Wait on a Computer! Buying Assistance For College Families

May 26, 2019 by doctordave

Congratulations to all the grads of the local high schools! Whether it’s Lawrence High or Free State, Shawnee Mission or Blue Valley, you’ve all worked hard for this important day!

For those going off to college, your family’s first instinct may be to buy you a new computer as a graduation gift. Don’t let them. Well, at least wait until we talk with them first.

We’ve been doing computer repair Lawrence, Kansas since 1990. We get lots of students asking us for help. Lawrence is the home of the University of Kansas and Haskell Indian Nations University. Not too far away is Baker University over in Baldwin. Since we also serve Topeka and Kansas City, we also see students needing computer help from Washburn and UMKC.

The biggest mistake I see people make in buying a computer is to purchase something during the summer. Computers depreciate and become obsolete quickly, so buying one in May or June for college in August or September means it’s already three months old by the time you get to college. Since the average computer lasts only about three years, it’s already aging by the fall. The warranty on most laptops is just a year, so that’s depreciating as well.

A poor decision I often see is when people buy a new computer now and decide to keep it in the box until college. It’s a good idea to keep it together so everything is in one place and well protected, but about 10% of the time a new PC might be bad out of the box. If it’s within the first 30 days, you can usually return it to the store, but after then you have to ship it back and sometimes wait weeks for a repair.

To help you with all the nuances of buying a computer for college, Dave is holding some free drop-in consulting sessions both in Lawrence and the Kansas City area. During those sessions, he can help you buy the right computer for college as well as discuss accessories. Families often pay too much and get the wrong stuff. For example, it’s better to get accident protection from your homeowner’s policy rather than the one they sell in the store, but there are exceptions.

Most importantly, you’ll learn the best place to buy a new computer. Hint: it’s often your college bookstore.

In Lawrence, he’ll be hosting as his office at 4105 West Sixth Street on Tuesday, June 4th from 4 pm to 6 pm.

In Kansas City, he’ll be at eCafe Coworking Center/Scooters coffee shop for his monthly Wellness Wednesday. They’re located at 10650 Roe Ave, Overland Park, KS. He’ll be there from 3:30 pm to 5:30 pm

These sessions are free, and no reservation is necessary, but it would be handy to let us know you’ll be there. Check Dave’s facebook page for the Kansas City Event and Lawrence Event. Please mark yourself as interested or going. That’s all the RSVP we’re asking for. He might even have a few gifts for you if you stop by.

Loyalty Cards, Frequent Flyer Programs : Hacker’s Treasure

May 19, 2019 by doctordave

Recently the New York Times ran a story about the risks of loyalty programs. Loyalty programs include everything from the virtual punch card at the coffee shop to larger programs like those offered by hotels and airlines. We tend to hear about the problems with travel-related loyalty programs like the Marriott/Starwood breach and Delta Airlines.

What’s the Risk?

Your first thought when you hear about these breaches is what about your credit card and personal information like phone number and address? While that stuff is important, you can always change your credit card numbers. Most of the time, you aren’t liable for unauthorized purchases from bank accounts or credit cards.

The risk of these loyalty program breaches isn’t just the points, after all, you worked hard to accumulate that free coffee or a free trip around the world. It’s also about the details these programs can reveal to create more sophisticated hacks.

As an example right here in Lawrence, KS, when we sign up clients for internet service through AT&T, some of the security questions they get asked are:

What is your favorite restaurant?
Where is your favorite place to go on vacation?
What is the name of your youngest sibling?

These are the same type of questions Apple and dozens of other companies ask. I was asked the same time of questions when signing up for phone service with T-Mobile. Even if these questions aren’t used directly by hackers, they can be used for targets attacks called spear phishing. For example, if hackers see that I have a reservation at a hotel, they might call me and say there’s a problem with the card and I need to provide a different credit card.

