Turn off voice Avast

It has been busy here at Lamas HQ.

I spent last weekend with Lamas Dog at a training centre learning about dog psychology and behaviour.  (I can sort out a PC, easy! But when it comes to dogs...)

I have also noticed that repairs seem to come in cycles.  A while back I repaired several Desktops with power supply issues, over the summer it has been Windows 7 upgrades, in the last few weeks it has been screen replacements, both laptop and phone. 

We all have our favourite Antivirus.   My allegiance has changed in the last couple of months from a well know free AV to Avast.  The reason for this is that it seems more lightweight on system resource that the other one I was using.  The only thing I don't like is the fact that Avast really likes a chat.  It likes to tell you (loudly!) what it is doing all of the time.  It usually takes me by surprise! 

I had to find the procedure for turning off the voice because it (to me) is not evident.

So, if it will be of any help to anyone else here it is:
It will also be of assistance when I am out and about - I can just check my own blog and there are the instructions. At least someone is reading it!

From the Avast User interface

 

Select Settings from the bottom of the list on the left hand side.
 

From the list on the left select Appearance

 

Scroll down to the section SOUNDS.

 

Uncheck the Voiceovers box and it will stop all the chatter! but you will still get the warning beeps on the events described above.

 

Licencing and Windows 8 and 8.1 and restores and rebuilds

The Lamas HQ devices are a mix of Windows 7, Android and Pi. 

I know... but we did not fancy Windows 8 without touchscreen and in his "other" life the Network Manager uses Windows 7.  But this is just our opinion and our choice. 
Possibly there will be an addition to the pack, by way of an Ubuntu facility

Recently I have been asked to rebuild a Windows 8(.1?) laptop.

Now this Laptop was likely to have Windows 8 preinstalled at the beginning and upgraded to Win8.1 and then it seemingly downgraded to a failed HDD.  (insert Wah Wah Wah Wah, trombone here)

The items that were handed to me were a semi dead, out of warantee laptop, power cable and user password info.  I checked on the warrantee status very early in the process.  No reinstallation or backup or restore media and no trace of a Windows COA was to be found.

I have learned A LOT about windows 8 licensing. That includes laptops that are purchased with it preinstalled:

• it is activated in a completely different, new and "improved" way (improved for whom, I wonder?)
• COA does not appear anywhere on the box, the laptop itself or the battery compartment.  It is coded into the BIOS
• Windows 8 cannot be legally downloaded (for this manufacturer,) in the same way as the retail version, if the laptop came with it preinstalled, even using the COA, prised out of the BIOS (using a linux command that I think Hermione Granger would have been proud of!) and from the manufacturer I quote "Unfortunately we can not provide any Windows 8/8.1 recovery media."
• Windows 8 - you can create optical media to restore/reinstall/save your ass by DVD.  Windows 8.1 has to be done on a flash drive and will not accept optical (DVD)  This I learned from flailing about another clients laptop, who I know has Windows 8.1 (I did the upgrade myself) and knowing she did not have the media to recover the laptop in the event it all went horribly wrong.  Windows 8 gives the option for a DVD or flash drive.  Windows 8.1 only provides the option from a flash drive. BTDT.  

I am sure there is more I should know, but it does seem to be a huge and quite intricate subject.
 
My opinions/feelings about windows 8 and 8.1 have not improved learning about all of this.

By best advice to anyone purchasing a laptop with Windows 8, of any version, preinstalled is this...

• Create an appropriate & comprehensive backup media and keep it somewhere safe and accessible.  There are many online tutorials to be found on the web, the manufacturers site is usually a good place to start.
• Use Belarc Advisor - print out your results.  This will show you the relevant COA 25 digit code and keep it somewhere safe and accessible..
• get an external drive and clone the whole hard disk drive.  There are some manufacturers that provide cloning software for their own brand.  Western Digital is one of these, they provide a cut down version of Acronis True Image. Keep the backup safe and somewhere accessible.
• Don't drop your laptop

Currently, the laptop is in the workshop with my last hope, Obi-Wan-Ubuntu, doing a byte by byte copy from the damaged HDD to a new one. I may be sometime....

Security for home users.

Security has been in the news again recently following the eBay and Spotify security breaches, Cryptolocker and now GameOverZeus.  There are many things you can do to protect yourself while using your devices on the web.

