Add-ons

Picking up software add-ons means modifications get made to your web browser such as extra toolbars and popup windows.  Many of these items simply want to stake their territory maybe for the purpose of directing you to certain websites so you can make some purchase.

Bog Down

It is the web browser specifically that gets bogged down in these situations as it contains too many unnecessary add-ons.  You will find that it isn’t as responsive as it should be as it gets pulled in different directions.  Being sabotaged takes a toll. Plug-ins, BHOs, add-ons, additional toolbars, if unnecessary, all compete with networking and computing resources.  The result is that your ability to browse slows down and is… hijacked.

Installation

An important reminder from our last article – these items land on our PC without our knowledge but are a result of unsafe browsing practices including opening email attachments or passing files from one PC to your own via chat rooms, peer-to-peer file sharing, or instant messaging.  It may be hard to believe, but many unwanted items wind up on our PC because you installed them unknowingly.  Some are from legitimate software vendors that bundle their installation with other software.  You need to examine the install steps and clear any check boxes that include extra programs.

Typically when installing software you will see some screens that have checkboxes with items like:

You need to know that you CAN clear these check boxes.  In this way, ONLY the software you intended to have in the first place will still be installed.

Action Items:

We are going to point you to our last article – Bogged Down – for steps on how to uninstall unwanted items.  The first step is removal of the items.  Next, we are going to cover how to restore your browser to its previous condition.

To restore the browser

Good Practices:

Let’s cover just a few examples of good PC practice to keep your PC from suffering the ill effects of add-ons and foistware.

Be Vigilant

Don’t

• Don’t trust a download purely based on what you have heard or know of it – it could be faked and it can include add-ons.
• Don’t install additional browser toolbars unless you are certain it is for your daily PC use.  Too many toolbars can bog down your web browser and you may find you don’t use all the functionality.

Anti-virus Programs

We recommend using an anti-virus program that allows you to be in control.  This includes not being bothered or nagged by popup messages and complications.  It should run in the background and protect you.  To that end, there are programs that are free and offer basic coverage.

In Summary

We know of PC users that get into trouble with their computer repeatedly.  It usually means having to take it to a PC repair technician and having the computer wiped and re-installed.  We hope that this article will serve you in taking action when you run into trouble and will help you in preventing it from happening at all.

The post Restore Browser Speed appeared first on CompuClever.

The Hidden Factor

A very common PC experience is having too many applications requiring online access at the same time and applications that are picked up unknowingly that we can be considered unwanted.  This first category competes with resources and the second can be malicious or can run in the background without your knowledge.  Many software programs require taking up a portion of your Internet bandwidth to achieve their functionality.  In these instances the application will not even appear on your screen but will create “processes” – we can think of them as tasks – which include taking up Internet bandwidth.

Right from the time of installation these apps are designed to open and run in the background each time you start your PC.  Some of these apps can alter how you surf the web as is the case with malicious programs that are capable of hijacking your system so as to redirect you to particular sites.  They generate web traffic which can be profitable when selling software.  Redirecting you can also bring you to a page where other unethical vendors place ads and links to their own dubious websites.

Bog Down

There are several causes with respect to slow down that can potentially affect a number of your PC resources.  Applications running in the background compete with other programs you open and need such as your web browser or email application.  When too many applications run at the same time they compete for:

Some applications require background network processing which adds to Internet congestion.  Email applications require bandwidth to check for new emails sent to you on an ongoing basis. Any program that performs upgrade checks requires bandwidth, as in the case of online music players, online games, and anti-virus (AV) apps.  As for AV programs – many can bring about slower PC and Internet network performance as they need to monitor the Internet and update their database sometimes on an hourly basis.

Installation

How do these items wind up on our PC in the first place?  Some get there without our knowledge but are a result of unsafe browsing practices including opening email attachments or passing files from one PC to your own via chat rooms, peer-to-peer file sharing, or instant messaging.  As for other apps, it seems hard to believe, but many get there because you installed them unknowingly.  Some are from legitimate software vendors that include other software when you install.  Here’s a well known example: Adobe Flash Point.

With the image above you can see how there is an additional offer to install McAfee to your PC.  This little check box is on by default and if you don’t look closely and click the “Install now” button without clearing the checkbox… you will be downloading two programs at once.

