Tech Help and Discussions

Exec says telemetry data is key to improving the operating system In the run-up to the launch of Windows 10 earlier this year, users noticed that Microsoft's operating system would be collecting more data on them by default than it had in the past, including information about their location and what they're typing, and sending it off to Microsoft. Understandably, some folks were concerned about the privacy implications of such a move, especially given disclosures around government surveillance, and the fact that Microsoft previously hadn't built this kind of data collection into its operating system. Those concerns weren't helped by Microsoft, which was slow to c…

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Plastic Nev replied November 1, 20159 yr

2,000 year old 'computer' discovered: http://www.techrepublic.com/article/2000-year-old-computer-discovered/ Using robots, underwater iPads, 3D printing, and other new tech, scientists are discovering shipwrecks that are rewriting our history. Read the inside story of the Antikythera and two other breakthrough explorations. Under oceans across the world, hundreds of shipwrecks lie silent and forgotten. Having set sail to discover, trade, or wage war, the boats never reached safe harbour and exist now as time capsules beneath the waves. When they took to the seas, some of these vessels were the state of the art, laden with some of the most advanced technology of…

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allheart55 Cindy E replied November 1, 20159 yr

Security researchers at G DATA are reporting that, during the first half of 2015, they discovered 12 new malware types a minute. The revelation is somewhat consistent with another recent PandaLabs report, which found 21 million new strands of malware between April and June, coming down to 230,000 per day, 9,500 per hour, 160 per minute, and 2.66 per second. According to G DATA's own findings, the company saw 3,045,722 new malware types, 26.6% higher than in the second half of 2014, and 64.8% higher than in the first half of 2014. Most malware attacks were adware and PUPs The most encountered attack types were relatively harmless adware and PUPs (Potentially Un…

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Mommalina replied October 30, 20159 yr

Microsoft launched Windows 10 earlier this year with a reservation system designed to tempt Windows 7 and Windows 8 users to upgrade for free. While it has been successful in getting Windows 10 onto more than 110 million devices, Microsoft is planning to get a lot more aggressive about upgrading existing machines. Starting early next year, Microsoft says it’s planning to re-categorize Windows 10 as a "recommended update" in its Windows Update system. That means the Windows 10 upgrade process will download and start automatically on thousands of machines. "A user will be presented with a choice to install Windows 10," explains Terry Myerson, Microsoft’s head of Windows …

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allheart55 Cindy E replied October 30, 20159 yr

Less known to users is the fact that antiviruses (AV), the programs they use to protect their computers, can also be hacked, just like any other piece of software. This is not only a science-fiction theory, but something that attackers are actively searching for, and that security researchers are working to discover and then help AV makers patch. A ground-breaking study was carried out in November last year, when AV-TEST, an independent IT-security institute, presented the results of the research into the self-protection measures employed by antiviruses. Back in 2014, only one antivirus targeting home consumers (Eset Smart Security 8) and another one targeting busin…

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starbuck replied October 26, 20159 yr

Hey guys, lately I have been getting scripting prompts when visiting this site which I frequently subscribe to: http://www.doityourself.com/forum/ and whenever that happens it greatly slows down my pc, seems like just having that site open locks down my pc, what's the best way I can handle this problem please?

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mikehende replied October 26, 20159 yr

I'm using XP Pro. When I clicked to open a letter in Yahoo Mail's inbox, it flashed briefly and then disappeared. Searched Deleted and Spam boxes; not in there. I've had a few letters disappear in Outlook Express over the years, but never any Yahoo mail. I wonder if I'm doing something wrong (trigger-happy with the mouse?). And perhaps that's the cause of the problem I'm also having with Word Pad in XP that I mentioned in my previous thread?

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allheart55 Cindy E replied October 24, 20159 yr

After successfully typing 3 single-space lines in Word Pad, it has decided to double-space everything. I don't know what triggers its erratic behavior or how to make it behave. This happened on and off over the years (I don't use Word Pad very much, mostly for things to place in My Documents). However, it's getting more frequent. I'm going to save what I typed so far and restart. Will post if that resolves it. Wish me luck.