I’ll admit until I read this article I had “soft” passwords for some of these programs. I figure Starbucks doesn’t have my credit card, and who would steal a coffee from me? Cybercrime is cybercrime so they might steal that. Then I realized my credit card is on file with them and someone could order themselves a gift card. Ouch. I’m secure with my Apple iTunes account because it’s a big target for hackers and Apple protects it with things like two-factor authentication. My Starbucks account is wide open!

What can you do to protect yourself?

First, create unique passwords for absolutely everything. If it contains personal data, it needs to be protected. Use a password manager or ask us about the password books we sell (or give away if you ask us nicely and mention this post!)

Second, consider enabling two-factor authentication everywhere you can. That’s the system where they text you or call you to verify who you are. If you aren’t sure how to do that, please ask us!

Finally, read your statements and emails. Sure, you get tons of those, but the only way you can catch a breach is to be vigilant. Take for example those Starbucks emails. Those always go into my junk email because I don’t go there that often. I always shop local for coffee, but sometimes Starbucks is all they have, especially at airports. After reading this article, I’m now working to unsubscribe from promotional emails from loyalty programs, but make sure emails about account balance and activities don’t go into spam. Again, if you need help setting this up for yourself, we do email management all the time for clients.

Although it doesn’t make the nightly news, your free pizza, coffee, and airline trips are the latest thing hackers are attacking. They’re not just stealing your points, but stealing information they can use for more sophisticated attacks.

Yes, We Still Recommend Backblaze

February 17, 2019 by doctordave

Backblaze has been our preferred automatic safety backup product for years. Recently they contacted existing customers to let them know the rates would be increasing. Compared to their competitors who increased rates while decreasing services, or simply went out of business, Backblaze’s price increase is modest. They’ve had the same pricing for 11 years, so that hardly keeps up with inflation.

For $60 a year, or $110 for two years they backup everything on your computer. When something goes wrong, you can either download your data or they’ll overnight you a hard drive with all your stuff on it for FREE. Can’t beat that.

Not only have I used Backblaze for a decade, but I’ve also seen with my clients how well it’s worked. In particular, we had two clients who had fires at their homes. In both cases we were able to get the client up and running within 48 hours thanks to the overnight service. In another example, we were able to trace down a stolen laptop due to the tracing service Backblaze includes in the subscription.

If you haven’t signed up yet for Backblaze, do it by March 11th before the price increase. You’ll save $10 on the yearly plan and $15 on the two-year plan (what we recommend).

If you’re already a customer, you can extend your subscription for up to one year at the current rate. It’s a bit confusing, but they explain how to do it here. You agree to buy now and add onto your subscription’s expiration date. They make it sound complicated, but it’s not. Once you click on the Extensions Page, you buy the extension. I did it and got this message.

It only gets complex if you have more than one subscription on your account. Most of our clients don’t, so it’s as easy as clicking a link and then Purchase Extension.

Of course, if you have any trouble at all, please let us know. We’d be happy to help with this extension process at no charge because we believe in backups.

While you’re in your account, I suggest you test your backups. Try a few items from your computer and do a sample restore. That way in an emergency you know how to do it. If you don’t feel comfortable doing that, please let us know. We’re running a Backup Checkup special until the end of March. We’ll test your backups and make sure they work for just $40. That’s only half our normal hourly rate. We can do that remotely so you don’t need to leave your home, or at our office, or on-site (travel rates apply). If you need anything else done during the service call ,it’s at our normal hourly rate. We recommend yearly computer checkups to predict and prevent future problems, so if it’s been a year since we’ve seen you let us know so we can schedule a full checkup.

Remember, to go forward, you must backup.

Photo by Duy Hoang on Unsplash

We Can Help With Voice-Over-IP (VoIP) Phone Systems

February 17, 2019 by doctordave

A few months ago, we switched many of our phone systems over to FreedomVoice. We’re now a partner of FreedomVoice and can get you set up.

What I like about FreedomVoice is it gives you advance call features like auto-attendants and phone trees for a small monthly fee. It can do faxing and even a “follow-me” function so when you aren’t at your desk, your mobile phone rings.