Action Items:

Although there are some among us who are “delete shy” and do not want to go there, we need to take action by bringing to light what software we have on our PC.  These hidden applications can be brought to your attention and you can then make a choice to remove them or to stop them from starting up when you turn your computer.

Examination and Uninstall

We will be using the free functionality available with PC Clean Maestro to look for a complete list of applications and to remove unwanted programs.  It’s quite likely that you have noticed a recent change in your PC functioning.  If so, we will start by examining the recently installed programs. After that you can examine each and all of your applications and determine if you can safely remove unwanted ones:

Once you have completed this list you can choose from other program tabs – All Programs, Large Programs, or Rarely Used – and continue with your process of examination and removal.

Apps at Startup

Another symptom of your PC being bogged is that it is slow to start compared to when it was fairly new.  We have spoken on this issue before and it’s worth a re-visit.  At installation applications are designed to be easy to access by offering a shortcut in your desktop, quick launch taskbar, and in your Startup menu.  Having these programs run each time you start your PC can bring about slower performance both in terms of startup and with Internet network speeds when requiring bandwidth.

For this action item we are going to be using free functionality available in PC TuneUp Maestro.  The steps include: opening the Startup Manager; reviewing the items in the list; and then choosing to  Enable or Disable.

Good Practices:

Our intent is not to take away any PC functionality.  We instead empower you to examine what is on your PC that you either do not know or rarely use at all.  By disabling programs to run at startup, you still can access them whenever you want – you now have the control rather than the applications running wild.

While we agree that programs need to perform updates especially when fixing some issue related to security or functionality, we feel that it should be up to you to determine when this happens.  Good programs include options where you can choose when the upgrade occurs such as before you shut down.

In Summary:

We have presented information here that can better equip you with the necessary skills to improve your Internet connectivity and the symptoms of PC bog down.  We plan to continue this with our next article by examining the browser and items that can be installed there which not only clutter up your web browser toolbar, but can direct your online activities and slow down your Internet and regular PC activities.

The post Bogged Down appeared first on CompuClever.

What did we learn from our previous article and our investigation with the multitude of speed tests that are available?  We found out that there are considerable discrepancies in test results.  If you missed our previous article – click here.  We also found it difficult to determine if the results were based on averages or the top speeds that are achieved during the test.

We have one more batch of observations to make about these four speed tests.  We recommend that you pick out one speed test that suits your needs and try to stick with it to be able to compare your results over time.

Now that we have provided you with more information to better choose a site that you can use on a regular basis you are in a better position to assess if your connection is an issue.

Slow Downs and Jitter:

Jitter is a technical term.  Although it doesn’t sound very technical, it relates to the quality of your connection.  For example, if you are having a video chat or you are watching a streamed video and there are delays and interruptions, this is referred to as jitter.  What is happening is data is transferred to you in packets and when they are not arriving in a steady stream you experiences disruptions or shaky pulses.

Another factor in connection speed relates to how many connections are between you and the source (or the receiver if you are uploading data).  We can refer to these connections as hops.  It’s like traveling from one city to another but there are various roads and interstate highways in-between.  The slowest and less maintained of these roadways will be the “bottleneck”.

The other critical factor to consider in our data route is the potential bottleneck that can be from your hardware (wireless router or modem) or with your PC.  This is the real challenge – determining whether the slow down you may be experiencing is due to something wrong at your end or as a result of connectivity conditions.

Let’s break our investigation down between items that are outside of our control and ones that are in our local terrain.

External Issues

At Our End

How to Improve Your Speed:

Up to this point we have given some very useful information on how to test your Internet connection speed.  This is a very useful tool for your PC bag of tips and tricks.  We are now ready to move on to the next step… working on improving your speed.  First we need to check and rule out whether there are no other factors first requiring your attention.  Here are the top three items we would look at specifically if you were to require support relating to speed issues.

Internet TuneUp

Having unwanted applications can also cause browser issues.  Regardless of what browser type you are using, you can take full advantage of the Uninstaller tool available with PC Clean Maestro to remove recently added programs. Follow this link to find out about repairing your browser.

