Happy July 30, 2010...

I have been very busy this last month with our home network.  I have spent a few weeks working on my son's system to lock it down after his online account was hacked.  I added some fantastic products to our arsenal of security:  SnoopFree (this is a great program for Windows XP® systems...the only problem was that it crashed his system at least once daily...will re-visit this program at a later time to see if this is fixed); I wanted to try and determine if we had any "rootkits" on the system; so, I used several "online" scanners and downloaded programs as well...online, I used Trend Micro's House Call (housecall.trendmicro.com) and it found suspicious files..it takes a while to run, be patient.  I also used F-Secure Blacklight (online scanner & download).  I ran both of these & they found things that my Firewall and Anti-virus programs hadn't caught or we let in...easy to do without realizing it!  Another GREAT program I found was PSI Secunia (www.secunia.com)..it checks for security breaches through your programs (ie. Adobe, Flash, Quicktime, etc.)...if it finds your version is outdated and a security "hole" it will not only tell  you it's a problem, it gives you a direct link to fix the program!  WOW...so, I am building a list of security programs I use and feel comfortable recommending to my clients and friends.  The list will be published on our pay site; but, I will often blog about some of my favs. here on the "free" site.

In other news, OpenSuse© released version 11.3 around July 15 and I burned the ISO's (32 bit and 64 bit) and installed on my daughter's system alongside her Windows XP® and will be upgrading my server, my laptop and my son's systems as well...the look is improving with every release and I love the fact that Amarok automatically asked if I wanted to add MP3 support without my having to even open the program and update it myself...Kudos...as I have said, I am partial to the OpenSuse© and SuSe© Linux Distributions while my husband really likes Kubuntu© by Canonical Ltd.  With each succession of the Linux Systems, they are, In my opinion, comparable to Windows XP® in use and functionality.  While I did try the Windows 7® during the "trial free" period, I choose not to install the paid version due to it's cost (I have multiple systems that I would need to license).  You really do have to learn a new OS with both Vista® and Windows 7®; so, why not try an OpenSource OS as long as you are learning a new system?

While we actually prefer Linux, we respect everyone's choice to pick the OS that gives them the best computing experience and yes, we still use Windows® systems alongside our Linux.  Linux can be a great tool to troubleshoot with if your Windows® becomes un-bootable...you can access your files from the Linux partition and then backup your files, in case you need to re-format and re-install.  Having a Linux system alongside my Windows® partition has saved my data on many occasions!

Be sure to check out the Favorite Links section of our site for great software and product recommendations:  I would like to send out a "thank you" to Yolanda Hill, owner of littlepiggyspastrypalace.com for clicking through MyPCMyWay in setting up her new site at FatCow...Good Luck on your new business...if you need Fantastically Yummy Deserts, why not visit her site and place an order! A link to her site is on our Favorite Links Tab under Food section.

If you would like to have your own website, we have placed links throughout our website and when you "click through" and order from within our site, we earn a commission.  What a fantastic way to support our dreams in building the largest computer support network online!

Until next time,  hoping your computing experiences are fun and productive with as few downtime issues as one can hope for...remember, BACK UP YOUR DATA regularly!