Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Viruses on the Rise - Fake Flash Updates

Beware of Flash and other video player updates. Not all updates are created equal. In fact, some are not updates at all. This week we have seen several infected machines that originated from "Fake" Flash player updates that appear on random websites that the user visits, such as facebook.com

It seems like 3 out of every 5 computer repair visits are virus infections. Back in February Facebook became target to the "Magnet Scam" which displayed a video and upon clicking would start the video then prompt for a Flash Player update. The update would not be an update to flash but a Trojan downloader that would install other malware. Facebook quickly began blocking the links that participated in the scheme. This type of threat is still live and well on the Internet on other sites.

Just because you see a prompt to update does not necessarily mean you should click on it. If you believe your computer requires a certain updates, such as Flash, you should head over to the software developers homepage. In this case, http://www.adobe.com, click the menu button at the top and choose "Adobe Flash Player" on the popup screen. A direct link to get flash, https://get.adobe.com/flashplayer , I would recommend unselecting the "Optional Offers".

Viruses can find you in many ways but this week video update scams seems to be at the top of our threat list. If you would like to check if you have the latest update from Adobe Flash, check the link down below.

As always, make sure to backup your complete system at least weekly with daily incremental backups. Software such as Comodo Backup, which is free, makes this an easy task.


Check your Flash version, http://www.adobe.com/software/flash/about

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Windows 10 has finally arrived for everyone

It is time to upgrade your machines and devices. Windows 10 has made spectacular improvements to it's operation system, taking the best from Windows 7 and Windows 8.1. The results are truly Awesome.

Windows finally has a good web browser, called Edge. It has great promise as it quickly loads websites faster than chrome in several tests. Microsoft scrapped the decade old Internet Explorer when they went back to the drawing board to create a completely new web browser. Microsoft has built the Edge web browser to be clean and responsive. It feels light weight and extremely fast.

Windows 10 brought back the much loved Start Menu. It is the classic Start Menu with a twist. It has new graphics, live tiles and can optionally go full screen. Half of the Start Menu looks like the older Windows 7 but has great additions.

Meet Windows 10's Cortana. Microsoft is very pleased with their new personal assistant called Cortana. She will talk to you, make appoitments, track packages and airline flight schedules to name a few abilites.

Universal Apps are another new feature of Windows 10. All your devices can have the same look and feel having the same universal apps installed. Data will be saved and synced across all devices via Microsoft's OneDrive. These apps include Photos, Music, Videos, Maps, Messaging, Mail, Calendar, etc.

Another addition of Windows 10 is the HoloLens. This one is fantastic and will allow for the world's first untethered holographic computer. It is a bit futuristic but will be truly amazing as developers start creating realistic holographic experiences in the real world. The built in APIs are ready and the developers are a Go.

Windows 10 can easily flip between Table Mode and Desktop Mode with a push of a button. This allows for touchscreens and keyboard/mouse automatically or with a push of a button.


Read more about Windows 10 

Windows 10 download is over 3 GB. If you need Windows 10 on DVD because you cannot download such a large file, please contact us at speedycomputersupport.com