Now you are ready to deal with any networking issues by using the tune up tool available with PC TuneUp Maestro.  This tool analyzes your computer and provides a recommended list of items that will bring about Internet performance improvements.  The analysis focuses on PC areas that can benefit from a performance tuning and the results providing only the recommendations relevant to your system.  You can also use the Advanced Settings to configure the individual Internet TuneUp items.

Here are the steps:

In Summary:

The knowledge presented here is intended to equip you with the necessary skills to assess Internet connectivity.  While we have covered a fair amount of area, we do feel that you can gain a great level of confidence and familiarity when it comes to assessing the conditions related to Internet connectivity.  With this in hand you are better able to speak to your Internet Service Provider if the bottleneck is indeed at their end.

The post Improve Internet Speed appeared first on CompuClever.

In the News: Fair and Equal

At the end of February of this year, The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to have the same rules applied to broadband as what is governed by the telephone service.  This is in the hope that ISP companies provide fair and equal treatment. This means net neutrality regulations will be adopted “…based on a new definition of broadband that will let the government regulate Internet infrastructure as it could the old telephone network.”^[1] The good news is that there will be no blocking or slowing down traffic by service providers. They are also banned from offering paid priority services to charge companies like Netflix fees for Internet “fast lanes” when facing congested network lines.  The common carrier principle will mean that every customer gets equal access to the network.

There are critics to this decision – Michael Powell, a former FCC chairman referred to it as “…heavy-handed government regulation in a space celebrated for its free enterprise”.  There is a concern about the government getting too involved and applying new tax and tariffs.  President Obama has released a statement saying that “…there should be no toll takers between you and your Internet content”.  If you would like to find out more about this, including an instructive video, see this link: money.cnn.com

It is likely there could be further developments and this will continue to be a hot debate moving forward; be prepared to hear more about “net neutrality”. For now, it is useful for us to focus on what we currently experience with our Internet network speeds.

The Terms

There are several terms that require a quick definition for us to continue.  These are:

Types of connection vary as do speeds of data transmission:

Speed:

Now that you have a better idea of the various components of Internet connections, let’s talk about speed of transfer.  If you have ever had to deal with using a dial-up modem you know how important speed of access is.  The units of measure for bandwidth speed are kilobit per second (KBit/s) or megabit per second (MBit/s or Mbps). While it may be challenging to wrap your head around 1 Mbps being one million bits of data transferred in 1 second, it is useful to get an overall idea of the average speeds achieved by various types of connection.  For example, the top speed for dial-up is about 56 kbps.  The slowest of the High Speed Internet options is more than 15 times this speed starting around 768 kbps to 1.5 Mbps.

Testing Your Speed:

We have examined four speed tests sites and provided the results here.  We focus primarily on ease of use with these sites.  We will also provide some information on the results in terms of accuracy and lack of accuracy.

The four sites we tested are:1) Speed of Me, 2) Speed test.net, 3) Speakeasy.net, and 4) Bell Aliant.

1. Speed of Me

Of our four tests this is the only one that is not powered by Ookla.  This means it could differ in its results from the others (we will speak to this later).  What we first notice when visiting this page is the amount of advertisements that are presented.  This site, like many others, gets revenues from other companies that benefit from users with slow PC performance.  As there are several ads we have a difficult time finding the place to start.  Eventually we notice a small “Start Test…” button.  The test itself takes under a minute to complete and was reliably the fastest of the test sites we examined.  The results, as can be seen from our image below, are presented in a bar graph style.  The graph is a great representation of what is going on – in this example, considerable spikes of Internet speed.  What we do not like about this test is that they point out only the maximum speeds.  For example, the maximum here is 7.42 Mbps.  We would have to guess at the average speed we would be getting and assume it is around 3 Mbps.

2. Speedtest.net

There have been over 7 billion speed tests run on this site.  We can’t deny its popularity.  However, once again, we see a lot of ads.  On the plus side, it does have an easier place to launch from – there is a very visible “BEGIN TEST” button.  Again the test itself takes under a minute.  The results are less visually representative and the main results are provided: ping, download speed, and upload speed.  Unfortunately there are other ads presented as well. We do like the fact that speedtest.net utilizes ping test techniques to determine the closest server so you do not have to choose.  We don’t like the fact that the results are considerably different from the other tests.

