Windows Update Broke?

Cannot Update Windows using Windows Update courtesy of WinVistaClub©
Copyright 2007. The WinVistaClub©. All Rights Reserved.

One of the reasons for my  blog, is it's my traveling notebook so to speak. Here I tag articles that I feel could come in handy down the road. Found one such article at the WinVistaClub©. Quite a few tips for dealing with Windows Update not working which is the current problem on my sister's computer. So we shall give some of these tips a try and see what happens.

Found what I was looking for I believe. Going through some blog articles I had starred in Google Reader. Article written by Kevin at evilfantasy’s blog. Will give this tool a try to see if it solves the problem.

Microsoft Patch Registration Cleanup Tool « evilfantasy’s blog

SpywareBlaster® Updated

SpywareBlaster® | Prevent spyware and malware. Free download.

Prevent the installation of spyware and other potentially unwanted software! Simple, effective, trusted.

SpywareBlaster® updated to add 38 new items.

SpywareBlaster® Update

SpywareBlaster® | Prevent spyware and malware. Free download.
Prevent the installation of spyware and other potentially unwanted software! Simple, effective, trusted.

SpywareBlaster® updated to add 40 items to Internet Explorer.

Security Applications

Looking for some good free security applications? Get some very well recommended programs at Tech Thoughts. This is an excellent blog for finding reliable and sound software that you can trust. Why? The blog author is Bill Mullins, he personally tests and reviews the software.
Find "your cup of tea" at Tech Thoughts.

A Simple PDF Viewer

Courtesy of What's On My PC :: A Super Fast and Portable PDF Viewer

Looking for a  PDF Viewer to replace Adobe?  Read Rick's review about the Sumatra PDF Viewer. I've never really cared for Adobe due to the size, and Sumatra even has a portable version for flash drives. Read more about Sumatra at What's On My PC. . .

blog.kowalczyk.info | WOT Reputation Scorecard | WOT Web of Trust

Decode Short URL Services

Shortened URLs | ESET ThreatBlog

ESET ThreatBlog posted an article about a new decode short URL service, LongURL.org.
This particular service is very nice, you get a thumbnail screen shot of the website. You can visit LongURL.org itself or you can install it as either a Firefox extension or Greasemonkey script.

TechnixUpdate blogged about decoding short URLs to reveal long URLs back in October as well. My favorite from that article is UnTiny.

» all links will open in a new window/tab

How's Your Password?

Microsoft Malware Protection Center : Do and don’ts for p@$w0rd$

Ever wonder about the strength of your password? I get on my soap box when talking to my daughter about her poor choices in passwords. Microsoft Malware Protection Blog gives us some warnings and tips. Plus a very handy password checker, see how yours will rate.

Microsoft's password checker http://www.microsoft.com/protect/fraud/passwords/checker.aspx

CCleaner Updated

Download CCleaner 2.26.1050

CCleaner is a freeware system optimization, privacy and cleaning tool. It removes unused files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history.

Health Check?

How long has it’s been since you gave your computer a Health Check? Too long? Head over to F-Secure to give your computer a online Health Check. It’s quick, easy and free. No installation is required.

Health Check 2.0  features:

• Windows 7 support
• Firefox and Internet Explorer 8 support
• Automatic backup solution detection
• Simplified user experience with 3 steps and a solutions page
• Optimized for Mini laptops
• New Java base launch (no more ActiveX)

Read more at F-Secure News . . .

Universe Firefox

On the Universe Firefox blog Giovanni Panasiti  writes an article showing a list of the best Add-on’s to help improve your security using the Firefox Web Browser. There are seven items in the list, I have all of these except the one for PhishTank. Read more about these great Add-on’s at Universe Firefox and add to your browsing security.

SpywareBlaster

SpywareBlaster
is updated to add 42 new items in the latest database.

Favicon's

How to Add Favicon to Blogger (blogspot) | Tips Blogger

Head over to TipsBlogger and learn how to add your own Favicon to your blog. TipsBlogger also gives a excellent list of websites to generate your Favicon. I went to The FavIcon Labs, they host your Favicon for you free, no signing up or anything. So I now have a bluerose for the AbbeyRose.

Memory Lane

A Brief History of Microsoft Windows from Tech Airlines©

Remember your first computer and what operating system it was running? I don't remember the brand name, but mine was running Windows 3.0. When I brought the upgrade to Windows 93 with that huge stack of 3.5 floppys the changes that Windows 93 brought totally scared me. I actually took my computer back to my Tech guy, told him I wanted my Windows 3.0 back. Check out some Windows history from Tech Airlines© and travel down memory lane.