Our toll-free and emergency numbers are fully managed “in the cloud” for a low monthly fee. The feature I like best is when someone has an emergency the system can send out emails, text messages and push notifications so I’ll never miss that call. Seriously, when we get an emergency line call come in, red lights flash in my home.

If you’ve got a small office or a home office, let’s talk about your phone systems. I can get you set up with a rep from FreedomVoice to see if it would save you money. Heck, they even offer an Amazon gift card just to see if FreedomVoice is a fit.

You’ve got nothing to lose to check it out, unless of course, you like people having trouble reaching you! If you rely on your phone systems to interact with clients, lets talk!

Windows 7 Computers Are Set to Expire

January 13, 2019 by doctordave

Everything comes with an expiration date, even bottled water! If you are running a computer with Windows 7, your computer will have severe problems on January 14th, 2020. On that date, Microsoft will stop supporting Windows 7.

What Does That Mean?

Microsoft did this with Windows XP back in 2009 and Vista in 2017. After they discontinue support, they won’t fix any bugs in the operating system. That puts your security and identity at risk. It also means that systems using it aren’t compliant with various security standards like FINRA for financial advisors, HIPAA for medical professionals and PCI for those people who take credit cards.

Security updates are essential to protect everyone. When someone at Equifax failed to do a security update, they put everyone at risk. Banks won’t allow you to connect to their sites without a newer operating system. Airlines might not allow you to schedule flights. For your protection, we won’t support systems running Windows 7 after that date. We can’t knowingly put clients in harm’s way on the internet.

What Can You Do?

Remember when Microsoft put Windows 10 on people’s computer for free, sometimes without consent? Unfortunately, they aren’t offering that. There are ways around that “free” offer, but it requires erasing your computer and reinstalling everything.

You can buy a copy of Windows 10 and install it on your computer, but that will cost around $100 or so.

But I Heard Windows 10 Was Bad or I Want to Stay with Windows 7

When Windows 10 came out, just like Vista or Windows 8, it was horrible. Anytime a new operating system comes out there is an adjustment period. We saw ever since Windows 3.1. Windows Vista and Windows 8 were particularly troublesome. Windows 10 was unique because systems that were “forced” into an upgrade were not always ready for it.

Now, Windows 10 is reliable and stable on new computers. We see minimal problems in comparison to problems we saw with older operating systems. It is often “self-healing” and solves its own problems.

If you want to stay with Windows 7, you can, but we’d suggest staying off the internet at all costs. The internet just isn’t safe unprotected. If you’ve got a specialty program that only runs on Windows 7, that’s fine as long as it doesn’t use the internet. We recommend after January 14th, 2020 to turn off the wifi and unplug the internet from these computers.

Another alternative is to create a “virtual machine” for these programs. We can install Windows 7 inside a Mac or PC and have that virtual machine run just your special program and disable only Windows 7 from the internet. We’re currently doing that for some clients running Windows XP or Windows Vista

Our Recommendation: Replace The Computer

Any computer currently running Windows 7 is probably around six years old since Windows 8 was introduced in 2012. We tend to see problems with computers after about three years since that is the average life of a hard drive. With a laptop, there are the added problems with power chargers, batteries and keyboard. Most Windows 7 systems thus are likely to fail soon. If you spend money upgrading the operating system, you’ll be more likely than not find the computer inoperable relatively sooner.

Since we don’t sell computers, only repair them, we’re primarily talking ourselves out of work. We’d rather tell you the right thing to do, even if it impacts our bottom line. Of course, if you need your pictures, documents (stuff in Word, Excel), emails and music copied to a new computer we can help with that.

You don’t have to run out and buy one today; you have a year after all. However, I’d suggest budgeting for one in 2019, so you aren’t surprised.

“Danbo (heart) Windows 7” by mendhak is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

Secret Santa Service, Last Minute Holiday Gifts

December 18, 2018 by doctordave

Every year here at DcotorDave Computer Repair in Lawrence and Kansas City we offer our exclusive “Santa” service.