3. SpeakEasy

Again, there are ads present from the first display to the final presentation of the results.  With this test you are required to pick a location although it is not clear as to which one you need to pick.  Most of us would pick the closest in proximity to our own location but it is important to note that web pages we visit on a daily basis can be located anywhere in the world.  This test provides the option to choose a location if this is important to you – all the other sites determine a server location for you.  After making a selection the test begins and then it appears to be doing nothing.  From our tests we found it to be the slowest of these contenders at well over a minute.  The results information displayed is minimal with ads taking up more space and the “Choose A Location” option remaining so that you can begin again.

4. Bell Aliant

When you first arrive at this site you see only about three items: the name of the company, the “Ookla” logo, and the “Begin Test” button right in the center of the page.  This speed test is easy to run and as clean as can be.  It takes about a minute to complete based on our connection but you see the progress as it runs through various testing stages.  The results are displayed below and are more detailed than some of the options we have covered while still being easy to analyze.  The Download speed includes a small graph although it could be better displayed with actual measurements – that way we could determine if this is an average or the maximum speed.  Despite this we find this test to be the best of the four here.

Speed results

As can be seen when examining the results of these four tests, the actual download speed can vary to a large degree.  In our case, from 7.42 Mbps (Speed of Me results) and 0.34 Mbps (from Speedtest.net).  If we are to throw away these two results and average the last two tests, we find that the real speed may be around 2.25 Mbps.  So why is there this discrepancy?  We don’t want to rely on taking more than one test and averaging.  In our example, we are testing using a Satellite ISP service.  We have also tested from a high-speed wireless service (requiring a receiver dish using line-of-sight), and from Broadband cable (coaxial).

Our test results

We found that the satellite tests were the most inconsistent.  The large spikes in connectivity depicted in some results graphs may explain the discrepancy.  The fastest and most consistent results we achieved were with the Broadband cable connection (TV cabling) with high-speed wireless showing more consistent speeds but being slower than cable and as slow as, or slower, than satellite.  The rule of thumb here is that direct lines (copper, cable, fiber optics) will provide the most consistent and fastest speeds.  However, this does not mean that these types do not suffer from poor connectivity.

Wrapping it up…

For now, we have had a good start into introducing this area of computing – one we use daily and take for granted.  In the next article we are going to look more closely at why our connection speed suffers and what we can do about it.  Stay tuned.

We will continue to provide story lines like this that benefit all of us and we will describe them in a manner that is within reach of everyday computer users.  If you have some ideas of topics you would like us to cover, email us at: newsletter@compuclever.com

The post Test Your Internet Speed appeared first on CompuClever.

Installing unwanted items to your computer can happen quickly and easily to the point of not knowing what you are getting.  The recent trend is to more easily accept free apps for our PC and because of this, distributors are packaging third-party and other, sometime questionable, software into bundles.  Bundled packages will include items that we do not want installed at any point for any reason.  The result, a user will typically experience unwanted changes such as their browser toolbar or home page being changed.  There is one program called Search Protect, that appears trustworthy based on its name and even claims to protect and maintain your browser settings, but it is a complete sham.

Unwanted Program:

The Search Protect program – from Client Connect; formerly Conduit, a venture of Perion – is known to be potentially dangerous in terms of being a browser virus that steals confidential information for third parties.  Less worrisome but still placing it in the realm of malicious software, it does modify the web browser targeting any or all of the following: search engine, home page, new tab page, and other settings, so as to point to a partner portal site.  From the Client Connect / Conduit website we can see the program in a completely different light:

The site goes on to say that you can use Search Protect to manage your browser settings but the reality is you have no control; the malicious settings remain.  The true known characteristics of this software offender include:

With the last point, some reports ^[2] state that attempting to remove the program can cause PC system errors.  Considering the program acts to guard the browser from any changes made, it would appear that you are stuck.  Not so if you have the right tools.

The Fix:

The steps involved in fixing and restoring your browser first begin with dealing with the unwanted program, Search Protect in our example, using PC Clean Maestro.

To uninstall the unwanted item:

The next step is to restore the browser to its previous state.

To restore the browser:

1. In the PC Clean Maestro window, select the Browsers button in the left pane as can be seen in the image below.
2. Select the browser tab (for example: “IE” or “Firefox”).
3. Click the restore button located at the top right.

Once you have completed these steps you can now open your browser and customize your homepage, search engine, and other options.

