Terry's Computer Tips Newsletter
October 25, 2009

4.  Windows 7 Upgrade — I Love It!

After all that, what do I think about Windows 7? I love it!

This is going to be like my change from Windows 98 to Windows XP. Back then, I installed Windows XP in a separate partition so that I could go back to Windows 98 for something, if I needed to.

After about six months, I deleted the Windows 98 partition. Perhaps, in that time, I had booted into it once, maybe twice.

Windows 7 appears to be headed that same way. I'm still installing my software. On my notebook stand, beside my notebook ask I type, are copies of PhotoImpact 10 (my graphics editor of choice), Microsoft Office Professional 2003 and Microsoft Office Professional 2007 Upgrade. I don't intend to reinstall Office 2003, but I'll need its DVD to install Office 2007.

The first time I installed Office Professional 2007 Upgrade, it allowed me (and I chose to) install it in addition to Office 2003. I never did use Office 2003 after installing Office 2007. Now, I'll just save the disk space.

I've got much of my software reinstalled, including the XAMPP web server on my notebook for web development purposes (e.g., for previewing my online newsletter as I write it, before I upload it to my web host).

Windows 7 still seems very snappy, very fast. It may not rank as fast as Windows XP in the benchmark tests. However, I seldomly use my notebooks for tasks like video editing and transcoding, both of which require lots and lots of power. The important thing to me is the perceived speed. That is, do I think Windows 7 is slowing me down? So far, no, I don't think so.

I swapped one of the two Windows 7 Professional Upgrades with my son — he got one to install this weekend, and I get his when it arrives from Amazon. Fair trade, no problem.

He is much, much happier with his home-built PC than he was previously. He built his Windows XP Professional computer recently using an Asus motherboard. Unfortunately, he had nothing but bad luck with it, and with downloading new drivers from Asus.

After making an image backup with Acronis True Image Home 2009 He installed Windows 7 and was astounded.

He had this to say:

windows 7 Vs. XP
- Recognized Sata ports without external drivers
- Found a home network and joined it without specific information(ip address, homegroup name, homegroup passw)
- dealing with external drives: Xp disconnects externals after a set period, 7 keeps an external on for instant access)

Interesting things
- the Alt+tab function (with Aero) displays what is currently going on in another frame including a game, also tasks can be moused through to pick a task as long as you hold alt - after installing itunes the music download folder can be found easily from the libraries group in explorer

These are a few things i've noticed, nothing spectacular on their own but taken together they add up to a much better experience than XP

There are some tasks that I would like to be able to do on the notebook. I'd also like the ultra-snappiness of today's fast computers. Those aren't Windows 7 problems, and Windows 7 does not appear to have made them any worse.

The only snag I've run into is with Apple's iTunes and my iPhone. iTunes installed perfectly. My iPhone was instantly recognized. iTunes allowed me to back up my iPhone. But, if I want to sync to iTunes on Windows 7, iTunes warns me that it is a "different computer" and that the music, applications, etc on my iPhone will be erased and replaced with ones from my Windows 7 iTunes installation. This means that, in order to sync with iTunes on the Windows, I've got to copy all the files onto the destination computer and set up iTunes accordingly.

When I compare Apple's sync'ing with the way Palm Desktop handles sync'ing after a new software installation (which I did last night), Apple has a lot to learn. Palm Desktop asked me for the user ID (on the PDA) as I installed the software on the computer. Then, when I connected the PDA and sync'ed it, everything ran perfectly, storing the PDA's data onto the computer.

If I could make the decision over again, what would I do? I'd download the drivers I needed first. Of course, with the Windows 7 Release Candidate, I didn't need the drivers — that was the whole problem.

VIPRE Antivirus Premium— the New Release! Tired of old antivirus software that makes your PC slow down to a crawl? Try High-Performance VIPRE security software free for 30 days Now with Firewall, too! Multi-computer and Multi-year Discounts Unlimited Home Site License Available for ALL Your Home PC's For Windows 7, Vista, XP, 2000, 2008 Server & 2003 Server, now including 64-bit versions, too! VIPRE is my choice for my computers and my family's computers

5.  My Computer Security Software Recommendations

I review my security software recommendations and update them for each weekly newsletter issue, if I think they need to change.

My Philosophy: Many people want to pick their most economical solution and prefer an all-in-one anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewall solution. In concept, that's a great idea. In actual practice, I don' think that this type of package is likely to be the best in all the protection categories you need.

Other people want to pick the best of each type program. I'm one of the these folks.

My choice of software that I am willing to recommend is driven by my search for software for me to use. I only recommend programs that I like and that I use. I will sometimes suggest alternatives to my recommendations, but I clearly note if I no longer use them.

Anti-Virus

I'm often asked about several other popular anti-virus or anti-virus combination packages. Yes, I realize that they are not in my recommendation list. "Enough said..."