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Mommalina replied October 24, 20159 yr

Nothing gets people nervous like the clammy realization that your personal technology is cheerily transmitting your most intimate data -- from your thoughts and words to your location to your method of touch-typing -- to databases somewhere far away. With the advent of Windows 10 and its super-helpful digital personal assistant Cortana, plus its emphasis on cloud-based data that is automagically uploaded without you thinking about it, several people have gotten nervous that Big Bing is watching you. Here is the Windows 10 privacy FAQ, based on what we know now. * Q. Surely no other tech company is as invasive as Microsoft is? A. Microsoft is not the only co…

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allheart55 Cindy E replied October 23, 20159 yr

Yahoo disclosed the details of a new search deal it's formed with Google after releasing its third-quarter earnings results today. Under the terms of a new arrangement effective October 1st and lasting until the end of 2018, Google will provide Yahoo with search ads, algorithmic search, and image search services for both desktop and mobile. And according to a regulatory filing, Yahoo will also get to decide which search queries to send to Google and will not have to meet a minimum requirement of queries. "In October, the Company reached an agreement with Google that provides Yahoo with additional flexibility to choose among suppliers of search results and ads," Yahoo w…

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starbuck replied October 21, 20159 yr

eFast browser poses as Chrome but inserts unwanted ads There's a modified Google Chrome clone going around the Internet that's being used by attackers to show users unwanted ads and redirect them to other malware infection points. The browser in question is named eFast, and according to security researchers at PCRisk and Malwarebytes, it infects user PCs after being installed alongside other applications. This PUP (Potentially Unwanted Application) is based on the Chromium open source browser, the very same code on which Google Chrome is also built. The shared codebase allows the browser to easily pass as the real deal, and successfully fool users into thinkin…

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allheart55 Cindy E replied October 21, 20159 yr

Microsoft has a new trick to convince Windows 10 users to stick with its new Edge browser over Chrome or Firefox. In a newly leaked Windows 10 preview (build 10568), the software giant has added a new prompt targeting users switching default apps. If you have Microsoft Edge set as the default browser and install Chrome and switch defaults then a dialog box with "give Microsoft Edge a shot" appears. The prompt highlights that Microsoft Edge lets you write on webpages, has Cortana integration, and includes a reading view. Microsoft's new prompt has a big and bold option to "don't switch and try now," which opens Edge and doesn't set a rival browser like Chrome or Firefox…

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Mommalina replied October 20, 20159 yr

Running Vista, I did an OS recovery on this machine but 2 problems, first it showed that the "wireless switch is not turned on" but according to my research there isn't a physical switch but rather this pertains to the wireless software but looking in the DM as the attached pic shows the wireless software is there? I tried installing both the Broadcom and Intel Pro wireless drivers from their site here below but that doesn't help: http://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/HP-Pavilion-dv3500-Entertainment-Notebook-PC-series/3774492/model/3812228#Z7_3054ICK0KGTE30AQO5O3KA30R1 Other issue is as 2nd attached screenshot shows I can't get windows update to run, help…

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mikehende replied October 17, 20159 yr

Windows 10 upgrade nags become more aggressive, offer no opt-out Oct 15, 2015 http://www.zdnet.com/article/windows-10-upgrade-nags-become-more-aggressive-offer-no-opt-out/#ftag=YHFb1d24ec?ref=yfp Excerpts: Are you running Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 and not feeling the love for Windows 10? It seems Microsoft is making it harder for users to opt out of upgrading. Reports are circulating that some users are being presented with dialog boxes that only give them the option to start the upgrade process or reschedule it for a later date. Others are finding that the Windows Update screen is only offering them the option to begin the upgrade process, with other system upd…

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allheart55 Cindy E replied October 16, 20159 yr

as wondering if anyone has hpdv4 2040 us & has ever replaced mother board. or has a spare to sell

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Plastic Nev replied October 12, 20159 yr

