MoreThanSolutions Computer Consulting

Prevention is just one of the ways that we can save you time and money.

Testimonial

Trevor has been a valuable industry contact for PeopleGroup. His network of professionals pulls through quality work on time, every time. Trevor cares about his clients' priorities and takes the time to understand them. I highly recommend him.
--Ivo Beitsma, PeopleGroup

Contact us now for a free estimate.

Consultants are available for job requiring in-person meetings and site visits in Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland. Website hosting and design services available across North America.

Computer Viruses are continually spreading in new ways. Preventing viruses is very important, as removing them could involve setting up your system from scratch! The rules and tips below have been compiled to help you avoid viruses. If you need any help understanding or implementing these steps, please feel free to Contact Us.

The cardinal rule for avoiding computer viruses:

Never open attachments (this includes joke emails) under ANY circumstances UNLESS someone is sending you a file that you WANT on your computer AND you are expecting that file from that person. If someone sends you a file that you are not expecting be suspicious and DO NOT OPEN unless you are sure it was really from them (and not a virus using their email address). See below for particularly dangerous file types. This goes for files sent by instant message software as well.

The four next most important steps to avoiding computer viruses:

For Word attachments you can use Wordpad (included with Windows) to open them and this will display almost all advanced formatting in Word, but will not allow viruses to run. To do this, save the attachment then hold down shift and right click on the file and "Open With..." then select Wordpad (sometimes called Write). Or even better, add Wordpad to your "Send To" menu. Contact Us to walk you through this.
If you suspect you have a virus, they can disable the anti-virus software you have installed, so in this case do a manual virus scan at Housecall, or Norton Anti-virus Scan.
Run anti-virus software, such as (free) AVG or Avast. Be sure to have it updating automatically every couple of days and scanning daily.
Go to www.windowsupdate.com regularly and download all service packs, critical, and security updates (you may have to reboot several times) - you need to do this EVEN if you subscribe to automatic updates. You also need to visit www.officeupdate.com (separately).

For more information, or to have your computer inspected for viruses or to set up automatically updating anti-virus software, Contact Us.

Additional good ideas (somewhat) related to viruses:

Be sure that any critical information is being backed up routinely - to a CDROM or to another hard drive, perferably automatically and daily.
Use a tool such as MailWasher (FreeWare) to intervene before a virus even makes it to your inbox. This particular tool has the added feature of you being able to bounce emails back to spammers which is the best way to get off of spammers' lists.
If you are on cable internet, make sure file and print sharing is off and you are running a firewall unless you are behind a router (and even better - get a router - they are cheaper than recovering from a virus).
Use a tool such as Ad-Aware (FreeWare) to remove SpyWare from your computer.
Do not visit websites from spam email advertisements.
Switch to Firefox for internet and Contact Us.

More details on file types:

.exe .bat .com .vbs .pif .scr are program files and should only be opened if someone is actually sending you a program (which is rare); .zip files are compressed and can be any type thus can also be risky
.doc .xls .pub .ppt .mdb are Microsoft Office files and should only be opened if someone is actually sending you a file
.gif .jpg .png are images and .txt and .rtf are text-only files and are your safest bets (as long as you are up on your windows updates and the extension is the LAST few characters of the file);
.pps and .pdf are presentation formats which are generally safe (but you should still save to desktop and scan before opening)

Spam is unwanted email. There are many ways to avoid spam. However, the effectiveness of each methof varies depending on the type of spam you are getting and how you use your email. We offer custom spam solutions that will give you the most bang for your buck and allow you to get on with reading legitimate email. Contact us to arrange a consultation, or use some of the following free tips and tools:

The best option is to use a learning filter like K9 that learns from its own mistakes as you correct it and results in a custom spam filtering system for you. After 3 weeks of use, I found this program filters ~500 spam messages correctly per week, with only 3-5 corrections (spams not identified as such) needed per week to keep the filters up to date and zero legitimate emails accidentaly filtered. Note: you will need to set up a mail rule to filter your messages into a different folder.
Set up email filters using unwanted keywords and subjects to sort emails into a "likely spam" folder - you can check this occasionally to ensure legimitate emails did not get filtered unintentionally
Filter known email addresses into a "safe" folder
Block senders
Fight back and report spammers with Spam CSI
Hide your address with Spam Motel which is of limited use depending on how you use your email. There are other ways of hiding your email address, including replacing email links on your website with contact forms. Search on google to be sure someone isn't publishing your email address on their website!
Change your email address and notify your friends, then use spyware removal tools from the start and make sure your email address isn't on any websites. Set up an automated response from your old address to phone and obtain your new address.
Server side filtering - depends on your email host but effective methods like procmail and SpamAssassin may be available.
Make spammers remove you by bouncing emails back to them with MailWasher - note this can have unwanted side effects (check with your ISP if they recommend use of MailWasher or not)

Hoaxes are fake warnings about viruses or public safety etc. If you get a virus warning, you can email it to MoreThanSolutions. If it is real, we will post it to our bulletin board, if it is fake we will let you know. You might also want to check out Urban Legends before forwarding any hoaxes or do a quick search for several of the keywords at Google.

Scams are similar to hoaxes but instead of fooling people into forwarding messages, this is where people are generally after money. Before responding to any internet solicitation, even ones that purport to be asking for donations to excellent causes, or promise to net you great riches if on you give out your credit card or bank info, always check out Scambusters where you can search their library and join their list (note: the MoreThanSolutions bulletin board reproduces pieces from ScamBusters with permission so you do not need to be on both lists).

Spyware is software that is installed without your consent. It can send your internet use patterns, and even worse your email address to companies without your consent, who then may use your address to send you spam. My favourite free tool for battling spyware is Spybot Search & Destroy although Ad Aware is easier to use (but less comprehensive in it's protection).

System Cleanup is something that should be done occasionaly for a variety of reasons. If you have been experiencing major problems, particularly with older operating systems, you might need a fresh install of your operating system. Or regular system cleanup can actually prevent the need for the more drastic re-installation. Examples of work we do during a system clean-up visit:

ensure you have anti-virus, firewall, and anti-spyware software running properly
ensure automated backup system is in file for files, emails, address book, favourites, etc.
prevent rarely used programs that start automatically from hogging system resources
training on how to more effectively use your computer

System Backup is easy to do and crucial. Hard drives fail. Viruses hit. Fires and thefts can happen. You need your data backed up in order than one of these events not be a major disaster. Some people back up their documents occasionaly, but we prefer to set up automated daily backup of not only documents, but the desktop, emails, address book, favourites, and other important files. We can set up our automated system in minutes and we charge nothing for the small program that does the work - only our time. This can be a small part of a system clean-up.

Planning is essential for everything from a home system to a commercial office. We encourage a yearly computing plan. For a home user this may save you from continually investing in small upgrades just before you realize you want a brand new computer soon anyway. For an office, some planning can ensure you can have all your computing requirements met even though you might not have many (or any) IT staff employed. Please contact us to schedule an appointment to assist you in drawing up a plan if you would like to tap into our years of expertise and knowledge in drawing up (and sticking to) your computing plan.