What's New
Tech tips and ideas for adventurous, yet sensible home computer users.
MS Security Essentials combined with Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7 Firewall is "excellent" Internet antivirus and malware protection. We use Windows 7 Firewall Control from Spinx Software, download the free version here.
Threat Research and Response: Scan your computer for Spyware at Microsoft's Malware Protection Center Portal.
Find My IP copy your IP address, then click the Sam Spade link to find out more about your ISP - Internet Service Provider.
Find open and vulnerable ports on your computer at GRC's ShieldUP! Use this link, then scroll to the "All Service Ports" link to scan your PC.
"Peer-to-peer lending to borrow money as a personal loan at a low interest rate...". LendingClub.com for Borrowers and Investors.
Credit Counseling Crisis This study from the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) dated December, 2003 is still relevant today. "Caution is advised when choosing credit repair assistance...".
If you are trying to repair your credit while making reduced payments and have assets, forgiven debt could bring a 1099-C Cancellation of Debt and an unexpected tax bill if the IRS believes the forgiven debt was income, depending upon the type of debt and your financial fitness when the debt was forgiven.
A fixed-rate mortgage might look attractive if your debt was the result of an Adjustable Rate Mortgage. To learn more about Mortgages, see the Mortgage Professor and this page at Recovery.gov or Hud.gov.
The Wise Old Blogger's favorite "Links" page.
Google Books, http://books.google.com/
Visible Body | 3D Human Anatomy
CCleaner - formerly Crap Cleaner is F-A-S-T. Download here. Windows XP runs normally after cleanup with CCleaner defaults checked. (It's a registry cleaner, too.)
Encrypt everything you type in a browser (including e-mail) with KeyScrambler. Most Internet Browsers are supported: Internet Explorer, FireFox, Opera, Safari... more.
Another web page with News Headlines: LocalTech.US.
How-to remove old MSConfig Startup entries.
Is ctfmon necessary for MS Office when "alternative user input" is removed? How to remove ctfmon is from Microsoft, but ctfmon reappears as a process even after being removed... More about ctfmon.exe.
Remember: If a spam/junk mail sender is not a reputable business, "unsubscribe" will only confirm that your e-mail address is a working address and that address could be resold as part of a list of verified e-mail addresses.
Recommended Security Downloads from Microsoft.
Spybot - Search & Destroy offers excellent features for blocking unwanted sites and "immunize" stops many Internet viruses and spyware: Download here from Download.com.
Internet Security for Windows? Try AVG Free Antivirus combined with Zone Alarm's Free Firewall and Windows Defender for Antispyware. ZoneAlarm is another Firewall that stops outgoing traffic, too.
Download Zone Alarm for Windows 2000/XP/Vista.
Windows Defender
IE Privacy Keeper from Browser Tools is Free and it works. Click this link and scroll to IE Privacy Keeper (for Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox).
Microsoft's ClearType Tool works for both notebooks and flat screen monitors: http://www.microsoft.com/typography/ClearTypePowerToy.mspx
Keyboard Shortcuts from Microsoft and for Netscape. Windows Examples: ALT+TAB switches to another running program -- hold down the ALT key and then press the TAB key to view the task-switching window. CTRL+ESC opens the Start menu -- use the ARROW keys to select an item.
XP Command-line reference A-Z.
For Windows 7, Server 2007... Command-line A-Z.
The better half has found and gets many thanks for the tips and free downloads here, including and especially: Privacy Keeper. We have set the program to clean up when the last IE window is closed.
Caution: "Registry Cleaners could break XP System Restore...". Registry Cleaners. Our favorite and maybe the safest registry utility is WinDoctor, a part of Norton SystemWorks from Symantec. Norton is not compatible with ZoneAlarm (above) according to Symantec, so we run Norton Cleanup and WinDoctor from the Utilities option on the CD.
Search the Wise-Old-Blogger.com web site or the World Wide Web. Find links to a Chat Dictionary, World Atlas, Encyclopedia, Famous Quotes, Synonyms and Antonyms...
Shields UP is GRC's Internet Security Detection System which scans your computer, especially Windows file sharing and then reports vulnerabilities... When you get there, Click "Proceed".
Check-out Webopedia's Term of the Day, Kim Komando's Tip of the Day, and the Dictionary Word of the Day.