Technology gifts for the holidays are great, but the problem is they need to be set up. They’re more complex than the standard disclaimers of “some assembly required” and “batteries not included.” Take for example the average services we provide for a new computer setup:

Unbox the computer
Add the computer to the wifi network (do you have the password?)
Follow approximately 10-15 prompts agreeing to terms of service, license agreements, and privacy policies.
Start dozens of safety and security updates
Disable trial software and “junk” that comes on the average computer
Find passwords and set up email on a new system
Transfer stuff from the old system like pictures, music, and documents
Install programs like Microsoft Word and Excel as part of Microsoft Office
Configure antivirus and malware
Create a backup system to protect data

On average that’s about 90 minutes for us because we do it every day, sometimes even three times a day. Most clients tell us it takes them several hours to do this work and often they don’t have the skills or tools to finish.

In other words, it makes for a complicated and exhausting Christmas morning. Clients think our busy time is Christmas Day (yes we’re open) or the day after Christmas.

In reality, we usually start hearing from clients after the tree comes down. That’s because the new computer, printer, tablet or smart speaker (think Alexa and Google Home/Mini) sit in the box until someone decides to call us.

To prevent that problem we offer what I call the “Santa Service.” We can make an appointment at our office or your home (including evenings or weekends) and set all the stuff up in advance. Then you just put it back in the box and wrap it up.

When the recipient opens the box, it’s READY TO GO. Everything is set up. They just press the button, and away it goes. I’d admit it isn’t as popular as I think it should be, but clients who take us up on the offer rave about how happy they are.

It takes all the stress out of receiving a gift. Yes, sometimes getting a gift can be stressful. We’ve got this gift setup down to a science. After all, we’ve been in business 15 years.

Black Friday/Cyber Monday Special: Pre-Payment Discount and Free Gift

November 22, 2018 by doctordave

Since we’re not a retail shop, it’s harder for us to participate in the fun of Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday.

It might be harder, but we’re still doing it. Here’s’ some deals we have for you.

Pre-Payment Discount

Our normal rate is $90 an hour, but we’re selling blocks of time at a discount. You can buy two hours of service for $160. That’s a savings of $20, but for this weekend we’re selling them at $150 for an extra $10 off. You can use these in as little as 15-minute increments if you’d like remote support. They can be used for any of our services like

Wellness checkups (recommended every year)
New computer setups
Virus and malware removal
Upgrades, installs, and configuration of things like printers, wireless routers, scanners as well as software

If you purchase it anytime this weekend we’ll include a password book to track your passwords. Proper password management prevents you from getting taken in by scams and hacks. Go here to take advantage of the offer. After midnight on Monday they go back up to $160, which is still a good deal.

Free Checkup When you Join Our Monthly Wellness Program

Normally we charge $80 to join our Wellness program which includes your first checkup. If you sign up this weekend we’ll come out and do your first checkup for free. You must sign up and pay your first month’s fee of $25 to take advantage of this deal.

Some key benefits of our monthly wellness program are:

Wellness security and problem prevention checkups twice a year
Discounts on labor and anti-virus software
Free assistance through email or our DoctorDave™ iPhone app
Free installs of hardware, software and new computers
Free virus detection scans
Free checks for updates to hardware and software
Free Assistance with problems caused by scammers
Free Membership Appreciation Clinics and Parties
Free consulting on new hardware and software purchases
Free monthly tips and tricks newsletter
Free recycling of old computer equipment, including securely erasing or destroying data

To take advantage of this deal, you’ll first need to go here.

Malwarebytes Antivirus Protection for Macs or PCs (50%)

We’re offering this only to existing clients. Normally this product retails for $40, but we give a discount of $5.00. For Black Friday, we’ll discount it another $10.00. You’ll get one year of protection for just $25. To take advantage of this deal you’ll need to already be an existing client and email. Call us at 785-841-8766 to take advantage of this deal. No online sales.