1 Ensure you your home wireless is secured  with WPA2 encryption and your device has a firewall.

2 The use of malware removal tools such as the one provided by Malwarebytes.org or SuperAntiSpyware.com : both of these have a free for version for home users.  Either of these should be run on a weekly basis.  Malware gets on your device whether you like it or not,  in the shape of cookies that track your activity to ensure that the adverts they send to you are relevant to the things you are searching for.  These are mostly benign, but irritating.

3 Ensure that your antivirus subscription is up to date or use one of the free versions provided by Avast, Avira or Comodo, for example.  A web search for Free Antivirus will give you links to the main ones. Many of the anti virus manufacturers have versions which are free for home users. Make sure you have the ability to schedule a regular scan of the whole device on a monthly basis and a quick scan of the most commonly infected areas every few days.  Most of the free versions will allow a schedule to be set for at least these two things.

4 Ensure all the passwords that you use for your main accounts across the web are unique passwords and not repeated for more than 1 account.  One of the ways to achieve this and be able to remember the millions of passwords is to use a password manager such as LastPass or KeePass.  You only have to remember one master password and all the rest are saved to your account and can be used across a range of devices.

There have been increasing reports of malware on android devices and these should also be protected with one of the many apps available from the play store again there are free versions available from the top security manufacturers.

As always,  be suspicious of any emails and/or spam you receive from Banks, or emails purporting to come from large or government organisations, HMRC.  These are often just phishing emails trying to fool you into thinking you are logging into your account with them and in reality you are actually passing them your login information.

Finally, if you get a phone call from someone who tells you they work for Microsoft and they are getting reports that your computer is infected ... put the phone down!  They just want to open up your device, gain access, infect your computer, get information useful to them and charge you money into the bargain! 

Stay safe of the Web!

Home Security and passwords

One of my clients telephoned me recently with some very sad and disturbing news.  
For the second time in 2 years her house had been broken into and her laptop, work mobile and some cash were stolen.  The back window, which was locked, had been forced and the back door was then unlocked, allowing entry.

The police had asked her for the serial number of her laptop.  I was able to tell her the make, model and processor details of her laptop, but, unfortunately, I had never had reason to take a note of her serial number or service tag.  

One of my first thoughts was passwords, email, facebook, twitter.  The list of accounts we use in one day is extensive.  We spent quite a while going through as many accounts as she could think of.  Most browsers have a handy facility were they will save your passwords for convenience.  All very well if you are the only person that is using your device, but in cases like this it gives full access to the full range of accounts.  

I have recently started using a password manager so that I can use my many and varied passwords across both my devices and also it will suggest new passwords for new accounts or for password changes.  The only one I have to remember is the master password and the password manager does the rest.  

The one I am using is called LastPass Which is found here.  It is free for home use and I have found it to be useful and quite user friendly.  

I will be updating my list of serial numbers for the Lamas equipment.  Whilst this will not bring the items back it will assist the police in tracing the equipment if found or sold.   

Return of Murphy

Its been busy here at LAMAS HQ!

I am on my third XP to windows 7 upgrade, with no 4 and potential 5 sitting on the floor.

I have written about Murphy's PC before - anything that can go wrong, will!

Murphy's PC is currently sitting on the bench going through its post upgrade updates (all 149 important and 6 optional) and it's going well!  (Grabs wooden workbench and holds on for dear life!)

Some of the upgrades I have done have been fiddly in as much as the hardware was just not quite up to the task, but for now  the client wanted it done.

(Spoke too soon, 70 updates just bombed out!)

I have also been getting the junior Lamas interested in coding and refreshing my own HTML/CSS skills.  This has been as a result of the hour of code and codeacademy.

Remember to check with family and friends, especially the older ones, that may still be using XP and remind them that support finishes on 8th April 2014 and they need to be upgrading soon.

KitKat and Flash.

I know,  the title sounds like Lamas has acquired 2 kittens, but that is not the case.  In any case Lamas Dog would not approve.  She is most definitely anti-cat!

Android 4.3 KitKat and Adobe Flash player probably should have been my title.

A good few web sites use Flash player.  There are also quite a few people that use Android devices.

There are many sites out there that will explain why these 2 technologies don't immediately play nice together and that Adobe stopped supporting Android a couple of versions ago, so if necessary, I will wait while you Google it.

Lamas Dog

There are several Android devices here at Lamas HQ.  The phones are not a problem.  However, the recent Android upgrade of the Nexus to 4.3 caused some head scratching.

But someone else has come up with a solution to make Flash work on Android, once again.

XDA developers member, Surviveland, has sorted out a solution.

The post, which explains it, is here at XDA
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=47961238

Great job, Surviveland!

Enjoy your Sunday.