Tag Archives: Free software

Free Software, Peerblock

Using Peerblock – protect your computer

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Peerblock, available here: http://www.peerblock.com/ , is a small, free app that prevents websites from accessing your surfing information. Many of you may not know that everything you do on the Internet is visible to someone. In most cases, these ‘someones’ are companies who make a profit by directing ads to you or by selling your surfing habits to other companies. Peerblock can protect you from being spied on by these companies.

There are other uses for Peerblock but private surfing is the main reason for this post. You don’t really have to know how Peerblock works but let’s just say it uses lists to decide which websites to block. Those lists are compiled on a regular basis and Peerblock updates them for you if it detects a change. Peerblock also has a user manual that is worth checking out. You are able to fine tune the blocking mechanism yourself, just in case you need to access one of the blocked sites.

Once you’ve installed Peerblock, part of the fun is seeing which sites it is blocking. Prepared to be amused and, perhaps, shocked at the names you see in Peerblock’s block log. Here’s a sample:

In a span of a few minutes, Peerblock protected us from these websites.
In a span of a few minutes, Peerblock protected us from these websites.

 

You’ll see the names of the sites, the time that they tried to access your computer as well as the IP address. Most of these names are ad sites that are trying to feed ads to the pages that you have open in your browser. Others may be product or software update inquiries. We’ve seen Adobe and Nvidia in these logs. There are some unusual ones too.

Install Peerblock and keep an eye on who is trying to access your computer. Accept the defaults in the installation process, there was no adware or ‘free’ toolbars in our download, and choose what level of protection you want. We chose to block P2P snooping, ads and spyware. Here’s a shot of the installation wizard that we copied from the Peerblock site:

Photo of Peerblock Start-up Wizard
We checked off the top three for our settings.

There is ample information in the online user manual. We’d recommend that you read it, at least the first two parts, before you install Peerblock. Peerblock does not have to run all the time so don’t worry about it screwing up your settings. If you can’t access a web page, simply turn Peerblock off. Then use the manual to figure out how to add a site to your list of allowed sites. 

Thanks for reading!

Free Software, Remote Computer Repair

Free Remote Support Software

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We recently had to help a friend in another city with their computer. Instead of spending hours on the phone, we searched for free software that would allow us to fix the computer online. There are quite a few professional applications out there but we love free! It didn’t take long until we found Teamviewer. Here’s the scoop on this handy AND FREE software.

Teamviewer, available here: http://www.teamviewer.com , is free for private users. In other words, anyone can use the product for free except businesses or companies that charge to fix computers.
How to use Teamviewer to repair another computer: Teamviewer comes in two parts. If you are the person who is fixing the computer, you download the free software and install it on your computer. Here’s what the link looks like for that:

Photo of Team 1
Click the big green download button then install Teamviewer.

 

If you are the person who needs help, this is the software to download: (Click on the ‘Join Remote Control Session’)

Photo of Team 2
Have your friend click on ‘Join Remote Control Session’ and open the file that downloads.

 

The fixer, most likely you, has most of the program on their own computer. The friend with the damaged but working computer, has a mini app running on their computer.

So far so good? Now, each of you has a login number and a password. You, the fixer, don’t have to do anything with your number. On your computer screen, this is what you’ll see:

Photo of Team 3
Have your partner give you their ID number, then their password.

 

Ignore the left side of this menu, you’re interested in getting your partner’s ID first, then their password. Once you enter those, your friend’s computer screen pops up onto your monitor. You have complete control of it and you use your mouse and your keyboard. If you click outside their window, you can use your computer to find a solution, if necessary. Then, when you want to go back and use their screen, click anywhere in the other computer’s window.

Those are the basics. Teamviewer works perfectly, we have used it and love it! This isn’t all that Teamviewer does, of course. You can have meetings using it, transfer files, all kinds of things. What we’ve given you here is an easy and fast way to fix a computer from across town or in a completely different city or country, all for free.

TIP: Both computers must have Internet access, right? You have to be in contact with the other person, let’s say by phone or text or Skype, for instance, to tell them what to do. That’s common sense but it’s worth mentioning.

Lastly, Teamviewer can be used to control your own computer remotely. Once you know the ID number and password, you can access your own computer from any other computer anywhere else in the world. That’s how amazing this free product is. If you’re in business, make sure you check Teamviewer’s prices compared to other software such as this. To be honest, the corporate prices seem quite high. Then again, there are no monthly fees.

Thanks for reading! Let us know how you made out with Teamviewer. Like us on Facebook and keep up with all the latest tech news and tips:  Computers Made Simple on Facebook 

Free Phone Calls, Free Software

Free Wifi Text App

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TextPlus (http://www.textplus.com/) is a cool new app that allows you to text and make phone calls for free from any wi-fi enabled mobile device, including your iPod Touch. Normally, you’d need a full mobile phone account and device to text or call but TextPlus lets you text for free and call other TextPlus users for free, too.

We’ve talked about Dell Voice before. This app allows you to call landlines and cell phones for free but text isn’t included. Check out our post here: Dell Voice  With TextPlus, you get a free number, just as you do with Dell Voice, but you can also text. Seems like TextPlus is a better alternative, right?

Head over to the TextPlus site and check out the details of their service. You get a free phone number, just choose where you want the calls to appear to originate from. Remember that you have to install the app from your app store before can sign up. Install the app, apply for an account (all you need is an email address and some other insignificant details (not your home address) and you’re off!