Try System File Checker from the command line to verify protected system files: sfc /scannow and for options, type: sfc /? System File Checker "...gives an administrator the ability to scan all protected files to verify their versions. If System File Checker discovers that a protected file has been overwritten, it retrieves the correct version of the file from the cache folder (%Systemroot%\System32\Dllcache) or the Windows installation source files, and then replaces the incorrect file. System File Checker also checks and repopulates the cache folder. You must be logged on as an administrator or as a member of the Administrators group to run System File Checker." Caution: Some Techs claim that corrupted files may not be corrupt and could be replaced with the wrong version. The Wise Old Blogger says that he has never had a problem with System File Checker when the installation CD/source is valid. (sfc /scannow works from the command line or from the "Run" command.)
MS-DOS commands are useful for monitoring and configuring your computer or network. Command-line reference A-Z
Use Ipconfig /? to display TCP/IP network configuration values.
Use Nbtstat to display protocol statistics and current TCP/IP connections. Also try the netstat -no command.
Use Netsh /? to configure and monitor Windows using a command-line, scripting interface.
Use Nslookup to display information from domain name system (DNS) name servers.
Use Ping (specify an IP address or domain name) to check connectivity and Pathping to determine which routers or links are causing network problems. (Remember to enable ICMP Ping on Windows XP computers in the Local Area Connection Properties, "Allow incoming echo request".)
Windows XP Pro offers "Command-line reference A-Z". To get there click Start, Help and Support, choose "Use Tools to view your computer...", then scroll through the list of links to "Command-line reference A-Z".
How to handle Internet Cookies.
Talking Dictionary 
and Free Translations.
"Google Earth puts a planet's worth of imagery and other geographic information right on your desktop." The 10.4 MB download is easily installed. Use the third mouse button to scroll and zoom, left-click and drag to center the image.
Something for Debian/Linux users...
Find Apt-get commands for Debian, Red Hat, Ubuntu and other flavors of Linux and visit our PHP Bulletin Board for Debian/Linux. Also, see Linux.htm for more about Debian and Debian's creator, plus quick links to important Debian pages.
Knoppix is amazing - Designed with the Free Debian/GNU/Linux Operating System, "KNOPPIX is a bootable Live system on CD or DVD..." Burn the .iso image to CD or DVD, restart and it's ready to go as a Linux Rescue disk. At about 700 MB, a fast Broadband connection is recommended; Download the English Version via FTP or HTTP here: Knoppix Download.
Linux/UNIX Commands Tutorial for Red Hat, Debian and most flavors of Linux.
What is Ubuntu? Ubuntu, pronounced "oo-BOON-too" is a free, Debian derived Linux-based operating system, available with both community and professional support. Read more... here.
Windows continued...
Parental Control
Source: Kim Komando's Tip of the Day
Some parents want to restrict the times their children can use the computer. Windows XP has a feature to do just that:
Click Start >> Run and in the box, type CMD. Click OK. At the command prompt, enter your preference in the form:
net user teenagername /time:M-F,5pm-7pm
Replace teenagername with your child's username. In this example, your child would only be able to log on to the computer between 5 and 7 PM.
You must have an Administrator account to do this and your child should have a limited account. Find User Accounts under Start >> Control Panel >> User Accounts. Read more...
For Windows Vista, please see this Microsoft page: Explore the features- Parental controls
The Wise Old Blogger recommends against Internet Peer to Peer (P2P) music/file sharing programs, and porn sites: "They're nothing but trouble."
Other common sources of computer viruses are HTML E-mail and Attachments. The Wise Old Blogger prefers to read E-mail in HTML format with images allowed; however, if you are having repeated computer virus or Malware problems from E-mail, try "Text only". Here's how:
MS Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora and several other popular E-mail clients, offer "Text only" mode which greatly reduces the possibility of getting or spreading a computer virus. The setting in MS Outlook is under the Tools Menu > Options > Preferences > E-mail Options > and place a check in "Read all standard mail in plain text". If you are using Outlook Express: Start Outlook Express and under the Tools Menu find Options > then select the Read tab > and place a check in "Read all messages in plain text".
Do not open Junk Mail: Delete unwanted Spam if you don't recognize the senders ID and then right-click the Deleted Items folder and Empty "Deleted Items" Folder.
Another excellent tip from Kim Komando's Tip of the Day:
"...the Federal Trade Commission has jurisdiction when it comes to going after spammers. The FTC receives forwarded spam and stores it in a huge database. When you forward your spam, be sure to include the full e-mail header. The address to forward your spam to is: spam@uce.gov."
How to find the full header of Spam e-mail
