Category Archives: Computers

Computers

Speed Up Your Laptop

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You may remember that we recently picked up a new laptop for the office. We posted the specs on our Facebook page, check us out there if you haven’t already.

The new laptop is pretty good but we found it a bit slow, mainly because it uses Windows 10 as an O/S. With 6 Gigs of Ram, we felt it should have been faster. Here’s what we did to speed it up, step by step:

  1. First job was to make sure we created the Recovery disks. Since our laptop has an optical drive for reading and writing DVDs and CDs, that was a snap. Once you have the Recovery Disks, it’s easy to switch to another hard drive.

2. Next, we ditched our 500 Gig standard hard drive and replaced it with a 250 Gig SSD (solid state drive)

SSD Drive
An SSD has no moving parts. Less prone to damage and much faster than the standard HD.

An SSD has no moving parts, in case you didn’t know. What does that mean? It means that access, both read and write, is much faster than on a normal magnetic drive. Cost is going down by the minute on these so if you can manage it, adding an SSD is pretty cheap, well worth the money when compared to the speed increase it will give you.

RAM
This is what RAM looks like before it goes into your laptop.

3. Then we decided to add more RAM. RAM, random access memory, is what lets your computer think when it’s turned on. The more RAM, the more it can think about at one time. If you like to have a dozen browser tabs open at one time, RAM is what you need…lots of it. We upped ours to 16 Gigs, the most our new laptop could handle, for less than $100.00. Adding RAM yourself is much less expensive than buying it with the computer.

Lithium
Most laptops come with very small and cheap batteries, usually 4 cell. Adding a 6 or 8 cell battery afterward is a cheap way to increase your usage time.

4. Now that we had a faster laptop, and the speed difference was incredible, we used it for longer periods of time. That meant that our little 4 cell laptop battery wasn’t quite up to snuff for hours of use. For less than $50.00, we doubled our usage time. Now we can surf and write for about six hours. Again, adding an 8 cell battery from the manufacturer is very expensive. The computer itself might seem like a good deal but when you get hit with the extras, you’d be shocked at how high the price can climb.

TIP: Look for your laptop’s model number (it’s on the bottom), then type that into the search window on the site where you buy your parts.

Adding RAM and the SSD might be too tough for you but we’re sure you’ve got a techie friend who could help. Upgrading the battery is a snap. Make sure your laptop is off not in hibernation, take out the old battery and insert the new one. Plug your laptop in and wait until the the new battery is fully charged. That’s it!

Comments and questions are welcome but  Likes on our Facebook page get immediate attention.  Here’s the link: Computers Made Simple on Facebook .Thanks for reading!

 

Computers

Google Chromecast – First Impressions

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If you’re one of the millions of us who have ‘cut the cable’, you’ve probably already heard of Google’s Chromecast. Chromecast is available in about 120 countries around the world so unless you’ve been living under a rock, the name should be familiar to you.

Photo of Chromecast
Here it is, the latest version of Chromecast. Different colors are available.

We received a demo Chromecast last week. Here are our first impressions of this simple device plus an explanation of what it does.

All you need to get started with Chromecast is a HD TV and a relatively fast Internet connection. You’ll also need a remote. This is the part that we found a bit unsettling about Chromecast because the device itself does not come with a remote. The solution to all of lives probably lives in your pocket or purse. Any Android or Apple smartphone will work as a remote control unit. Additionally, you can use a tablet, laptop or desktop computer running Google Chrome. A simple solution, as it turns out.

You’ll have to think of Chromecast as an enabler rather than a standalone piece of technology. For less than $50.00, any HDTV can be made smart. When we think of a smart TV, we usually think of something that allows you to use Netflix. Many people stop there but there is so much more than Netflix out there.

Photo of Chromecast setup
Connect Chromecast to any open HDMI port, plug it into an electrical connection and you’re off!

The photo above shows how your Chromecast should be connected to your HDTV.  Once you’ve done that, the rest of the setup is done on your remote; your smartphone, tablet, laptop or desktop computer. Setup is easy, don’t worry. On a smartphone, you download the Chromecast app then enter your WiFi password and you’re off and running.

Once your phone and Chromecast are linked, it’s simply a matter of downloading and installing the apps that enable you to watch shows on your HDTV. Yes, Netflix is one of those apps but there are many, many more. Here’s a small list:

Photo of Chromecast apps
In order to watch material from any of these apps, you’ll need to install that app on your remote.

Once you’re installed some apps on your remote, find something you want to watch and then cast it over to your HDTV via your remote and Chromecast. Tap the icon you see below and your show will pop up on your HDTV.  Anything that you’re watching on your remote that can be cast to your HDTV will have this icon up on the top right corner:

Chromecast icon
If you can see this icon on your remote screen, you can cast whatever you are watching up to your Chromecast and watch it on your HDTV.

