Security Warning in Internet Explorer 8

As you may have noticed, clicking YES does not give you the results you are likely looking for.  In Internet Explorer 8, this window appears frequently and does not go away.

Simple Fix:

1. Go to Tools->Internet Options->Security
2. Select the ‘Security’ tab
3. Click the ‘Custom Level’ button
4. In the ‘Miscellaneous’ section change “Display mixed content” to Enable

More detailed information about this security feature can be found at:

Microsoft MSDN

Internet Explorer 8 Security Settings

Visit the Malwarebytes Website to learn more and to download.

• MBAM is the most powerful removal program available today
• MBAM is free
• MBAM is fast
• MBAM is effective
• MBAM is used wordwide by technicians to remove malware and other security threats 

From time to time, the installation or the removal through add-remove programs fails.  With a failed installation or removal, this tool will help clean up the components remaining on your system.  It is essential that these components are removed since they can seriously affect performance as well as other critical parts of your system.

The knowledge base article is located here at the McAfee site and also archived here.  This will provide information on how to use the tool.

The tool can be downloaded from the McAfee site as well as in zip format from our archive .

Great software

OpenOffice.org 3 is the result of over twenty years’ software engineering. Designed from the start as a single piece of software, it has a consistency other products cannot match. A completely open development process means that anyone can report bugs, request new features, or enhance the software. The result: OpenOffice.org 3 does everything you want your office software to do, the way you want it to.

Easy to use

OpenOffice.org 3 is easy to learn, and if you’re already using another office software package, you’ll take to OpenOffice.org 3 straight away. Our world-wide native-language community means that OpenOffice.org 3 is probably available and supported in your own language. And if you already have files from another office package – OpenOffice.org 3 will probably read them with no difficulty.

and it’s free

Best of all, OpenOffice.org 3 can be downloaded and used entirely free of any license fees. OpenOffice.org 3 is released under the LGPL license. This means you may use it for any purpose – domestic, commercial, educational, public administration. You may install it on as many computers as you like. You may make copies and give them away to family, friends, students, employees – anyone you like.

Enterprises from corner-shops to corporate giants are turning to OpenOffice.org 3 to power their businesses. The flexible word processor, powerful spreadsheet, dynamic graphics, database access and more meet all the requirements for an office software package.
OpenOffice.org 3 offers a high degree of compatibility with commercial office software, but with none of the costs or license worries.

The no-hassle answer

For small businesses, IT is a hassle and an expense. OpenOffice.org 3 is simply the easiest and cheapest way of providing the essential software tools required to support a growing business. Developed over twenty years, OpenOffice.org is a mature, stable, product, guaranteeing trouble-free usage. Behind the scenes, it stores all your valuable data in a format approved by the International Organization for Standardization – the first software package in the world to meet this exacting standard. As more companies adopt the standard, exchanging data between office software, accounting software, planning software – any software – will become as easy as saving and opening a file. No transcription errors, no typing the same information twice – no hassle computing.

Better but compatible

OpenOffice.org 3 prides itself on its compatibility with other office software. Companies moving to OpenOffice.org simply take their existing files with them. In fact, changing to OpenOffice.org may be a simpler process than having to upgrade because your commercial software vendor has brought out a new version. OpenOffice.org 3 also understands that no business is an island, which is why it can exchange files with other office software – for example, the one your accountants use. It also allows you to create pdf files for those all-important times when you want to retain control of documents after they leave your office.

Open for business

Amazingly, OpenOffice.org 3 comes without any license fees, or any worrying small print. You can install it on as many computers as you like, use it for any purpose, and even give copies away for employees to use at home. No more threats of heavy-handed software audits disturbing your business. You don’t even have to worry about what to install – OpenOffice.org 3 is one complete package. If you need extra languages, simply install them. If you do want commercial support, the same software is also available as a fully supported and packaged product under the StarOffice brand from Sun Microsystems, one of the world’s most respected IT companies.

Many users have had issues with sound not working either all of a sudden or after a fresh installation.  One of the most common causes comes from the sound button setup.  On most laptops, the sound buttons control the windows sound settings, whereas on IBM and Lenovo laptops, the buttons work independently.  So the first thing to try is to press the volume-up key several times while playing a sound file to test whether that is the problem. 