Stocking Stuffer: Password Management Book $5.00

Normally we sell these for $7.50 (or get them free if you purchase a pre-payment block of service). They’re great

Whether it’s Black Friday, Small Business Saturday or Cyber Monday, help support local business and protect your computer!

Ignore That Email: Nobody is Spying On You

November 18, 2018 by doctordave

We posted this on Facebook a few weeks ago, but it’s worth mentioning here again. An email has been going around the past few months. It takes some different forms but generally follows the same pattern:

Someone “hacked” you and has your password
They’ve been monitoring you
They’ll send your information to all your contacts
To prevent this send them bitcoin

I even got that email. I gotta say when you see your password in an email right there it’s scary.

“Subject: dave@calldrdave.com has password (my password). Password must be changed

Hello!

I’m a programmer who cracked your email account and device about half year ago.

You entered a password on one of the insecure site you visited, and I catched it.

Your password from dave@calldrdave.com on moment of crack: (my password)

Of course you can will change your password, or already made it.”

As well as

“Subject: dave – (my password)

It seems that, (mypassword), is your password. You may not know me and you are probably wondering why you are getting this e-mail, right?

actually, I setup a malware on the adult vids (porno) web-site and guess what, you visited this site to have fun (you know what I mean). While you were watching videos, your internet browser started out functioning as a RDP (Remote Desktop) having a keylogger which gave me accessibility to your screen and web cam. after that, my software program obtained all of your contacts from your Messenger, FB, as well as email.

“

How Did They Get Your Password?

It seems like every day I listen to the news, I hear about another hack. From Applebee’s to Yahoo, there’s a company for every letter of the alphabet that’s been breached. A hacker stole your password from one of these companies. If you use your password more than one place, that’s how they got it.

Fortunately, I use a password manager called 1Password. Although I avoid reusing passwords for important stuff, I’ll be lazy and do it for some websites. In my case, I could trace it to Angie’s List. I had to sign up for my business and I didn’t’ think I’d use it much. That’s why I used a throw-away password.

What Can You Do to Prevent This?

You can’t prevent someone from hacking another system. I mean when Equifax gets hacked, that just shows you how vulnerable we all are. The best you can do is mitigate the damage.

Stop Reusing Passwords

I get it. Passwords are hard to keep track off. As I said, I use 1Password. We can help you set that up. We also have a more manual option: A password book. We sell these for $7.50, although you can get one free by joining our Wellness Program. That lets you use a unique password and keep track of them.

Get a Reliable Antivirus

If you’re on a Mac, you probably don’t have an antivirus. If you’re on a PC you might be using the free one that comes with Windows.

We used to take the approach good enough is, well, good enough. If you haven’t had any problems with your computer, stick with what you got. With so many threats out there, we’re finding basic protection isn’t enough. A professional paid antivirus provides not just added security but peace of mind. We recommend Malwarebytes. Fortunately, we’re able to sell it at a discount. Normally it’s $40, but we can sell it for $35 to existing clients.

When you get an email like this, just run a scan to get that peace of mind.

Don’t Pay Scammers/Let Them Keep the Money

We deal with tech support scams all the time. Some clients are so embarrassed they decide to let the criminals keep the money. These criminals then use the money to attack other victims. If we cut off the stream of money and don’t make this profitable, they’ll stop doing it. Okay maybe not stop, but at least make them work harder!

As a reminder, clients who are part of our wellness program get unlimited phone and email support for questions like these. When they get any suspicious emails, they just call us rather than give money to a scammer.

Full text of the emails:

“It seems that, (my password), is your password. You may not know me and you are probably wondering why you are getting this e-mail, right?

What did I do?

I backuped phone. All photo, video and contacts.

I created a double-screen video. 1st part shows the video you were watching (you’ve got a good taste haha . . .), and 2nd part shows the recording of your web cam.

Exactly what should you do?

Well, in my opinion, $500 is a fair price for our little secret. You’ll make the payment by Bitcoin (if you do not know this, search “how to buy bitcoin” in Google).