Here is a list of other programs to be on the lookout for: ^[3]

In Summary…

Applications and especially bundled programs need to be installed with our knowledge and consent and from trusted sources.  Having the ability to quickly determine what you have recently installed is vital.  PC Clean Maestro identifies installed items and effectively uninstalls unwanted programs.  With the offending item out of the way you can return your browser to the way you prefer it.

We will continue to provide story lines like this that benefit all of us and we will describe them in a manner that is within reach of everyday computer users.  If you have some ideas of topics you would like us to cover, email us at: newsletter@compuclever.com

The post Browser Repair appeared first on CompuClever.

We have chosen six of the most popular articles from 2014. Here is an overview of these articles in three categories:

Privacy / Security:
– Identify and Clean Cookies (July)
– Virus vs PUP and How to Remove Both (Sept)

TuneUp / Clean Up:
– Improve Startup (Aug)
– Spring PC Cleaning (June)

Support:
– CompuClever Free Functionality (Oct)
– DIY vs. Repair Shop (Nov)

Here are the PC enhancement articles for 2014.

Identify and Clean Cookies

About: Not all cookies are created equal. Cookies are created when browsing to particular web pages. While most are safe – especially when coming from a trusted source – not all are. While cookies cannot infect your PC, there can be potential dangers related to security and privacy.

Action: You can prevent cookies from being stored and you can delete existing ones. We focus on removal beginning with backing up your data. When you data is secure… PC Clean Maestro is well equipped to scan, display, and clean cookies and other items that are security or privacy risks. We also include information on how to set up your browser for DNT – Do Not Track mode.
Read the entire article here…

DIY vs. Repair Shop

About: In this article we give warning to anyone who blindly takes their PC to a repair shop. We highlight one case where a particular gentleman had been ripped off by a technician who blamed the cause of his PC troubles on a computer cookie planted by CompuClever! This brings up the question – who can you trust? Checking credentials is paramount. For example, CompuClever applications have approved Microsoft and Intel certification.

Action: This article assists the reader in determining if the cause of their issues is from unwanted software or from a virus. We empower the reader to take the right steps before putting trust in someone who claims to be an expert.

Read the entire article here…

CompuClever Free Functionality

About: We’re very familiar with the notion of “free” but… with strings attached. We see this whenever we download a free application and it includes around three or more extra bits of software that you have to carefully remove during the installation process. We took the opportunity to introduce our applications and show how anyone can use some of their functionality for free indefinitely.

Action: If you have purchased one of the CompuClever applications and you like what you see… here’s your chance to try out one of the others for free. If you want the full program you can upgrade at any time of your choosing. Here are some examples of the free functionality available:

Read the entire article here…

Virus vs PUP and How to Remove Both

About: This subject matter is complex and involved. We focus on simplifying it as best we can to define virus and PUP – Potentially Unwanted Programs. We find that users often feel that the occurrence of PUPs can mean they have a virus. This is not necessarily true and we want to empower our readers to take action.

Action: It makes sense to work on the symptoms first. If you have unwanted behaviours coming from an unknown source, you can begin by identifying the source. PC Clean Maestro comes with a newly upgraded Uninstaller tool that can assist you to examine what is a trusted application so you can remove what is not. As for viruses, there are free tools available and there are paid applications. We recommend the best place to start is with trusted free tools from Microsoft.

Read the article here…

Improve Startup

About: We focus on one area of poor performance which can be very annoying – the startup time of your PC. Although we can’t expect that our PC will run as fast as when we first purchased it, we can adjust what programs first get started when powering up.

Action: You are instructed on how to use PC TuneUp Maestro’s Optimize PC tool. You will find it easy to review all the programs displayed in the list. Once you have done so you can customize how they perform at startup by disabling or enabling any item in the list.
Read the entire article here…

Spring PC Cleaning

About: This article is one of our favorites as it appeals to our instinct to clean and organize and we have used very easy and straightforward steps. In terms of “clean” we refer to removing clutter and backing up files we want to keep. By doing so we improve the performance of the PC and make our lives a lot easier in terms of accessing the files and data we need.

Action: If you are getting the feeling you have a lot of files on your PC and space may eventually be an issue… here is your chance to follow some easy steps. They include:

By managing your files you are actively preventing performance degradation and you can take comfort in the fact that the files you value highly are safe!
Read the entire article here…

The post New Year’s PC Resolution appeared first on CompuClever.