Tech Airlines©

Tech Airlines© has some new articles on their blog worth reading, especially if your blog is Wordpress. Keep us visitors safe when we visit you.

Wordpress Security Tips and Guidelines


Google Chrome user? Make sure to add WOT and join the community.
WOT Protection Extends to Google Chrome

Abbey News Bits

Here are some news topics from today. Enjoy.

Adobe Reader and Acrobat security update coming

Massive click fraud ring shut down

Mozilla 'Plugin Check' keeps Firefox add-ons secure | Zero Day | ZDNet.com

Google Online Security Blog: The Malware Warning Review Process
 This article is a must read for web owners of compromised sites.

ZoneAlarm to Give Away ZoneAlarm Pro Next Week - Reviews by PC Magazine
 Guess where I'll be :O)

JavaRa

Remove / Uninstall Older Versions Of Java Runtime Environment (JRE) On Your Computer

Going to bump this fine little program back up on my blog. This is a fine little program that takes me back to Technix Update to download this. My sister requested a visit from me to look at her computer, running slow, etc...


I've got my stick loaded with what I hope will get her computer back on track. Just a quick scan showed 22 infected items, two different types of Vundo and a few rogue av programs thrown in. I have bleepingcomputer's bookmarked for reference and the removal tools on my stick. Also want to make sure all her third party software is up to date and JavaRa works great for getting the older versions removed.

Will be taking my favorite blogs with me as well. What's On My PC© and TeMerc, excellent sources for spyware help and scanners, plus will be packing Bill Mullins’ as well. Once I get the Vundo off, we'll head to a forum for posting a Hijackthis Log to make sure the system is clean. And... my Mom learned today you can get infected my clicking a bad Google search result.

LinkWithin Widget

Related Posts Widget with Photo Thumbnails for Blogger! | Tips Blogger ©2009

LinkWithin appears under each post, linking to related stories from your blog archive. It retrieves and index all stories from your blog archive, not just recent stories, making them accessible to new or casual readers of your blog who would not otherwise encounter them!

Great tip from Tips Blogger ©2009 yesterday concerning the widget LinkWithin. It's ad free and it searches only on your blog, no worries about your visitors seeing questionable content. It's fabulous baby!

Virus and Malware Scanners

FREE Online Virus and Malware Scanners « What's On My PC

What's On My PC today gives us a great list of resources for virus and malware scanners. This is one to add to your bookmarks. My two favorite one's are F-Secure Online Scanner and Windows Live OneCare scanner.

ScribeFire

If you use ScribeFire for your blogging, be sure to update. Security vulnerabilities were fixed in the new update.

What’s New in ScribeFire 3.4.2? - Scribefire: Fire up your blogging

Firefox and free solutions

Firefox Release Recap: July Week 3 « The Firefox Extension Guru’s Blog
Seems we have a Firefox 3.5.2. I've been reading about a new vulnerability in Firefox 3.5.1 on the security blogs, Certifiedbug had an article today about this.

Need Spyware, Virus, and Browser Protection? – Free Solutions « Bill Mullins’ Weblog – Tech Thoughts

Tagging Bills' article today for further reading. Looking for some items for a second laptop that will be leaving my control for the summer.

On this same topic, my number one stopping place is TeMerc Internet Countermeasures.
A collection of valuable resources are listed here, this is where I do my shopping.

Remove the Search Box

Tip: How to Remove the Search Box « The Firefox Extension Guru’s Blog

I use Finjan Secure Browsing® plug-in with Firefox. This morning Finjan did an update. After Firefox restarted the button is now between my address window and the Google search box on my toolbar. Now my address window is even smaller. I knew there was a Firefox Guru out there to give the answer. It is as simple as a click and a drag. Read more about this tip at the Firefox Extension Guru.

New BlogRoll Update

What’s On My PC Copyright 2008-9 ©

A new addition to the blogroll. What's On My PC©, excellent resource of information about computers, software, gadgets and information technology. Lot's of cool tips on using your computer more effectively and very easy to understand. Today's article is how to make your mouse smarter, we all like those nice little shortcuts to make our computer use faster. Head on over, read the article and see if your mouse get's smarter. Take the stress out of your computer use.

