News





    How To Browse Privately After Congress Nixed FCC Protections

    For suggestions visit the following site:

  • Toms Hardware


    • 
    Apple's QuickTime for Windows


    Near the end of April 2016, Trend Micro published a recommendation to urgently uninstall Apple's QuickTime
    for Windows due to two critical security vulnerabilities in the software. The software is no longer
    maintained or updated by Apple, which means these critical security holes will remain unfixed and the
    only way for users to protect their computers is to fully uninstall QuickTime.  Home Land Security and
    others have also confirmed this and are recommending its removal.

    Tests reveal that even if you have already uninstalled QuickTime from your Windows, it is very likely that
    you still have data from QuickTime remaining in your system, potentially putting the security of your
    computer at risk.

    The popular Apple program has left computer users with vulnerable systems, given significantly flawed
    security holes. When users have downloaded QuickTime, it came with its own installer and uninstaller.
    However, there is a significant amount of data that comes along with it. When QuickTime is uninstalled
    using only its own uninstaller, many of the leftovers were still present on the computer.

    Please note that if you have any Adobe software other then "Flash Player" and/or "Adobe Reader" you may
    need to contact Adobe to see if the other Adobe software that you have requires QuickTime.
     
    If you haven't removed it yet, go to the "Programs and Features" item in the "Control Panel" and uninstall
    "QuickTime", "Apple Application Support", and "Apple Software Update".  Now open the "Windows Explorer" and
    remove the following folders if they still exist:
    C:\Program Files\QuickTime C:\Program Files (x86)\QuickTime C:\Program Files\Apple Software Update C:\Program Files (x86)\Apple Software Update C:\Users\Default\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\QuickTime C:\Users\"user name"\AppData\Local\Apple Computer\QuickTime 
        Now close the "Windows Explorer" and click start and pick "Run..." at the bottom of the right hand menu
    and type "regedit" in the Open: box and click OK.  Now right click and delete the following registry keys
    if they exist, you will have to click the plus signs or arrows to the left of each registry heading to
    get down to the key the you need to delete:
    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Direct3D\MostRecentApplication, name - QuickTimePlayer.exe HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Keyboard\Native Media Player\QuickTimePlayer 
        Now you should be OK.  If you need a replacement for QuickTime, you can download a very good media player
    from the following link.

  • VLC media player


    • 
    Windows 11 Antivirus

    Windows 11's built-in antivirus, Microsoft Defender, is excellent and completely sufficient for average,
    careful users.  Independent lab tests regularly award if perfect scores for protection and performance.
    Because it is free and runs seamlessly in the background, most people do not need third-party antivirus
    software.

    How Good Is It?  Top-Tier Security: In ongoing evaluations by respected testing agencies like AV-TEST,
    Microsoft Defender consistently earns perfect scores (6/6) across protection, usability, and performance.
    It blocks virtually all widespread and zero-day malware threats.

    System Performance: Because it is baked directly into the operating system, it is highly opmized.  It
    won't aggressively hog memory or slow down you app launches like some bloated third-party alternatives.

    Ransomware & Phishing: It includes robust, built-in features like Controlled Folder access to prevent
    unauthorized apps from altering your files, and SmartScreen to block malicoous web links and phishing
    sites.

    Ultimately, the most important cybersecurity tool is the user.  To maximize your Windows 11 security
    without paying for extra software, simple follow these baseline rules:

    Run Updates: Ensure your Windows Security updates are downloaded automatically.

    Install Smart Extensions: Add and ad-blocking and anti-tracking extension to your web browser to stop
    malicious pop-ups and phishing links at the source.

    Make sure that you practice safe email usage.  Do not open suspicious emails and do not click on any
    buttons or links in an email.

    Here is a link to a site with a good add blocker.  This even works on Linux and Apple computers.  Just
    right-click the "text file" item in the upper right menu right under hosts and pick "Save Link As..."
    and save the hosts.txt file to your Downloads folder and then rename it to just hosts and replace the
    hosts file in your C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc folder.  See the instructions at the beginning of the
    file, which includes instructions for other operating systems also.

  • Dan Pollock's hosts file


    • 
    SaferWeb.com

    Lately when I have been viewing the News on MSN's web site I keep seeing an article: "1 Reason Not to Go Online
    If You Live In The US."  I finally viewed the article the other day and found that it is really a scam that is
    trying to get people to install SaferWeb Internet Security on their computers.  It is totally garbage and it
    will install addware and spyware on your computer. Also it says: "Using a SaferWeb VPN server also Unblocks
    Many Sports And movie Channels.  You can even book holidays and flights cheaper simply by connecting in a
    different location to that of your ISP."

    This is totally a scam and what they say about creating a VPN connection between you and your web sites it not
    possible.  The only way to have a VPN connection is when your computer has VPN client software running on it
    and the Server that you are connecting to has the Server version of the same VPN software that you are using
    and that the public and private encryption keys have been properly set up on both machines.


    Don't fall for the SaferWeb.com scam!