Here is what we will cover:

Without getting into too many of the details and specifics of this technology we will point out some basics.

Components

We will focus on components related to what we see when we bring up our web browser, namely the user interface.  We will also talk about the items that are referred to as “extensions” that can be added to a browser after you have installed it.

Typically the user interface (UI) consists of three areas:

The toolbar is used for navigational purposes as it has buttons such as back, forward, refresh, stop, and home (to get you back to your homepage).  It also has an address bar so you can type in a web address and you likely have a search bar to enter in words that can bring up a list of applicable web pages to the subject you are interested.

Two Most Frequently Altered Areas of the Browser: We get a lot of feedback and reports of how alterations have been made to the Search engine and the homepage.  The Search engine is designed to search for information and content on the Internet.  Examples include Google, Bing, Ask, Yahoo! Search and the like.  These are sophisticated programs that crawl the web and quickly provide results of your inquiry.  A homepage is the page you first see and want to access when you open your browser.

All users want to make a choice of a Search engine and homepage that they are both familiar with and meet their needs.  It becomes all that more frustrating when installing something that modifies these areas of your browser without consent.  We will show you how to return your browser to its default settings in a later section of the article.

Extensions: Components that can be added to the browser to increase functionality are referred to as extensions.  These can be in the form of toolbars and other add-ons or plug-ins.  Examples include toolbar extensions to provide some specific functionality such as web searching using a specific search engine, better access to installed applications, or providing convenient links or categorizations of media sites.  In some cases they can provide extra functionality as with Ad blockers that block ads on the sites you visit and terminate items that collect and send your data.  The challenge with all extensions is identifying what each of these are, making absolutely sure they are from trusted sources, and knowing that they are not bogging down your browsing experience.

Top Picks:

Google Chrome came into the browser fray in 2008 and this brought about new advances in browser technology in terms of speed, standards, and design which forced the other players to catch up.  And catch up they did.  One review by PCMag put the independent open source Mozilla Firefox at the top of their list for best browser:

But the “best” is a matter of preference and to a large extent will depend on your needs. The three most commonly used browsers are: Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft IE.  These take top honors and we can focus our attention on them.

Most Popular:  In terms of popularity, at this time Google Chrome ranks number one, with Mozilla Firefox second and IE in third place.^[2]

Speed: Most reports^[3,4] related to speed (startup and web page load times), put Chrome at the top followed by Firefox and then IE.  It is important to note, no browser reviewed here is in any way sluggish and there are trade-offs for speed as described below.  Based on our experience of browsers, we concur with these findings.

Operating System (OS): Finding the right browser can depend to a great extent on what OS you are running on your PC.

Privacy: The three browsers each have private browsing modes.  Firefox and Chrome lead the way in this arena.  Note: browser privacy means not saving cookies or browsing history but does not protect you from websites that can collect or share information about you.  To take it to the next level you need to look into extensions, such as HTTPS Everywhere, Disconnect, or AdBlock Plus.

Extensions:  Firefox takes top place with a combination of add-ons, pin tabs, web apps and more.  Next in line is Chrome which taps into Chrome desktop apps and Google Now notifications.

Price:  When making your choice you will want to know what the costs are and what it takes to try out a new browser.  Internet Explorer is included with Windows operating systems and can be downloaded for free.  All browsers are free to download and run and you simply have to go to the website (such as Mozilla.org or Google.com).  This makes it possible to pick and choose one – or more than one – without worrying about the price tag.

Browser Clean Up with PC Clean Maestro

:
Making a decision about which browser to use could depend largely on how well you can customize it and take advantage of extended functionality.  However, some things have a way of taking on a life of their own.  You can start off small – with the basics – and soon you have more than you bargained for.  This can happen all too easily with browser extensions.  At times these little program tidbits can get installed without our expressed knowledge or consent.  Situations occur where your homepage or our favorite search engine is modified.  In the worst case scenario, rogue or malicious software can make alterations we do not want.