News from Bill Mullins' Weblog

Munch Malware With Free Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware « Bill Mullins’ Weblog – Tech Thoughts

Through my various adventures on the internet and reading many security related blogs, this is always a recommended program. I use Malwarebytes' myself as a second line of defense. Read more about Marwarebytes' on Bill Mullins Tech Thoughts.

MVP Award 2009

hpHosts Blog: MVP Award 2009

Hats off to our friend at hpHost for being awarded the Microsoft MVP Award for Consumer Security. Cheers my friend.

Happy Birthday to Unmask Parasites

Happy Birthday Unmask Parasites! | Unmask Parasites. Blog.

I am a heavy user of the services that are provided for free by Unmask Parasites. Drop by and wish a Happy Birthday to Unmask Parasites.

News from SpywareGuide

I just read the newest article from SpywareGuide Greynets Blog, it merits attention if you have members in your family who play these online games. I do, and have spread the alert. The other day a young family member was playing on a site like Neopets, and proceeded to tell me how someone was posting instructions telling them to click something, followed by pressing one of their "F" keys and press enter. I immediately began my lecture, and for a good reason it seems.

Read more at SpywareGuide Greynets Blog on how game communities are targets.

http://blog.spywareguide.com/2009/06/hackers-target-neopets-users.html

PC users need to patch!

These words come from Dancho Danchev blog. He's right you know. I get the email reminders from Secunia that it's time go visit them and scan for missing updates on my computer.

Panic! at the disco. My Adobe Reader software was way out dated. If you follow the security blogs and forums, a PDF file exploit is one that is commented on many times.

So I am one of the 2.7 billion that was on the map. Read more on Dancho Danchev blog and then go scan your computer to make sure you have updated software running on your computer.

News from WinTechpedia™

WinTechpedia™ brought something to my attention that I had noticed, but just let it slip on by. Anyone notice the changes at Mozilla Add-on's ?

WinTechpedia™ explains all about it. Great way to save your collection of Add-on's that you have collected over the years. This means that now I don't have to bookmark all my favorite Add-on's.

Sweet... So head on over to WinTechpedia™ read more about this great feature.

Chat Clients - WinTechpedia™

WinTechpedia™: Comparison of Official Chat Clients.

Freedomstar gives us a excellent review of the different Chat Clients. What's in your chat client? Read more »

From Google Security Blog

Google Online Security Blog: Top 10 Malware Sites

Posted by Niels Provos, Security Team
A recent surge in compromised web servers has generated many interesting discussions in online forums and blogs. We thought »

A look at what's new

F-Secure offers free detection of viruses and spyware wherever you go »
F-Secure’s latest Online Scanner finds PC malware more easily and effectively than ever and now also supports the Firefox browser.

QuickTime Alternative 2.9.0 from FileHippo »

QuickTime Alternative is a trimmed-down version of QuickTime that contains only the essential components needed for playing QuickTime content that is embedded in webpages.

Technorati Tags: F-Secure, FileHippo, QuickTime

Remove Avira Notifier

Remove Avira Notifier – Here’s How
by Bill Mullins

Is the Avira AntiVir Personal popup notifier bugging you? See how guest writer Glenn Taggart got rid of this nagging distraction.

http://billmullins.wordpress.com/2009/06/01/remove-avira-notifier-heres-how/

Unmask Parasites

I can't say enough about the services offered by Unmask Parasites. To stay on top of keeping your blog or site totally yours check out the tools offered.

Website Security Tools

There is also a niffy little service you can place on your blog/site to automatically check without having to go to your bookmark. It's called "Service Shortcuts". Just add the shortcut link on every page you want to be able to check regularly.

The shortcut link is just a link to this page (http://www.UnmaskParasites.com/security-report/). Every time you click this link the Unmask Parasites service will automatically check the referring web page so you don't have to type any URLs. The shortcut links will work for any public web pages.

I have mine placed at the bottom of my blog, it makes checking my blog external references easier for me and my visitors.

Firefox 3.0.10 fixes security issue

Firefox 3.0.10 fixes security issue
Posted on 19 May 2009.
Mozilla today released Firefox 3.0.10 that addresses a security issue and a stability issue.

http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=7523

From ScanSafe STAT Blog

Seems there is a version of Gumblar circulating in Japan.