BTC Address:

(It is cAsE sensitive, so copy and paste it)

Important:

You have one day in order to make a payment. (I’ve a unique pixel in this e mail, and at this moment I know that you have read through this email message). If I do not get the BitCoins, I will certainly send out your video recording to all of your contacts including relatives, coworkers, and so on. Having said that, if I receive the payment – I’ll destroy the video immediately. If you need evidence, reply with “Yes!” and I will certainly send out your video recording to your 6 contacts. It is a non-negotiable offer, that being said don’t waste my personal time and yours by responding to this message.”

And

“Hello!

I’m a programmer who cracked your email account and device about half year ago.

You entered a password on one of the insecure site you visited, and I catched it.

Your password from dave@calldrdave.com on moment of crack: (mypassword)

Of course you can will change your password, or already made it.

But it doesn’t matter, my rat software update it every time.

Please don’t try to contact me or find me, it is impossible, since I sent you an email from your email account.

Through your e-mail, I uploaded malicious code to your Operation System.

I saved all of your contacts with friends, colleagues, relatives and a complete history of visits to the Internet resources.

Also I installed a rat software on your device and long tome spying for you.

You are not my only victim, I usually lock devices and ask for a ransom.

But I was struck by the sites of intimate content that you very often visit.

I am in shock of your reach fantasies! Wow! I’ve never seen anything like this!

I did not even know that SUCH content could be so exciting!

So, when you had fun on intime sites (you know what I mean!)

I made screenshot with using my program from your camera of yours device.

After that, I jointed them to the content of the currently viewed site.

Will be funny when I send these photos to your contacts! And if your relatives see it?

BUT I’m sure you don’t want it. I definitely would not want to …

I will not do this if you pay me a little amount.

I think $855 is a nice price for it!

I accept only Bitcoins.

My BTC wallet:

If you have difficulty with this – Ask Google “how to make a payment on a bitcoin wallet”. It’s easy.

After receiving the above amount, all your data will be immediately removed automatically.

My virus will also will be destroy itself from your operating system.

My Trojan have auto alert, after this email is looked, I will be know it!

You have 2 days (48 hours) for make a payment.

If this does not happen – all your contacts will get crazy shots with your dirty life!

And so that you do not obstruct me, your device will be locked (also after 48 hours)

Do not take this frivolously! This is the last warning!

Various security services or antiviruses won’t help you for sure (I have already collected all your data).

Here are the recommendations of a professional:

Antiviruses do not help against modern malicious code. Just do not enter your passwords on unsafe sites!

I hope you will be prudent.

Bye.

“

Interesting Idea for an Old Computer

November 11, 2018 by doctordave

When you get a new computer, you might wonder what to do with the old one, especially if it works. We work with Connecting For Good in Kansas City to help refurbish and distribute these computers to needy families. However, there are some other uses.

My colleagues at Lifehacker had some interesting ideas. The one I like best is the “guest computer.” When people come over and need to just check email or print a boarding pass, why not have them use that spare computer. After all, hotels have those kinda resources. Just be sure to use it every so often to check to make sure it works and gets security updates.

When it’s finally ready to go out to pasture, don’t just throw it in the trash. Give us a call. Even if it doesn’t work, we can still get it ethically and responsibly recycled. We’ll make sure your private data is erased and the computer ends up in good hands.

Photo by mikecogh

Has Your Password Been Stolen?

November 4, 2018 by doctordave

With all the recent and continuing breaches, one thing we learned is you can’t rely on a company to tell you. Breaches are reported months and sometimes years later.

If you’d like to check if yours was stolen, the website “Have I been pwned” helps. All you do is put in your username or email address (no passwords!) It then tells you what hacks you’ve been a victim of. I was only the victim of seven on one email address. I consider that lucky.

Fortunately, I use a password manager. All those passwords on those sites were unique, so I was safe. We help clients all the time setup password managers. It’s easy and saves you time and hassle. All you do is remember the password to your password manager and it takes care of everything else.

Photo by liako