The most recent version of PC Clean Maestro now comes with new functionality to provide you the ability to examine browser extensions and disable them.  Once you open the program you can click on the “Browsers” tab in the left pane and you will see the following:

Now the steps are easy…

You’ll note with the example above that extensions are organized in categories specific to the type of browser you are using.  Also, as in this case, more than one browser can be installed to your system and you can examine these one at a time using the tabs at the top (for example, “Chrome” or “Firefox”).

Restoring Settings:  You can easily restore the browser settings that you had by default when first using your browser.  This is especially useful if they have been altered without your consent.  Frequently, new software installations like to make changes to your search engine or your homepage to direct your web surfing.  To restore your settings do the following:

In Summary:

Being able to pick a winner from the top three most popular browsers is a personal decision for most of us but one that needs to be based on PC capabilities and individual needs.  We appreciate that there are these choices available to us and that the competition spurs on better technology.  We promote good ethics when it comes to PC technology.  Browser extensions need to be installed with our knowledge and consent and from trusted sources.  PC Clean Maestro offers the ability to have you turn off add-ons that are unwanted.

We will continue to provide story lines like this that benefit all of us and we will describe them in a manner that is within reach of everyday computer users.  If you have some ideas of topics you would like us to cover, email us at: newsletter@compuclever.com

The post Browsing for browsers appeared first on CompuClever.

CompuClever offers four programs including: PC TuneUp Maestro, PC Clean Maestro, Ultra eBook Reader, and Ultra File Opener. We will provide a description of each product, introduce what each product is capable of, and highlight the free functionality that is available with that product.

PC TuneUp Maestro

PC TuneUp Maestro is the most advanced suite of PC maintenance software tools available. PC TuneUp Maestro uses advanced error analysis and resolution technology to fix, clean, and optimize your system.  You get a stable and reliable PC that runs at peak performance like when you first began operating it.

Free function list

PC Clean Maestro

Your PC can store unwanted “junk” files and traces of your personal information including passwords, credit card information, and email / chat communications.  As a result your PC runs slower and exposes you and your family to identity and security theft. PC Clean Maestro removes unwanted files and it eliminates confidential information so your PC is clean and safe.  It also comes equipped with an Uninstaller tool to help you identify and remove applications you no longer need or use.

Free function list

Ultra File Opener

Ultra File Opener (UFO) is the ultimate viewer for opening PC files.  Hundreds of different file types are supported, including images, text files, archive files, audio and video files, and data files.  Equipped with Hex Decoding technology, UFO is capable of opening files of any type.  You can view images, text files, and the contents of archive files.  You can also choose from a number of functions for each of these file types including printing, converting, and extracting.  UFO also enables you to manage the default file association so each file format is handled by the program you want.

Free function list

Ultra eBook Reader

Open an eBook directly on your PC or device and enjoy the ultimate PC reading experience. Ultra eBook Reader supports 12 of the most popular file types.  You can view your eBook using a variety of display modes.  If you have touch screen support you can use pinch-to-zoom and multi-touch functionality.  You can navigate using bookmarks and with the table of contents, as well as taking advantage of the search functionality. You can create bookmarks and link to them in the Bookmark pane.  You can even print your eBook.

Free function list

Read this article to learn more about how you can use Ultra eBook Reader to enhance your reading experience using your existing computer.

In Summary:

At CompuClever we are committed to creating PC utility software that improves the performance of your PC.  We also offer programs such as our Ultra eBook Reader for the everyday user that makes day-to-day computing more rewarding.  We combine our products and our service to offer a professional package to meet our user’s needs.  Look for our program updates such as a new and improved Uninstaller for PC Clean Maestro, as we continue to improve our offerings to you.

We hope this article has helped gain some knowledge about our product lines and stimulated your interest of trying some of the aforementioned free functionality to make your day-to-day use of computers more enjoyable and productive.  We will continue to provide story lines like this that benefit all of us and we will describe them in a manner that is within reach of everyday computer users.  If you have some ideas of topics you would like us to cover, email us at: newsletter@compuclever.com

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This article begins with information about cookies: what they are and what we recommend you do about them.  We will also be covering information related to using PC Clean Maestro.  In this way you are more informed about remaining secure and keeping your information private.

Cookie!