ScanSafe STAT Blog - ScanSafe STAT Blog - Japan's GENO = Gumblar:

The security community is an international one and researchers from the respective companies are a pretty collaborative group. I was reminded of just how international it is when a colleague from G-Data dropped me an email earlier today. Their Japan partners had contacted them, saying the Gumblar reports from ScanSafe sounded very much like the GENO reports that had also been circulating in Japan. And as it turns out, indeed they were the same.

http://blog.scansafe.com/journal/2009/5/18/japans-geno-gumblar.html

Tips from TechJaws

TechJaws gives tips on how to secure your WordPress blog.
Read more from TechJaws at the WOT forum.

If you have a blog or a website, use Unmask Parasites Website Security Check to keep a eye on your blog or site.

This has been a busy few days with the Gumblar & Martuz attacks, be safe and give your site a check-up.

Gumblar Morphs Again: Now Martuz.cn

Gumblar: A Botnet of Compromised Websites

gumblar.cn switches to martuz.cn (95.129.145.58 - netname: NET-VENTREX)

Wintechpedia™

Wintechpedia™ has a nice write up comparing the different browser's, charts included.
Choose your favorite, I voted for Firefox.

Saturday, May 9, 2009
Which Browser Will You Choose?
Posted by Freedomstar at 5/09/2009 10:42:00 PM

Coupon Clipping Momma

Have you visited Coupon Clipping Momma yet. She's got some new freebies this morning. Give her a visit and check out the great coupon clipping help.

Coupon Clipping Momma is showing us Free mini roll of cottonelle Ultra toilet paper AND Cottonelle Fresh moist wipes.

Unmask Parasites©

From the developer of Unmask Parasites. Exploit reviews and security tips. Excellent blog to add to your list or reader. They also have a very fine tool for checking your site or blog for any ugly parasites. One of many tools to help you keep on top of things.

http://blog.unmaskparasites.com/


Website Security Check - Unmask Parasites (Copyright © 2008-2009)
Hackers exploit security vulnerabilities in popular web software such as blogs, forums, CMS, image galleries and wikis to insert hidden illicit content into web pages of innocent third-party web sites.

Thousands of web site owners are unaware that their sites are hacked and infected with parasites.

Is your site really yours?
http://www.unmaskparasites.com/

WinTechpedia™ 2009

Surf Safely 3: We are A Community. Helping Everyone Surf Safely.
from WinTechpedia™ 2009. by Freedomstar

Freedomstar did a very nice write up explaining WOT's features and with screen shots. Nicely done. Read more about the WOT community from Freedomstar.

Source: http://wintechpedia.blogspot.com/2009/05/surf-safely-3-we-are-community-helping.html,

MyFreeCopyRight©

Stumbled across this after reading information on another blog. It's free, and for small time blog users like me, a great way to help protect your creations. Take a visit to MyFreeCopyRight© and check it out.

Note: This is taken from the FAQ section. MyFreeCopyright© does not provide legal advice or legal services to help you. It does provide a public date registration service, which can be used to enforce your copyright; however, that responsibility is up to you.

Coupon Clipping Blog

Just came across a great blog if you love to save money.
Great resource for freebies and coupons.
Discover more at Coupon Clipping Momma

Cleaning Your Computer

Clean my computer , follow Bill Mullins’ Weblog to a 5 step guide to cleaning your computer. I will have to put a by this post so I don't forget to follow up. My dust bunnies probably have baby bunnies by now .

Cleaning Your Computer – 5 Step Guide
Posted by: Bill Mullins on: April 15, 2009

Most of us do a good job of keeping our computers clean of malware; viruses, Trojans, spyware, adware and the like.

But how many of us are concerned with keeping the physical machine clean? Do you clean and maintain your computer as often as you need to?
Read more from Bill

Happy Clicker

I love Firefox , but have always missed that clicking sound that comes with Internet Explorer. Came across two Firefox plug-ins. Tried this first one, Navigational Sounds, didn't like it. Never heard a clicking sound. Google searched again.. and found this one, Noise.
Noise can be set to play some of your windows media files. Perfect. I'm a bowl of happiness now.

Make Your Blog WOT Clickable

Adding ratings to your website

Thu 05 Jun 2008 12:37:27 PM UTC — Sami
Some of you may have noticed the rating symbols shown next to external links on our website and the small tooltip that links to the target site's reputation scorecard. Read more...