TIP: Calls from one TextPlus account to another are always free. Texts are always free. Phone calls to landlines or mobile devices are extra but very cheap or free. If you watch some ads, you get free minutes. You can also buy minutes. Right now, if you pay $19.99 , you get 1,300 minutes (1,000 in Canada) which is just about free, isn’t it? It seems to us that these rates are substantially cheaper than the rates that Skype offers.

 

Prices for phone minutes in Canada
Prices for phone minutes in Canada.

 

Prices for phone minutes in the U.S.
Prices for phone minutes in the U.S.

 

Unfortunately, this offer is only good in the U.S. and Canada, not even Hawaii or Alaska. Check your local app store. There may be something like this around where you live.

 

Thanks for reading! If you’ve used TextPlus, let us know what you think.

 

TIP: We are not affiliated with TextPlus in any way. We just like free things.

Dropbox

How Dropbox Can Save Your Bacon

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Yesterday, we locked ourselves out of one of our WordPress websites. Even though we write about tech things, we sometimes screw up. Luckily we were able to get back into the site using a password file that we had backed up on Dropbox. Here’s how it went down:

1. We keep a list of passwords in a simple text file on the main office computer and a duplicate file in our Dropbox folder online.

2. Somehow, probably when someone started to type something but didn’t know they were in the password file, one of the passwords got erased.

3. We had the admin password but we’d changed the admin user account’s settings so even though we were able to log-in as admin, we couldn’t do anything. If you have a WordPress site, this is one of the first things you should do. Hackers know that most WordPress users leave the log-in name as ‘admin’ which means that they are already half-way there when it comes to breaking into your site.

4. Since Dropbox syncs your computer’s Dropbox folder with its own online version, both text files were corrupt.

5. We logged on at Dropbox.com, found the file, then looked for the previous versions of that same file, an older version that hadn’t been corrupted. Dropbox stores older versions of files for these kinds of accidents.

6. After we found the file, simply right clicking it brought up this menu:

Photo of Dropbox menu
Right click and choose ‘Previous Version”

7. The previous version of the file had the correct password in it. After we logged into the site, we copied and pasted the missing password back into the original file on our computer. Dropbox, of course, immediately synced the two folders, its own and the one on our computer. We left the previous version as it was, just in case we need it again.

Now, you’re probably thinking, “Why didn’t they just use the ‘forgot password’ option on WordPress?” That makes perfect sense if we used the same email address for all of our sites but we don’t. Checking each of a dozen websites for the WordPress link would have taken much longer. The Dropbox option was faster. We have, however, made a list of what email address is used for each site. That file is on Dropbox and the main computer, of course. Yes, we should have thought of that before but we’re not real geniuses here, we’re just reasonably smart.

Dropbox can really help in this kind of situation. We hope you take our advice and use it. Check out the site, the installation process here:   Dropbox

Thanks for reading!

Computers, Free Software, Internet, Windows

Five Must-Have Pieces of Free Software

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Everyone loves free stuff, right? I’m writing this post just after Christmas and free software is about the only thing that I can afford! I’ve mentioned all of this software in other posts. In this one I will simply highlight the best of the best of the best.

1. VLC Media Player – VLC is amazing, really. Not only is it the fastest player out there, it’s a wizard when it comes to repairing video files. If you’ve got an AVI that is somewhat corrupted, VLC will repair it. Save the repaired version and you’re done. As far as playback is concerned, VLC lets you slow down the action or speed it up with a simple keystroke for each. I don’t use VLC for music playback but it does that, too.

2. Irfanview – Once you have tried Irfanview, I defy you to live without in the future. I’ve been using it for years, putting it on every computer in the house. Irfanview is quick, efficient and offers a feature list that boggles the mind. Screen capture, batch processing…it’s got it all. Make sure you download the plugins and make sure you download it from Tucows. CNET is reportedly putting malware in its downloads.

3. Google Chrome – Why is a browser on this list? Aren’t they all free? Sure, they’re all free but other browsers pale in comparison to Chrome. I can safely say that Chrome has opened up a whole new world for me, simply because it translates every website that I visit. The Internet is more than the boring English sites that you’re used to surfing. Check out what people around the world are doing on the web, visit and investigate your next international vacation spot, or just see what cool things are for sale in, say, China or Japan.

TIP: One of the best things about the Internet is that most sites are designed in English, even if they use another language for navigation. If you’re stuck on a site and can’t figure out what some of the buttons do, simply hover your cursor over a link and look down to the left of your window. Nine times out of ten you’ll find out what the button leads to, written in plain English.

4. Dropbox – Dropbox is both software and a service. With 1 gigabyte of free storage, Dropbox allows you to share documents from one computer to another around the world. Even if you are on someone’s computer in India, you can access your files via the Internet. There is no need to have the Dropbox application installed. Additionally, you can share files of any type with friends and relatives by giving them guest access to your online folder. Need more than a gig of storage? Open up a few free accounts. You can’t go wrong.

5. Burnaware Free – Burnware is a free, fast and dog-simple burning app. DVDs/CDs/ISOs, Burnaware takes care of it all. Roxio makes a fine product from what I hear but I have only used Burnaware for the past ten years or so. In my opinion, you don’t need any more than this for your daily burning chores. I back-up my computer religiously and you should too. DVDs are cheap and losing lifetime photo memories is expensive. Don’t let a crashed hard drive ruin your life. Get Burnaware and some DVDs for 20 bucks and relax. Your kids will thank you!

All of these applications have full sets of options and features that will make your computer experience much more fulfilling than any piece of retail software would. For that reason, if you’re a bit flush with cash, consider making a donation to the creators. Good karma will follow.

Thanks for reading!