From 2003 through mid-2008, my personal choice was ESET's small, fast NOD32 anti-virus program, which offers a FREE 30-day evaluation license. I still consider NOD32 to be one of the best in anti-virus protection — and it continues to get recognition and awards. Unlike some of its competitors, ESET offers multiple-year licenses also, and includes program updates in the multiple-year license.

However, I've changed from my long-time choices NOD32 (antivirus) and Sunbelt's CounterSpy (antispyware) to Sunbelt's new VIPRE Antivirus + Antispyware.

I've found that VIPRE puts even less load on my computer than the speedy combination of NOD32 and CounterSpy. I've also been impressed with the way its "deep scan" has found and eliminated risks that were stored in zip files, which is one of the latest malware email tricks. Sunbelt Software offers multi-year licenses and home site licenses on its software, both of which include program updates as well as signature updates.

I'm often asked for alternatives to the programs that I recommend, especially by people who want to buy one package (a "suite") to do everything.

As a result, I tried a couple security suites in the last few months to pick a suite to recommend. ESET Smart Security 4 is my recommended suite alternative. Smart Security 4 has gotten great ratings and includes antivirus and antispyware, both from their current NOD32 v4 version, and antispam and firewall. I no longer use it and have returned to Sunbelt's VIPRE, but for a suite choice, that's what I would use.

Related articles:

• VIPRE Antivirus + Antispyware Review
• A Look at ESET Smart Security 4
• Anti-Virus Programs and Online Scanners
• Free Online Antivirus Scan
• NOD32 Anti-Virus Review - A Look at NOD32

Firewall Software

While the Windows XP firewall is much better than no firewall at all, don't count on the Windows XP firewall to meet your needs.

You need a two-way firewall, which the Windows XP firewall is not!. Microsoft woke up and supplied a two-way firewall with Windows Vista.

The Windows XP firewall does not control outbound communications originating from your computer — and you should want to have control if adware/trojans/spyware or even commercial products want to talk to the Internet. Whether they are calling home or spewing spam, you want to be able to control your computer.

Do you want Windows Media Player to call home every time you play something? It does! Do you use the Search function in Windows Explorer to find things on your hard drive? Did you know that every time you search, Windows Explorer talks to Microsoft?

I didn't know that when I ran ZoneAlarm, but the Sunbelt Personal Firewall flags that to me, and I can stop it or allow it to happen. Many other programs try to call home when you run them, too.

I recommend my choice for a firewall program, which is Sunbelt Personal Firewall.

You can try the full-featured "paid version" of Sunbelt Personal Firewall free for 30 days — after that, you can register it or, if you're using it on a home non-business computer, you can let it revert to the free, lesser-function license.
Tip: Be sure to read my review of SPF for the settings I recommend.

Sunbelt Personal Firewall is regularly $19.95 (with discounts for multiple computers and/or multiple years!) for a non-expiring license for the program and includes one year of their updates subscription.

Related articles:

• The Internet Versus You
• Do I Need a Firewall Program?
• My Sunbelt Personal Firewall Review

Anti-Spyware / Anti-Adware Software

CounterSpy, from Sunbelt Software, has received many kudos from the computer press for its always-running and periodic full system scans. It has been my personal choice for my PC's and my family's PC's.

Sunbelt's CounterSpy v2.5, both improved CounterSpy's performance against malware and reduced its impact on system resources and responsiveness when its scanning.

Sunbelt continues to release updated program versions — the current version is v3.1 — and there's an even newer version about to be released. Nicely, Sunbelt do NOT install the updated programs automatically. You have to use the Update process in the program, which means that you'll know that something significant has changed.

Now, I've changed from my long-time programs NOD32 (antivirus) and CounterSpy (antispyware) to Sunbelt's new VIPRE Antivirus + Antispyware.

I've found that VIPRE puts even less load on my computer than the speedy combination of NOD32 and CounterSpy. My computer seems to have much more pep and power than it had previously. I've also been impressed with the way its "deep scan" has found and eliminated risks that were stored in zip files, which is one of the latest malware email tricks.

Related articles:

• Fighting Against Spyware & Malware
• My CounterSpy Review
• My VIPRE Antivirus + Antispyware Review

Anti-spam Software

In today's Internet world, the question is not "if" you will get spam, but "how much will you get?"

I use and recommend POPFile as my first choice for handling spam. POPFile sits on your computer, between your email program and your ISP mailbox, and handles emial as it downloads.

POPFile uses a different approach to handle spam than some other programs do — it does nothing to reduce spam. It is designed as an email classification tool — you train it to recognize spam and any other type of email that you want to classify. These classifications can help you sort your emails into appropriate folders in your email program.

