2010 Bill Hely's "Computer & Online Security" Blog. All Rights Reserved.

There are a number of utility programs that I’ve become attached to over the years, to the point where I simply wouldn’t want to spend a work day at the computer without them.

One such program is a printing utility called ClickBook, and if you’re thinking “what do I need with a printing program” just spend a few days with this little app and you’ll soon find out.

But the reason I’m bringing it up here and now is that the ClickBook folks have just announced a too-good-to-be-true bundle of three very useful products.

WARNING: Use the product links below ONLY to check them out — DO NOT make a purchase through them — you need a special link to get the special bundle price.

ClickBook – My favorite printing utility.
Click2PDF – Convert anything you can print into a PDF.
Click2Poster – Limited only by your imagination.

And you get the whole bundle for the usual price of ClickBook alone, a $39 saving.

For the special bundle discount CLICK HERE.

©2010 Bill Hely's "Computer & Online Security" Blog. All Rights Reserved.

This post is a departure from the usual security focus, but I justify its inclusion as being a blog post about blogging for beginning bloggers. This is, after all, early days for me in the blogging world and I know that many people who read blogs are stimulated to consider starting their own, often without careful consideration of where they want to go with it.

While I’ve long been aware of their potential, I admit I have come to blogging quite late compared to many others in my industry. The intent to start a blog has been there for a long time but I kept allowing other projects to take precedence. With the benefit of hindsight that was probably not a wise decision.

Then, having made a start, I found myself faced with a somewhat daunting learning process. Not that creating a blog is all that difficult. Quite the contrary in fact — it’s dead easy. There are a number of services that will allow you to have a blog up and running in literally not much more than minutes.

But if you want your blog to “go somewhere”, to be widely read and linked to, to be well regarded and well rated by the search engines, that’s not so easy. In fact it’s a goal that continues to elude the vast majority of bloggers. Building “future success” into your blog requires research, preparation and the accumulation of quite a bit of specialist knowledge.

These are the things I should have known before I started, had I been astute enough to carefully think through the whole purpose of having a blog and the processes by which it might be created. But unfortunately for me, and in common with most others who start on this path, realisation and appreciation of the “hidden agenda” didn’t hit home until I was already some way down the wrong path.

The more mistakes I made, the more I learned from those mistakes, the more I realised what a very significant and time-consuming task it was going to be to build an authoritative site around the blog format.

Anyway, just as I was beginning to despair of ever having the time to research, learn and develop as it should be done, I discovered a gentleman named Jack Humphrey.

Jack caught my attention because he was described as a leading blogging expert and a social marketing wizard. Clearly this guy had whatI needed, and my hopes were really boosted when I discovered that Jack Humphrey has devoted a large slice of his professional life to building a resource to teach others the skills in which he is widely acknowledged as a world leader.

Still, despite his impressive credentials, I’ve been around too long to tumble for a well written sales speil without doing a lot of research. Long story short, nowhere could I find a blogging resource to even come close to Jack Humphrey’s Blog Success website (formerly known as the Authority Site Centre).

So, without further ado, here are my tips for aspiring or new bloggers, or even those who may have been running a blog for a while without a lot of success:

1. Follow this link and read the page to get an idea of how you can benefit from an association with Jack’s Blog Success training site.
2. From this link you’ll learn a little more about Jack Humphrey and why you should make him your blogging mentor.
3. Now browse Jack’s blog “The Friday Traffic Report” for a wealth of useful blog-info.
4. And finally, but most important of all, download “The Authority Black Book” by Jack Humphrey — one of the best guides on social marketing ever, and it’s free for the taking.

Those are the steps that led me to becoming a member of Blog Success, a decision which allowed me to not only clearly see the future for this fledgeling blog site, but the means by which it may become the authoritative resource that I intend. It’s early days yet and I’ve barely scratched the surface, but now I have a goal, a plan, a guide and the most extensive resource on blog development available anywhere at any price.

©2010 Bill Hely's "Computer & Online Security" Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Now there’s RoboForm Online…

Yep, the world’s Best password manager just got even better! As regular readers will know only too well, RoboForm is one of my very favorite must-have applications, and something that I have recommended on many occasions.

I’m not at all reluctant to say that EVERYONE who uses a PC online should have RoboForm installed. For security of passwords, and password management, there is nothing better.

But…

One downside to RoboForm is that you will become so dependent upon it that you’ll be lost when using another computer where *your* RoboForm data isn’t available. The portable version (RoboForm2Go) overcomes this problem to a large extent, but there are still elements of inconvenience. For one thing you have to remember to sync your latest RoboForm master data to the portable USB drive before leaving home or office (as the case may be); and of course you must have your portable RoboForm2Go USB drive with you at the time when you need it. Well…

The Answer Has Arrived…

All such considerations are now moot with the release of RoboForm Online.

Your master RoboForm installation on your own PC will automatically synchronize your Logins, Identities and Safenotes to your RoboForm Online account, where you can access them using your personal login credentials from any PC, anywhere in the world!

When at a “foreign” computer where you need access to your RoboForm data, you just browse to online.roboform.com, click the Login tab, and enter your account credentials – the one username/password combo you need to have filed away in your grey-matter storage cabinet.

