Will the FixMeStick Help? Not Enough.

I had the opportunity to check out the FixMeStick for free recently, and  I can happily and honestly say that it won't be putting me out of a job any time soon.

A client phoned me a few weeks ago to get me to come visit to check out two computers. One was her husband's laptop which he used for business, while the other was the lady's personal machine.

Both machines were obviously infected and she had tried to use the FixMeStick twice on her own machine, but it did not fix it.  I ended up being there for about four hours fixing up the two machines.

I have had a few people ask me over the last couple of years about this so-called "FixMeStick" and chuckle as they jokingly suggested it might one day put me out of business. I would laugh it off but secretly I wondered just how sophisticated this device might be.

My client, Sheila, had purchased the stick last month with the hope it might solve her issues without having to call a real computer guy like myself. When it arrived she plugged it into her own personal machine first, updated it as per instructions, and then ran the scan. The scan took nearly 3 hours to complete.  Afterward she logged onto her machine and to her surprise she was still getting pop-ups and her browser was hijacked, and the machine was very slow. So she ran the scan again, taking another three hours.  To her sad disappointment she discovered afterward that the machine was still not fixed, and that's when she called me.

When I got there she told me the story of what happened and said she was very unhappy with the stick and asked if I, as a computer tech, could check it out and let her know what I thought of it. I agreed to try, and when I left her place I took the stick and the box with me and waited the opportunity to try it out for myself for the first time.

I downloaded MalwareBytes AntiMalware and installed it onto Sheila's machine and then updated it and ran a full system scan. It took quite a while to complete but when it was done it found 2379 threats, which I promptly quarantined, and then waited for the program to pop up a message for me to reboot the machine. After the reboot the machine worked a lot better. There were still some things that needed to be changed before I could give it a clean bill of health, and one of them was changing the default homepage in the browsers. (I usually change it to https://startpage.com because they don't spy on you.)  Often when a machine is infected with malware, one of the things that gets changed is the default homepage so that your browser is redirected to some sort of marketing page to phish information from you.  These are called browser hijackers.

A few days later I had the chance to try out the FixMeStick on an infected machine.  After scanning the machine I noticed that there was no way to remove the threats it found. That is to say, there were no buttons or links to delete what had been moved into the FixMeQuarantine folder. After completing the process of scanning with the FixMeStick I rebooted and after the machine was up and running again I ran a scan with MalwareBytes and it found a bunch more threats that the FixMeStick did not find.

In conclusion I would not recommend the FixMeStick. While there is a chance it might clean your machine, it's scope of repair is rather limited to scanning and quarantining potentially dangerous files. But it cannot change your homepage that was changed by a browser hijacker, and it cannot uninstall bad programs or disable crappy toolbars.  My advice is not to bother as you'll likely be disappointed.

Uncheck "Start with Windows"

As a computer repair guy, I often get called out to do what most people call a "tune up" on their computer.  Typically they will say their machine has become very slow lately.  It takes a long time to boot up and shut down, and/or they see the little spinning wheel going round and round while waiting for the thing they just clicked on to come up.

 

There are lots of things that can slow down your computer and one of the first things I have learned to look for is Skype running in the systray down by the clock.  One of the last screens of the setup of Skype (pictured here) comes with a checkbox that is already checked for you (I unchecked it before I took this screenshot) that says, "Run Skype when the computer starts."

 

It is important to realize that your computer has limited resources of CPU, RAM, video, etc., and when you have tons of stuff running in the background it is cutting into those resources.  Now mind you, today's machine are far richer in resources than the ones of 15 years ago, but still, if you know what to look for you can really "trim the fat" off resource use so you can focus your machine's resources on what you want, and your machine will run better.

 

Unless you plan to use your machine for Skype most of the time, it really doesn't need to be running constantly in the background.  If you use Skype as your machine communications program all the time then, sure, run it all the time and have it load when the computer starts up.  But otherwise, you really only need to start Skype when you need it, and shut the program off when you are finished.

 

While I can understand from Skype's point of view why they would want to have that box checked by default.  They want people to use their software all the time, of course.  So would you if you had created a popular piece of software.  I'm sure I would.  But from my point of view as a computer user, I do not want Skype running all the time if I only use it once in a while.  I only want it to run when I want it to run and the rest of the time it can stay off.

 

Bottom line: read before you click.  Don't let programs dictate to you what should be running on your machine.  For the most part, you don't want anything but your anti-virus program to start with Windows.  So if you have 10 icons in your systray, have a look at what they are and see if you really need them.

 

For more information, please feel free to call Big Mike Computer Services in Nanaimo, BC at 250-740-1812.