Sunbelt Software, who makes the anti-spyware program CounterSpy (which I use and recommend) and the firewall that I use and recommend (Sunbelt Personal Firewall) also has a well-regarded, award-winning anti-spam program called iHateSpam for Outlook and Outlook Express. Since I don't use Outlook or Outlook Express for email, I haven't tried iHateSpam.

Mailwasher Pro would be my first choice to handle spam before it ever gets into your computer's Inbox. Mailwasher Pro uses on-line Realtime Black Lists mail servers sending spam recently, "training" by you of what you think is spam, and your own "friends" and "blacklist" lists. Note: I found that PopFile generally meets my needs and stopped using Mailwasher Pro, even though PopFile works AFTER the emails have been downloaded. If I used a dialup connection, I would be more interested in Mailwasher Pro.

Mailwasher Pro can even bounce spam messages, as if your email address was not valid, although the usefulness and appropriateness of this is questionable. There is a free version called "Mailwasher," but it omits the functions that I consider critical for this purpose -- such as safely previewing the emails safely before they ever get to your email inbox.

Related articles:

• Spam Filtering
• Keeping spam out of your Inbox
• Getting Control of Your Inbox
• How Can I Prevent spam?

Backup Software

When we think of security software, we usually think of antivirus, firewall, antispyware and antispam software. But, what other kind of software is security software? Backup software, of course.

We need to make backup copies of our important data. That data may be financial, such as your checkbook in Quicken, or your spreadsheet tracking your investmants. Or, it may be personal, non-financial data such as digital family photos.

What if your hard drive won't start one day? What will you lose? What if your computer is stolen (let's ignore, for now, whether you should encrypt data on your hard drive to protect it from others — let's just think about the inconvenience and loss to us!)?

There are two basic types of backups you should do.

You need to regularly back up your individual data files to another computer, to an external hard drive, or even to an online repository (but realize, if you have to rebuild the data on your computer, it may have to be downloaded for days and days). An external hard drive is the best choice if you don't have a home network where you could copy to another computer.

If you have a home network, use Karen's Replicator (free for personal, non-business use) to back up the files that change. I have it scheduled to copy my data files every evening from my notebook to another computer at my home. You should also get an external hard drive (or two, so you can alternate them) and make occasional backup copies to it. Preferably store it at a relative's house or your safe deposit box.

If you don't have a home network, get an external hard drive (or two, so you can alternate them) and make regularly scheduled backup copies to it. Use Karen's Replicator (free for personal, non-business use) to back up the files that change to your external drive. Preferably, store one external drive at a relative's house or your safe deposit box, so that if the worst happens, you haven't lost irreplaceable photos and other information.

The other type of backup is an image backup. This gives the ultimate in quick restore capability. Just plug in the external drive, boot the cdrom, and restore the image back to your hard drive. I use Acronis True Image Home 2009 to make backups across my network every three days. Once a month, I make a full backup image. Every three days, it makes an incremental backup — copying only those files that have changed.

Acronis True Image Home 2009 (and later) allow you to recover individual files and folders from the image files, so you don't have to restore everything. The nice thing about making my backup across the network is that I can restore individual files across the network from those images. Sometimes that's the easiest thing to do.

Why Replicator and Acronis True Image Home, if we can restore individual files from both? Replicator will always have the latest version it backed up — but not any earlier ones. With Acronis True Image, we can have multiple versions of the files to choose among. We can restore one that's months old, if we like, and not just the latest version.

Cable/DSL Router

If you have a cable modem or a DSL modem, you need to have another layer of inexpensive protection between you and the Internet. A cable/DSL router isolates your computer from direct connection to the Internet. Your computer can easily request your email, web pages, etc. through the router. The responses come back to the router and are smoothly routed to your computer. But, someone on the Internet side of the router can not initiate a connection to your computer — they can only respond to your request.

Even if you only have one computer to connect to your cable or DSL modem, I recommend that you purchase and use a cable/DSL router because of the protection it can give you against attempts to attack through some flaws in Windows itself.

A router isolates your local network, whether it is only one computer or several, from the Internet by actually making it a separate network. The router gets the "public" IP address and handles all your outbound communications and the responses to them. But, it blocks computers on the Internet side from being able to initiate communications with your computer! This will prevent you from falling prey to many worms that try to attack security holes in Windows itself.

For a wireless router, I still recommend the Linksys WRT54G wireless router. When the "n" specifications become final, I'll recommend an "n" router. Even though the specs have been through so many drafts, I still remember the fiasco of the dialup modems built on the draft specifications — and then the final specs were not quite compatible...

If you don't want wireless, I recommend the Linksys BEFSR41 wired router, which I also use. Either way, based on my experience, I recommend Linksys routers for price, reliability and Linksys' habit of releasing updated firmware for their products..

See these related articles:

• Wireless Security
• Wi-Fi Hotspots and Computer Security
• Wireless Networking Problems & Wireless Networking Security

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