Another simple solution to try is to adjust your windows volume controls.  Since these controls act seperately, if your windows sound is low or muted you will not get any sound.

Windows Media Player Sound Error

If you get an error message in Windows Media Player, similiar to the one posted here, chances are your driver is not properly installed.  This can be fixed easily by visiting the Lenovo Support Website and downloading the correct drivers.

WGA Notification as seen in Windows XP

Here is the link to the Microsoft Downloadable Tool:

Windows XP   

Windows Vista and Windows 7 has built in tools to accomplish this.  Microsoft provides detailed instructions on how to use them:

  Windows Vista     Windows 7

Certificate of Authenticity

The product key is located on your Certificate of Authenticity (COA) which is most likely located on your PC somewhere.  On Laptops, it is often located on the bottom and desktop PCs it can be virtually anywhere on the case. 

If you do not have a COA, you will most likely have to purchase a new product key from Microsoft.

If changing the key does not work, try contacting Microsoft Support.  Support for issues related to validation is available at no charge.

When the Windows Genuine Advantage Notification shows up, it will prohibit you from downloading updates and other important Microsoft Applications.

Summary: This document explains how to remove and reinstall McAfee Consumer products using the McAfee Consumer Products Removal tool. This option should only be used after you remove your McAfee product through Add/Remove Programs.

NOTE: This tool is not compatible with Microsoft Windows 98 or ME.

Description
Running the McAfee Consumer Product Removal tool (MCPR.exe) removes all 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009 versions of McAfee consumer products.Solution

IMPORTANT: If your McAfee products were preinstalled by the manufacturer of your computer, ensure that you activate your McAfee subscription before uninstalling. Reinstalling from a CD or download only installs your McAfee consumer applications, but might not recover your paid subscription term information.

Step 1 – Uninstall your McAfee consumer products using Add/Remove Programs in the Windows Control Panel Windows 2000/XP

1. Click Start, Settings, Control Panel.
2. Double-click Add or Remove Programs.
3. Select the McAfee SecurityCenter product.
4. Click Remove and follow the steps provided.

Windows Vista

1. Click Start, Search, type Programs and Features, and click Go.
2. Double-click Programs and Features.
3. Select the McAfee SecurityCenter product.
4. Click Uninstall and follow the steps provided.

Step 2 – Download and run MCPR.exe

1. Download the removal tool from: http://download.mcafee.com/products/licensed/cust_support_patches/MCPR.exe   or http://diy.cuyahogadigital.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/MCPR.zip 
2. Click Save and save the file to a folder on your computer.
3. Navigate to the folder where the file was saved.
4. Make sure all McAfee windows are closed.
5. Double-click MCPR.exe to run the removal tool.NOTE: Windows Vista users must right-click MCPR.exe and select Run as Administrator. 
    
6. Restart your computer after receiving the message CleanUp Successful.
   Your McAfee product will not be fully removed until the system is restarted.

If the message Cleanup Unsuccessful is displayed, follow the steps below to view and save your MCPR log files for analysis by Technical Support.

Saving troubleshooting logs

1. On the Cleanup Unsuccessful notification dialog, click View Logs.
2. Your troubleshooting logs will open in a Notepad window. Click File, Save As, and save the file to your Desktop. Name the file MCPR_date.txt (for example: MCPR_Jan10_08.txt).
3. Contact McAfee Technical Support and provide the log file to your technician for troubleshooting.

Here are a few important bits to remember:

• No matter what package you choose, you can still get infected with a virus or some type of malware
• The costs of an antivirus package does not have any relationship to the likeliness of infection
• Most importantly, your usage habits and computer settings have the most impact on your PC safety
• Research what you want.  Once you choose one, you should stick with it.  Removal can sometimes be tricky.

Malware: a window posing as Antivirus

Some of the most marketed software is just that.  When you purchase a copy of a big-brand-name package, you are likely paying more for the marketing so that you feel comfortable in knowing its name.  While these products work well, there are others that work just as well or better available for a better price.