Play will pause on your remote and continue on your HDTV. If you want to watch something else, press pause or stop on your remote and choose something else. Cast it up to your Chromecast and your HDTV will show your current selection.

TIP: Once you start any video on your HDTV, the quality will be poor for a few seconds. Don’t dismay, it will get better. If you have a relatively fast Internet connection, you won’t notice a difference between your Chromecast broadcast and a DVD. Chromecast uses the latest and greatest WiFi protocols. A wired Ethernet connection is available, more on that later.

That’s it for today. We’ll run through some of the available apps in our next post. Comments and questions are welcome but  Likes on our Facebook page get immediate attention.  Here’s the link: Computers Made Simple on Facebook .Thanks for reading!

Computers, Hardware, Mobile Devices, Windows

Connecting a Nexus 5 to a Windows PC – Update

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We’ve been having a problem lately, mainly since we switched to Windows 10, whenever we try to hook up our Nexus 5 to a PC. Windows sees the Nexus as an Acer ADB device for some reason. Here’s how we fix this:

  1. This procedure is done on your Nexus 5, not on your PC. Start by connecting your phone to your PC using a USB cable.
  2. Go to your Settings, that would be the gear icon on your app screen. After a recent Android system update, we’re on version 6 now, the menu that controls your USB settings has disappeared. This means that you have to do a search for them. Look for the icon of a magnifying glass at the top of your screen.
  3. Type the letters usb in the search space.

    settings for usb
    This is what you see when you search for ‘usb’ on the settings screen. You want to choose Select USB Configuration
  4. Several choices will pop up. The one you want is ‘Select USB Configuration’.  Press that choice.
  5. More than likely the choice you want on the next screen is already chosen. You should see ‘MTP (Media Transfer Protocol) selected. No matter, select it again by simply touching those words.

    MTP Things
    Even if MTP is pre-selected, touch those words again to confirm the choice.
  6. If you’ve followed the steps correctly, a file explorer window should pop up on your screen. It should show your Nexus 5 as a storage device that you can double click on to reveal the contents.

This process should work for you. We’re not sure why Windows 10 defaults to the ADB device choice but doing this fairly simple set of steps should get you up and running quickly. It’s as if you have to remind Windows that the Nexus 5 is an MTP device.

If by chance this doesn’t work for you, try our previous routine. Here is the link:  Nexus 5 to PC

 

Comments and questions are welcome but  Likes on our Facebook page get immediate attention.  Here’s the link: Computers Made Simple on Facebook .Thanks for reading!

Computers

FatCow Rating -D – Part Two

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In our last post we described how FatCow hosting had shut down our sites because of a false positive on an automated malware scan. That false positive involved a perfectly safe file that is found in every WordPress installation.

Today’s post has to do with FatCow suspending our forum’s email account…without telling us that they had done so. Some of this involved fairly technical details so we’ll just give you the basics. This is, after all, Computers Made Simple.

Our forum, GTWorld.ca , has been around for almost two years. It’s a small forum, perhaps 500 members, and we only use email to notify members of their successful registration, forgotten passwords, etc. We have never done mass emailing and we do not publish a newsletter. That’s important in this saga.

The forum uses the phpBB platform. It’s not necessary to know that but if you’ve been having problems with a similar platform, we’d suggest you read farther to see what the problem might be. phpBB is a self-contained package that uses the PHP scripting language. It sounds more complicated than it is but, once you get the hang of it, it’s reasonable simple to use.

We’d noticed recently that we weren’t hearing back from prospective members when we reminded them by email that they’d been approved. We’d also head that some members who’d forgotten their passwords were not being prompted by email. We weren’t sure what the problem was but we set out to fix things up.

For the next week or so, we basically took apart our phpBB installation, piece by piece, to see if we could track down what was happening. We also enlisted the help of FatCow’s support department. After days of trying, they couldn’t find the problem either. Finally, frustrated and tired, we posted questions about the situation on the phpBB support forum.

It didn’t take long before one of the experts there figured out that FatCow themselves were preventing our emails from going through. At first, we couldn’t believe that this could happen. Our own hosting company suspending our site’s emails without even telling us? No way. Turns out, that was exactly what they were doing.

Somehow, most likely through an automated scanning program, our very tiny amount of email had triggered yet another false positive, this time for spam. Once we had an inkling of what the problem might be, we asked the FatCow support staff that had been helping us. Here’s our query:

Is FatCow marking these emails as SPAM? Is that why they do not go through? The board has no spam, the emails we are trying to send are activation emails, notices from admin, etc. Is FatCow blocking them?