Hello I used the media recovery tool and did a clean install of Win 10. All went well. i chose not to keep anything. I have C:\, reserve and recovery partitions. My question is, why did I not see any partition options I usually see with an iso file so I could wipe the hard drive? TY

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allheart55 Cindy E replied October 11, 20159 yr

Hello I am running Win 10 x 64 I bridged my gateway and ran Ethernet cables. I ran the top router cable to #1 port of the gateway and the printer and desktop to my router. If I run the PC to the gateway I can only get "public" as an option and the Ethernet's display SSID is the same as the gateway's router. Is my configuration as it should be? I wonder as I always thought the desktop should run directly to the gateway or modem but it seems not to work that way. When I click Ethernet I get no choice for private which I want. Any other set up and I see public instead of private showing the SSID from the gateway. A…

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peterr replied October 11, 20159 yr

I was at the Dell site and it said neither one on my pcs, desktop or laptop was to update to Windows 10 and that Dell did not support them. I have an XPS 8300 and an Inspiron N5010 both are about 4 1/2 years with the older BIOS. Both are 64 bit with 6 GB ran and 1`T and 600 GB hard drives. I find that they both are functioning well with no incompatibility issues after a months use. Why would Dell tell me not to upgrade and install Win 10? Are they just saying they won't support any compatibility issues? This sound s like a good reason for them to sell new pcs with Win 10, or am i wrong? Thanx Peter

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peterr replied October 10, 20159 yr

Is anyone else having any problems with the cursors in Windows 10? I notice several seem to be corrupt. For example the text select cursor is much longer than normal, very light in color and looks pixelated. There are others I noticed, but, the text select one is the most annoying.

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peterr replied October 10, 20159 yr

This has to be the ugliest OS ever. I always love a new OS and welcome the change as a challenge. This OS in my opinion is the worst. Forget WinME or Vista or what ever else they have marked as a bad OS, this one is stupid. I own a computer which is capable of many great things. We can send people to the moon but we can't change the color of a taskbar. Why does Win10 limit the taskbar color to white?? DUMB!!! If I wanted a MAC I would have bought one. I have a great new idea lets limit what the OS can do. What are they thinking ? Oh and bring back good code and program the OS for keyboard use (Button)while your working on it. Back when I learned to code my teacher used to…

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peterr replied October 10, 20159 yr

One of Google's security experts found a zero-day exploit inside the Avast antivirus, which the company has recently patched. The researcher is Tavis Ormandy, one of Google's Project Zero engineers, the same man that discovered a similar zero-day exploit in Kaspersky's antivirus exactly a month ago. According to Ormandy's research, the bug manifested itself when users would access Web pages protected through HTTPS connections. Avast was performing a "legal" MitM for SSL connections Because the Avast antivirus would tap into encrypted traffic so it could scan for threats but was using a faulty method for parsing X.509 certificates, this would have allowed attac…

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AWS replied October 7, 20159 yr

Malware uses different file hashes, but the same file names In their attempts to hide from antivirus engines, hackers have altered the Fareit info stealer and malware downloading trojan to use a different file hash with every new infection, as Cisco's Talos team reports. Fareit, a trojan specialized in breaching user computers, talking to a C&C (command-and-control) server, and then downloading nasty malware on their systems, has been around since 2012. While in the beginning it was a benign malware downloader, over time it has evolved into a talented information stealer, that's mainly specialized in extracting passwords from Web browsers. We saw it stealing …

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starbuck replied October 3, 20159 yr

A five-year patent battle between Google and Microsoft has come to a close, as both companies decided to end the feud and drop around 20 lawsuits in the US and Germany today. The tech titans have been clashing since 2010 over royalties related to technology in the Xbox game console and smartphones from Motorola Mobility, which Google owned up until January 2014, when it sold off the division to Lenovo — but kept many of its patents. The companies did not disclose the financial terms of the deal, but pledged to work together to strengthen the defense of intellectual property, according to a Bloomberg report. "Microsoft and Google are pleased to announce an agreement on …

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allheart55 Cindy E replied October 3, 20159 yr