First, I will list some of the popular packages and some of their disadvantages:

• Norton: Works very well, but naggy, confusing and will seriously slow down your PC
• TrendMirco: Mixed experiences, but overall  overrated.  More practical for large deployments
• McAfee: Bad experiences, works ok, but overall a bad choice
• Symantec: Works very well, but also naggy, confusing, and will seriously slow down your PC
• Kaspersky: Simply overrated.

If you already have one of these products, don’t panic.  You are fine with what you have.  Remember that usage habits have far more influence on safety than your antivirus software.  Although once renewal comes up, you may want to consider switching.

Upon switching, you should consider:

Avast Professional has recently become my favorite since it is well liked by my clients and has performed very well thus far.  Avast offers a free home version version for non-commercial users. It is very affordable for business licensing.  Licensing starts at $39.95 per year and goes down dramatically with volume purchases.  Check out Avast’s Cost Calculator.

AVG Antivirus is popular for its ease of use, small footprint and overall effectiveness.  AVG also offers a free basic home version for non-commercial use.  Also starting at a bargain price of just $39.99 per year, this suite works sweet for business workstations.  While a more enhanced version, Complete Internet Security is available, I recommend sticking with the  standard antivirus suite.

Avira is among the top and no less powerful or practical than the others listed above.  Avira, amongst the others, offers a free personal edition available for home non-commercial users.  Avira Premium licensing starts at only $26.95 per year. 

Clamwin is among the few that are GPL licensed, General Public License (free as in no cost, and free as in freedom).  Contrary to much commentary, Clamwin is very effective and has a very small footprint.  Clamwin does not have a real-time on-access scanner which, to some, is a disadvantage.  To others this may be an advantage since this will significantly increase the performance of a PC. 

Panda Antivirus is a highly rated and powerful solution offering enterprise and cloud protection products for environments where security is an essential part of business.

Microsoft Security Essentials is new 2009 released FREE product from Microsoft for complete virus and malware protection.  While this new product has not yet been widely used yet, it has scored high in reviews.  I have not yet fully evaluated this product, but since it is a trusted product of Microsoft and I have yet to hear any complaints, I would recommend people to give it a try.

Many technicians and authors have suggested that “you get what you pay for” in antivirus software.  While that is true for most products, software is often an exception for many reasons including marketing, manufacturer contracts and incentives, name recognition and more.

Once hit by a drive-by, you may have a virus, a trojan, a file deleting pacman, or perhaps a key logger which sends every keystroke over the net to someone waiting for a bank log-in or credit card number.  Often times your antivirus software is unaware and continues to show that your PC is safe.  This is the path that malware travels for unsuspecting users to get taken advantage of.

It can happen the same way in an email.  A friend or stranger sends you an email with a funny message or picture with a link.  You open it, unsuspectingly, and click on the link… Is it safe? 

Safe browsing habits (aka Safe Surfing Habits) are key to staying safe and avoiding these dreaded consequences. 

1. Be sure to be using the latest version of Internet Explorer (now version 8) or Mozilla Firefox.  Other safe browsers include Opera and Google Chrome, all of which are free.  Right now, Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox are the top competing browsers.  It is their competitiveness for speed and safety that makes both browsers great.  Older versions may not have the security protection needed.

2. Turn on the build in security features in your browser.  Turning then off may speed up your browsing, but will seriously increase your likeliness of infection.

3. Get all of the latest windows updates.  windowsupdate.microsoft.com

4. Be sure the you have some sort of firewall; whether built into your router, as part of your security suite or use the windows firewall.

5. Avoid pornography.  It is very difficult to tell which sites are safe.  Since people are often too embarrassed to admit they got a virus by searching for pornography, many drive-by sites go unreported.

6. Avoid shortened URLs, unless you have confidence in the person sending you the link.  URL shortening services can pose a risk, since you are unable to tell where you are going until it is too late.  Check out this article from TechRepublic.

7. Before clicking on a link, Roll over a link and look at the bottom of the browser to verify the link is accurate.  Without checking, you may click on a link that re-directs you elsewhere.  For example, the link may say, “Health and Fitness Magazine”, but he url may read, “http://www.up-fd-r43.com” which looks highly suspicious considering the links reads something completely unrelated.