If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Here is a very common question we get asked by our clients. “Is it better to turn the computer off at night or is it better to keep it on?” We will answer this frequently asked question. We will also discuss power-saving modes such as standby and hibernate.

Some people seem to think that if you keep your computer on overnight, that somehow malicious “hackers” will try to infiltrate your system. The fact is that if your computer is riddled with viruses and spyware, the hackers can access your computer any time it is on, even if you’re using it! Having  good anti-virus, anti-spyware and anti-malware programs is essential. If you have these scheduled to scan your computer at night, when you aren’t using it, then it is actually beneficial to keep your computer running at night.

The problem with keeping the computer on has less to do with security and more to do with power consumption and lifespan. It costs money to keep the computer and monitor on. Keeping your computer on also lowers the lifespan of your computer. Monitors lose brightness over time when kept on for extended periods of time. Hard drives and fans begin to fail eventually. Your electric bills will start to go up.

So what’s the solution? The answer is in setting your computer’s power options to suit your usage.

First you should make sure that your monitor is set to turn off when it isn’t in use for a set period of time. The steps are different depending on the version of Windows you are running, but basically you will want to go to the control panel, look for your power options, then change how long it takes before the monitor goes to sleep when the mouse or keyboard isn’t being used. Two and a half hours is safe if you plan to watch movies often and for most people 30 minutes is more than enough time to keep the screen “awake”.

Another important setting is the standby and hibernate options. These are modes where the computer seems to be turned off, but is actually on but in a low-power state. Here are some basic differences between stanby,  hibernate and a full shutdown/startup:

Standby: fastest to startup and shutdown, consumes the most power, aside from being completely on of course. (Important when running on laptop battery power)

Hibernate: takes longer to shutdown and startup than standby-mode but faster than from a full shutdown, consumes less power than standby but more power than a full shutdown.

Full Shutdown/Startup: takes longest to shutdown and startup, consumes the least amount of power when off.

I like to set my computer to standby after about 2 hours, but the optimal setting varies from user to user. It all depends on when you prefer for your computer to “sleep”.

I don’t like waiting  for my computer to boot up. I usually want to just briefly look at a website or check my emails, something that will take 1 or 2 minutes. It wouldn’t make sense for me to wait two minutes to do something that only takes two minutes. Sometimes I will restart my computer when it is acting up. Standby or hibernate won’t fix those issues. The only time I do a full shutdown is when I am transporting my desktop computer or when I am putting my laptop away for a long period of time and don’t want the battery to drain. Any other time, I am using standby mode. I don’t use hibernate because it just does not seem that much faster than doing the full restart and does not offer the benefits of the full restart (clearing the ram to make the computer run more efficiently.)

So should you keep your computer running at night? Probably not. Should you turn it completely off? Not unless you like waiting for the computer to bootup. Should you put it in a lower power state? Yes. Standby works the best in most situations.

Digg

Stumble Upon

Del.icio.us

Buzz

Repairs in Burbank

Virus and Spyware Removal in Burbank

Reinstallation of Operating System in Burbank

New Computer Setup in Burbank

Upgrades in Burbank

Memory Installation in Burbank

Hard Drive Installation in Burbank

CD/DVD/CD-RW/DVD-RW Installation in Burbank

Internal/External Device Installation in Burbank

Data Migration in Burbank

Wireless Networking in Burbank

Preventive Maintenance in Burbank

Optimization in Burbank

Personal Technician Service in Burbank

Monthly Maintenance Plan in Burbank

Drive Imaging in Burbank

Other Services in Burbank

Tutoring in Burbank

Telecommuting in Burbank

All prices subject to change. Call for services not listed. i.e. Software Installation, Motherboard Installation, Screen Replacement.

A $49 service fee is applied to each on-site service for travel and diagnosis. Hardware is not included in any of these services.

E-Geniuses does not assume liability for data corruption or loss at any time. Customer must backup data prior to service call. E-Geniuses is not a reseller of computers, parts or accessories. Returns for all products purchased and installed for clients is the responsibility of the client and the reseller of that product. E-Geniuses is only responsible for the delivery and installation of that product. Parts can only be returned to the reseller if within the seller’s return policy. Charges for the visit and reinstallation will be incurred by the client. If a part is found defective during the initial installation the E-Geniuses will only charge for the extra visit, but not for the additional installation. E-Geniuses assumes no responsibility for the products purchased on the client’s behalf.

*Any additional visits are $49 per visit and each additional hour is also $49.

**Payment options for Monthly Maintenance Plans include: $19 a month if pre-paid for 6 or more months; $20 a month if paid monthly through PayPal; $25 a month if paid monthly through check or money order. Avast home an optional install.

Digg

Stumble Upon

Del.icio.us

Buzz

Could you tell the difference between your anti-virus program and malicious website attempting to install viruses into your computer?

Real (Windows Security Center)

Fake (Antivirus 2008)

Studies show that cybercrooks have a 3.4% success-rate infecting users’ computers. Chances are high that you will eventually come across an infected website. It would definitely be a good idea to make sure that you can spot the good security suites from the rogues.