 

Happy Computing!

Big Mike

 

Computer Slow or Dying?

A computer repair person is often called on to "speed up" a slow machine.  Typically the problem is software related where there is a virus, trojan, malware, or spyware which is slowing things down.  Other problems could include something called a "rootkit" which is a tiny program that runs before Windows gets up and running, and it has a certain amount of control of things that can allow any or all of the above problems come into the machine.

a dusty computer will lead to failure of components on the motherboard

Sometimes however, the problem could be hardware related.  RAM, for example, is susceptible to static electricity.  Actually, all the hardware in a computer is susceptible to static.  But besides static electricity, HEAT is also an enemy of computers.  Cleaning the dust from the motherboard, CPU and power supply often can extend the life of the unit.  Dust build-up can hold heat in and around the electronic components, causing them to overheat.  There are usually large capacitors around the CPU which will appear "popped" on the top where it would normally be flat.  This indicates the capacitor has overheated and means the motherboard will most likely need to be replaced eventually, and more likely to be sooner than later.

 So if a person’s machine is slow, take the side cover off the desktop machine and see if there's lots of dust in there.  If there is, blow it out with an air compressor.  If there is no available air compressor, one could perhaps be borrowed from a friend or neighbour.  One may also purchase a can of air from a computer store like BestBuy or FutureShop.  A good can of compressed air will probably cost about $10 - $12.  A trip to Costco could yield a six pack of compressed air for $20, it is too cheap and probably not the best stuff. 

i3, i5, or i7? Which is best for you?

i3, i5, or i7? Which is best for you?

I don't know if you can read this nifty little chart to the right here, but Intel has three main naming conventions for their CPU's.

Here's the short story:

ALL i3's are dual core

SOME i5's are dual core

OTHER i5's are quad core

ALL i7's are quad core

If you're going to be reading and writing emails on your computer and maybe burn a cd or two, an i3 is probably ideal for y our needs.

If you will be editing audio and maybe playing the odd high end graphics game now and then, you'll want at least an i5.

If you want to be using Autocad, hardcore gaming or any other 3D rendering stuff, or video editing, you'll want the i7's quad core processing power.

And, of course, they range in price accordingly, with the i3's being the least expensive.

Upgrading Your Laptop

Most people think laptops are better because they are smaller and take up less space. This is certainly a selling feature of a laptop but there are limitations to laptops of which you should be aware.

Firstly, laptops are meant to be portable, not durable. Meaning, of course, they cannot take much in the way of punishment. If you drop it, there's a good chance it's toast.

Secondly, laptops are not very upgradeable. About the only things you can upgrade in a laptop is the hard drive and the RAM. You will not be upgrading the CPU or the video card.

In my line of work where I repair a lot of computers, a laptop really does me no good. I can't hook up someone else's drive to my laptop, I can not test their RAM or back up their data. But for someone who is on the go all the time and they need their computer, a laptop is awesome!

If you are going to attempt to upgrade either the RAM or the hard drive in your laptop, always remember to remove all sources of power so you don't accidently short anything out. Remove the battery and unplug the laptop before upgrading anything. It doesn't take much to render a stick of RAM inoperable with a static charge. Try to be standing on cement floor or wear a wrist strap and have it attached to ground.

What is "Switch User" for?

Sometimes when you go to log off your Windows XP or Windows 7 computer, you may have seen the option to "switch user". Here's an example of how this option could be used: Let's suppose you are working on a big project on your family computer and you have several programs open simultaneously. Then your significant other comes along and says something like, "I'm expecting an important email today. Do you mind if I check my email quickly?"

Well, it might be a bit of a bummer to have to close down everything you're working on and the thought of having to find all your stuff again in ten minutes may seem like a big task. What to do? You won't need to shut anything down if you switch user. Switching user allows you to leave everything your working on open, and then "Switch User" to the other person's account so they check their stuff. Make sure they LOG OFF afterward and then you can log back onto your stuff and everything is still there.

Here are a couple of things to remember when using this option:
1. If you are downloading something, your downloads will pause while you switch users.
2. Your machine has a limited amount of resources; resources are being used for each "user" that is logged on. Therefore, it's important to have as few people logged on to the machine as possible.

What I have seen a few times when someone complains their machine is slow and I've been called as a tech to come investigate, is that there are several users (like 4 or more) all simultaniously logged on. I see the Welcome Screen with multiple users all indicating they are logged on. This happens when all these users have used the switch user option and then not logged off afterward. So it's important to LOG OFF when you are done to give back the resources to your machine.