Web Site Optimization

Reading my emails this morning and came across a new blog with some great tips: Blogger FAQs

There was a link for checking your web site to see how fast or slow it loads. After your site is checked, tips are given for improvements.
Web Site Optimization

Great tool - Web Page Analyzer

Lisa's Banners

Placed an order for a banner with Lisa. I'm very impressed with my new banner. She was very quick and I love the end result. If you need a banner or other graphic items, Go Check her out!

Lisa's Banners ~ Example Site and her eCRATER Store.

Here's my banner she made, Love It!

Free Tools & Services

I use all of these F-Secure products, love them, and very easy to use.

I also have the F-Secure Exploit Shield running on two laptops belonging to family members.

Very nice, no blogging down the system.

F-Secure Easy Clean

Easy Clean is an easy-to-use and quick tool to remove the most common viruses, worms and other malware currently in the wild. When run, it will do a quick check for rootkit symptoms on the system and proceed with scanning and removing infections.

F-Secure Health Check

Health Check will tell you if you are protected, it check that you have up to date security applications and finds vulnerabilities and guides you to a solution when problems are found.

F-Secure Online Scanner

Online Scanner is a free service. Use it to find out if your computer is infected and disinfect your computer if needed. The product will automatically download the necessary components and virus definition databases as it is started.

F-Secure Rescue CD

Rescue CD scans your computer and renames all files containing malware by adding the .virus file extension to them.

By default, Rescue CD scans all hard drives in the computer, all USB drives attached to the computer and Windows FAT and NTFS drives.

Virus definition databases are updated automatically if the computer has an internet connection. Virus definition databases can be updated manually by using a USB drive.

© 2009 F-Secure Corporation

Smeland's Scoop

Spanking new from Smeland's Scoop is a excellent new site just for kids. In fact, I love this one so much (very child friendly) I have just set this as the homepage for my granddaughter's computer. KidFriendlySearch is a great deal safer than Google. KidFriendlySearch is very informative and educational. I have not bumped into any banner ads or pop ups that tend to lead to trouble.

Website of the Week: http://www.kidfriendlysearch.com/

Submitting the Sitemaps of your blog

If you are new to blogging like me, the Tips Blogger is a great blog to subscribe to. When I first started messing with Google Webmaster Tools, I never finished the Sitemaps. Tips Blogger makes it Oh so easy.

Read more here...
Submitting the Sitemaps of your blog to Google Webmaster helps the search engine(Google) to crawl your webpages easily and more quickly! This post explains the procedure. . .

Java up to date

http://java.com/en/download/installed.jsp

Check your version, mind was out of date. Must have cookies enable. Current version is:
Windows Vista, XP, and 2000 Server
Version 6 Update 12

Just in from SecurityCadets

BREAKING: Kaspersky Site Breach Exposes Data

February 8th, 2009 by AndyAtHull

It has emerged Kaspersky.com has been breached by a hacker over the weekend.

Read more here...

CCleaner - Freeware Windows Optimization

A new version of CCleaner, 2.16.830

What's New[27th Jan 2009]

• Google Chrome v2.0 compatibility fixes.
• Improved SeaMonkey support.
• Many translation updates.
• Cookie options loading now fully threaded.
• Lots of minor interface improvements.
• Minor performance improvements.

more version info...

©Copyright 2005-2009 Piriform Ltd. All rights reserved.

CCleaner and Piriform are registered trademarks of Piriform Ltd.

My Security Reading for Today

Viagra Valentines by Richard Medugno

The new target of Waledac Storm worm: Valentine’s day by Oscar Cavada

The new target of Waledac Storm worm: Valentine’s day by Oscar Cavada

Conficker/Downadup Scanning by Patrick Nolan

When Cyber Criminals Eat Their Own by Brian Krebs

Twitter spammer caught on camera by Graham Cluley

OSX/iWorkS-B another Trojan affecting dodgy downloads by SophosLabs

WALEDAC Loves (to Spam) You by Florabel Baetiong

F-Secure updates MS08-067 Conficker Worm Removal Tool MSMVPS.COM

Apple's First 2009 Patch Batch Fixes 7 QuickTime Flaws by Brian Krebs

Secunia Online Software Inspector - Reminder

Secunia has updated the Secunia Online Software Inspector (OSI) with new rules for detecting insecure software.

Run the Secunia OSI to make sure that your system is up-to-date:
http://secunia.com/vulnerability_scanning/online/

What is New:

1) Inspection rules have been updated.

Best regards,
Secunia Support

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