Tip #1

The first thing you should do is find out which antivirus you are actually using. Remember the name of the program and what the application windows and interface look like. You should do the same for your antispyware and firewall applications as well. You will therefore be able recognize when a hacked site is attempting to lure you into a trap using scare tactics. Here’s an example of a rogue antivirus program using the scare tactic, “found infections, now buy me or else!”

Fake “Virus Detection”

Tip #2

Use Firefox and the Web of Trust addon. The main reason we recommend Firefox to our clients is because of the wide variety of addons available for it. When setting up a new computer, one of the first things I install is Firefox and the Web of Trust (WOT) addon. WOT shows you ratings for websites before you even click on them.

Let’s say you do a Google search for an anti-virus program. From my experience using WOT, I have found that at least one of the links on the page will receive a bad rating from WOT. Here’s one of the links WOT shows as having a poor reputation when searching for “anti-virus” in Google.

Notice the red warning circle next to the link.

What this means is that other WOT users have checked the site out and have found it to be unsafe. WOT even allows you to see other peoples’ comments about the site. You can rate sites and comment as well. In fact, the WOT community relies on users like you and I.

Here’s what you will see if you enter a site that WOT users have deemed as having a poor reputation.

Of course, websites are constantly being infected so there may be some newly infected sites that have not yet been detected by the WOT community. In these cases, you will need another layer of protection.

Tip #3

Malwarebytes, The Best Free Anti-Malware Program That You Really Should Buy.

Malwarebytes is a free program that has excellent detection rates. It is able to find and remove viruses, spyware and malware that many security suites cannot. It is maintained by a small group that regularly browses forums looking for infection trends and stopping them early. Like I said, the program does an excellent job of removing viruses, but for $24.95 for a lifetime subscription, the full version can actually prevent threats from infecting your computer. Prevention is really the key to safe browsing. (Buy Full Malwarebytes by Clicking Here.)

So lets just suppose you visit a website that was just infected a few hours ago. Since it has just been newly infected, the WOT community has not yet rated the site negatively in order to warn you. So you go to the site and a window comes up saying that your computer is being scanned for viruses and that it is infected with numerous trojan viruses. Assuming you didn’t follow Tip # 1 and cannot differentiate between the rogue anti-virus and your real anti-virus, you download the “fix”. Many times, I have found that Malwarebytes will actually block the download based on the IP address of the website. If it doesn’t, it will detect that the file you’ve downloaded is malicious once you try to install it. Malwarebytes will block these attempts by the virus to infect your computer.

Malwarebytes detecting and removing infections.

Summary

1) Familiarize yourself with your security programs and what they actually look like.

2) Use WOT, Web of Trust addon for Firefox so that you know whether links are safe or not.

3) Use Malwarebytes to prevent malware from infecting your PC.

Digg

Stumble Upon

Del.icio.us

Buzz

When is the best time to get a maintenance plan on your computer? When you first purchase the computer! If you wait until you have problems with it, then you will have to pay to repair the problem first before starting the maintenance plan. It is best to get the preventive maintenance computer plans when everything is working well.

When you first buy your computer, you can be sure that it is virus free. The best thing to do is to keep it virus free. Although viruses and spyware can be removed from infected computers, once they are infected, the possibility that they have caused irreversible damage (without reinstalling the operating system completely) is high.

Digg

Stumble Upon

Del.icio.us

Buzz

As you know, E-Geniuses provides maintenance plans to proactively prevent viruses and spyware from infecting your computer. This allows our clients to safely perform time saving tasks such as online purchasing and online banking. In addition to having us maintain their computers to ensure security, we would also recommend that clients keep track of their credit reports and to look out for unauthorized charges.

Federal law states that you have the right to receive a free copy of your credit report once every 12 months. AnnualCreditReport.com allows users to view their credit reports from the three major reporting agencies; Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian.

If you see any unauthorized credit cards or charges on your existing credit cards, then call your card company right away. Other companies also offer paid services that can alert you when there is suspicious charges made.

A credit report can also come in handy when purchasing a vehicle. If your credit rating is good, then you may use it as leverage to negotiate a better interest rate.

Checking your credit report is not only easy, it’s also free! Make sure to check your credit report at least once a year to ensure a level of security that will protect your credit score. Oh yeah, make sure your computer is also properly secured and maintained.

Digg

Stumble Upon

Del.icio.us

Buzz

One of the most frequently asked questions I get is, “What is the best software for protecting my computer?” I am assuming that they mean to ask what the best security apps are at that given time.

Viruses change all of the time and the security apps that we use to protect against viruses, spyware, rogue anti-viruses, malware etc., needs to change as well. Keep in mind that it is a human who is creating these programs. If their goal is to infect as many computers as possible. If they are somewhat intelligent, they will make sure that their program will not be detected my the most common security suites and applications.

Currently, our team is using a combination of Malwarebytes, Super Anti-Spyware, Threatfire and Avast. We also make sure that our clients’ computers are up-to-date. In a few months, it’s likely that we will be using a new set of security apps depending on the current threats.

Thousands of new threats are created weekly and need to be monitored consistently. We suggest that you scan the forums for new security notices. If you do not have the time to do that, we offer Monthly Maintenance Plans that allow you to delegate that task to E-Geniuses.

Digg

Stumble Upon

Del.icio.us

Buzz