FatCow responded:

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused. I have tested the functionality and verified the logs. The emails sent are dropped as spam by our spam scanner. So, I will be handing this ticket over to one of our System Administrator to reset the spam score and fix the issue. I have also handed over all my findings to that specialist. You should be hearing from them within 12 – 24 hours.

What followed were several very heated messages that we won’t share here. Here’s one of our final messages to FatCow:

I will be polite and say thank you but I solved this problem myself, right? I discovered that FatCow had marked my totally safe emails as spam. Support tried to help but it was FatCow themselves who caused the problem.

FatCow responded:

Your email content were flushed by our spam scanner considering it as spam. The email might be flushed due to low reputation or email content might have including some links/spammish pattern. Yes, you have provided the information which helped us to resolve the issue.

 

Spammish? That’s a new word, isn’t it? At least they admitted that we had solved the problem ourselves. Apology? None received yet. Admitting the FatCow was at fault? Nope, nothing remotely resembling an apology has ever come my way in either instance. FatCow still maintains that the site was at fault, not their scanners.

Since our forum has only one administrator, we know full well that there was never any spam emanating from it. The only time we encountered spam, and that was less than five times, were emails sent from the main page of the site using the ‘Contact Us’ link that is standard on every installation of phpBB’s forum software. Those emails went directly to the gmail account of the administrator, nowhere else. We’ve removed that link from the main page of the site. The spam emails, by the way, were not sent by members but by strangers who happened upon the forum.

FatCow hosting is a good deal, we can’t ignore that, but if you want a responsible hosting company, one that understands your needs and offers you smart, intelligent support, look elsewhere. Once we find a reputable hosting company, we’ll post a link to their site.

Comments and questions are welcome but  Likes on our Facebook page get immediate attention.  Here’s the link: Computers Made Simple on Facebook . Thanks for reading!

Computers

FatCow Rating – D-

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We’ve been with FatCow hosting for quite a while. Up to this year, they’ve been an inexpensive, reliable company. Two incidents in the last six months changed all that. They’ve lost our support. Here’s why.

WordPress Sites Shut Down  Because of a False Positive on a Default WordPress File

Every WordPress installation includes many default files, we’re talking thousands of little bits and pieces that make WordPress what it is, a reliable platform for bloggers.

Back in May, FatCow’s  scanners decided that the standard WordPress file, moxieplayer.swf, was malware. Here’s the email we received:

 

Hello,

A routine scan of your account has found the following malicious or infected files:

wp-includes/js/tinymce/plugins/media/moxieplayer.swf

As a result, we have suspended your website, to avoid problems for website visitors or other customers. Please remove the malicious code, through FTP or the File Manager. I would recommend deleting and republishing your entire website from a clean copy; this should then erase any other code which may have

been injected into your pages to allow back-door access by unauthorized people.

You should immediately change your password through the control panel for the account, and most importantly, you need to make sure any application in your account are completely up-to-date as far as versions, security patches, etc. are concerned. This applies not just to the core application, but also plugins,

themes, modules, etc. If this is not done, your account will remain vulnerable to future attacks of this kind.

In order to secure your web application,you can use SiteLock Fix product which scans your website daily and removes any infected files. To learn more about SiteLock, please go to: (url removed) /product/sitelock

Sounds serious, right? FatCow did more than warn us, they suspended our websites. That means that FatCow removed access to them, no one could view any of our eleven websites.

In this situation, we had to go through every installation, find the suspicious file and delete it. We’re quite surprised that our WordPress installations still worked after they were put back online.

Once the sites we up again, we began to do some detective work. That file, moxieplayer.swf, is a standard WordPress file. It comes with every WordPress installation. When we notified FatCow of that, here’s what they said:

Comment:
It is possible that a few lines of malicious code was found within the file as opposed to our scanner considering that the file as a whole was malicious. I’m going to try to have this looked into a little further, but with the files already gone we might be limited in what we can research. I’ll get back to you if I find out more information.

Guess what? FatCow never bothered to get back to us. You will note that in the first message, FatCow was pushing Sitelock, an extra-cost feature that they recommended. Fatcow flagged a perfectly safe WordPress file then tried to sell a premium product using scare tactics.

FatCow never admitted their mistake. Every other company that we’ve dealt with over the last twenty years has taken the blame for their own errors. Not FatCow. Despite having our sites shut down for absolutely no reason whatsoever, FatCow never offered compensation either. In their ads and on their site, FatCow pretends to be wholesome, efficient and friendly. Trust us, they’re not.

Stay tuned for Part Two of our rating on FatCow Web Hosting. Once we find a reputable hosting company, we’ll come back a post a link to their site.

Comments and questions are welcome but  Likes on our Facebook page get immediate attention.  Here’s the link: Computers Made Simple on Facebook . Thanks for reading!