And commendably, like everything Siber Systems does, it’s very easy to setup and use. Here’s how it goes…

The registration form is very simple:

RoboForm Online: Free Registration Form

On submitting the form you will be given some simple directions on how to initiate the sync.Basically, you’ll do this:

Synchronisation

I had to run the sync twice before all of my Logins, Identities and Safenotes were stored in the online service, but I may have been a bit hasty with the first one, not allowing enough time to get everything transferred across. However it’s easy enough to check your local RoboForm storage against your online storage to see that the numbers are right. If in doubt, just run the sync again.

By the way, if you should encounter a dialog like this:

The Good Sync dialog

Just click OK and follow directions — pretty much everything will be done for you.

RoboForm Online is a welcome addition to the RoboForm family, and those of us who move around a lot and use different computers are going to be very grateful for its emergence.

Free Registration

To learn more and to register for a free RoboForm online account just click the button below.

Of course, to make use of RoboForm online, you need to have RoboForm installed on your main PC to start with. And I as I said in the opening paragraph, RoboForm is something that *every* computer user should have installed.

PS.
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©2010 Bill Hely's "Computer & Online Security" Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Back when I was a practicing freelance consultant and spent a lot of time visiting business offices, there was one particular habit that I found it very difficult to convince computer users not to develop.

In an effort to either maximize available desk space, or simply to hide what some considered to be an “unsightly box”, many office workers want to locate their computer’s system box on the floor, by or under their desks.

In doing so there are several related factors to which they don’t give due consideration.

FACT #1:
Cleaning staff are not always as careful of obstructions as we might wish them to be, and a computer case on the floor is an obstruction to their smooth work flow. Depending on the type of surface being cleaned, bumps from brooms and vacuum cleaners are bad enough, let alone frequent contact with damp mops, with the risk of splashing moisture in through air vents.

FACT #2:
It stands to reason that in any internal environment the lowest surfaces will be the dirtiest and dustiest, with a floor being the worst affected. In addition to airborne particulates attracted by gravity, many floor coverings will also generate their own debris (e.g. carpet fibres), not to mention deposits bought in on footwear. Which raises the fact that…

FACT #3:
Computer system boxes are not sealed. Quite the contrary, there must be vents to allow air circulation, or some of the electronic components will overheat, at the very least reducing their efficiency and lifespan. The Central Processing Unit (CPU) in particular generates a lot of heat that must be quickly and efficiently dissipated. And apart from the vents in the enclosure there is usually at least one fan (and sometimes more) drawing outside air into the case.

FACT #4:
When dust, dirt, lint, fibres, etc. build up on the surface of electronic components the coating acts as an insulator, preventing the escape of heat and thus raising the operating temperature of the component. Further, a build-up of debris on components promotes another significant lifespan shortener – corrosion – a proven mainboard killer.

LOSS OF PERFORMANCE:

Quite apart from the factors that can shorten a computer’s lifespan, the cooler a CPU runs, the more efficient it is, and it can operate at its maximum design speed. As the temperature increases above design specifications the operating speed falls off.

In other words, your CPU may be operating at a speed significantly below the 2.4GHz or 3.2GHz or whatever that you paid good money for!

No matter how assiduously you work at keeping your hard disk defragmented and running all the recommended anti-malware programs, none of that attention will improve the performance of a PC that is speed-throttled because of overheated or degraded components.

CLEANING:

Most computers in almost any environment should be periodically opened and carefully cleaned to clear accumulated debris. The frequency will of course depend on the nature of the environment, perhaps ranging from monthly in a factory or warehouse, to semi-annually in a clean office environment.

Technicians are divided on the best/safest method of dust removal from inside a PC case. Basically it’s a toss-up between sucking and blowing — vacuum or compressed air. Battery operated units like this Halloa Mini Vacuum Cleaner are very inexpensive as are cans of compressed air. That’s just a link to an example of the type — I haven’t actually used one of those myself.

Whichever method you choose be sure to observe these safety precautions:

• Turn off the PC and remove the power cord.
• Use only plastic blow or suck nozzles, not mental, or static electricity could cause problems.
• To avoid damage to bearings do not blow compressed air directly into cooling fans, causing them to spin at high speed. Hold the fan blades still with a finger while blowing air through them.
• Take time to take care! The inside of a PC case is reasonably robust so long as you don’t get too aggressive in your cleaning. Don’t use cloths, tissues or brushes (static electricity) directly on components or the mainboard.

If opening the case or cleaning the interior is not something you feel comfortable about, take your box to a service centre and ask for a technician to show you how to do it for future reference. It really is a job anyone can do in a few minutes once shown how.

Now please don’t think for a moment that this is a discussion of a rare or theoretical possibility.

I was prompted to write this short article having just had to replace a corroded mainboard. The CPU fan was also so clogged with dust that cooling efficiency must have been negligible, which had been reflected in the performance. As any service technician will verify, problems due directly to dirt/dust/debris build up inside computer cases are not rare.

©2010 Bill Hely's "Computer & Online Security" Blog. All Rights Reserved.