A cookie is a file that is sent from a website when you browse to that site.  Every time you visit the same site the Internet browser sends the cookie from your PC to a server to notify the website of the user’s previous activity.  In this way it is easier to login in to some sites that you have previously visited because your name is already present so you only have to add in your password.  Cookies also track information related to your browsing activities such as items in a shopping cart.  Microsoft states:

Microsoft goes on to mention that they use cookies as they provide information as to how often you visit pages so they can determine what information interests you.  In this way, they provide more of the content you like and less of the content you don’t.  For some websites, you can read this as: providing marketing content in the form of advertisements.  In some cases it means keeping track of items you put into a shopping cart in previous sessions when you did not complete the purchase.

As we mentioned, a cookie tells a web server that you have returned to a specific page.  If you personalize a web page, or you have registered for products or services, a cookie can recall your specific information.  For some people, they may appreciate that this is a simplified way to process your personal information, such as billing and shipping addresses, and so on.  The information you previously provided can be retrieved for you.

What are the dangers? It is true – cookies are not malicious in and of themselves.  They cannot run programs that deliver viruses or malware to your PC.  Cookies cannot access your PC.  In terms of security and privacy there is a potential threat.  There are those that say that we commonly reveal our personal information in systems that are designed to provide convenience (frequent buyer cards, automatic payments from our banks, etc.).  These proponents of convenience also point out that in terms of privacy, grocery stores know what we eat, gas stations know what we spend on gas, and banks know what we spend each month.  However… the difference is, with cookies the information is on your PC along with access to your personal and financial data.  It is a vault that holds details you do not want to fall into the wrong hands.  Should someone gain access they could do considerable damage.  Some cookie to be cautious and aware of include:

For a complete list of types of cookies and the known drawbacks see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_cookie

What are the options? You can both delete and prevent cookies from being stored on your PC.  Management of PC cookies is something each of us has to decide on.  You will need to examine the trade-offs and benefits.  The sad reality is disabling cookies may result in some web services not functioning correctly and it falls short in making you completely anonymous and web sites can still track your browsing habits.  However, if you have multiple users on your PC and you do a fair bit of online browsing, it is easy to get hundreds of cookies in very short order.  There are reports^[3] of acquiring “30 or 40 in a single hour of browsing.”  While there may be some cookies that provide some useful functionality, most of these are for tracking your activities for marketing and advertisement purposes.

While there are options built into your browser (IE, Mozilla, Google Chrome), to disable all cookies from being stored on your PC, we recommend other alternatives.  You can go into your browser settings and list sites whose cookies are to be rejected.  This is a daunting task however compared to periodic removal of cookies.  By using PC Clean Maestro you can easily remove cookies and you can view the list of cookies and choose ones you want to keep – those from trusted sources!

Removing Cookies

Let’s begin.  We want to have the right tools – PC Clean Maestro for one and a good external hard drive for backup.  Safety first!

Best Practices:  #1. Backup Data

As we have stated in our previous article … backup your data!  This article deals with removal – permanent removal – of sensitive and private items.  It is good practice to make a copy of all files that are important to you and safer practice to keep these stored on an external hard drive.

The Steps:

There are three areas to scan and clean using the CompuClever Clean Tool.  We are staying focused on the privacy and security aspects of PC Clean Maestro.  The following instructions detail how to remove items that are a threat to personal security and privacy.

Step 1:  First you need to open the program.  The window will appear similar to as seen below.  We have expanded the Personal Security and Privacy sub-item sections to get a closer look at the items listed.

Step 2:  Select items to scan.  From the check boxes available you can review and clear items you want to not include in the clean process.

Step 3:  Initiate the scan using the “Start” button.

Step 4:  Review and Clean.  A summary of the scan is displayed including the number of detected items found in each category, the size that can be reclaimed, and a “Details” link.  The link will provide the complete list of items found and the location of each item.  You can clear any selected items before moving on to the next step.

Step 5: Clean.  Click the “Clean” button to permanently delete the selected items.

Note: Once you begin the Clean process, PC Clean Maestro presents a warning dialog when certain privacy items are selected from the Scan results.  This is a preventive step, a safeguard measure, so as to not unintentionally remove items.  Refer to the help file for a description of the warning, the list of items, and recommendations about what you need to do before choosing an option.

Best Practices:  #2. Regular Use of PC Clean Maestro

Create an automated schedule.  Use the Options button in the Main window and select the Clean Scan Schedule.  From here you can configure when you want an automated scheduled scan to run.

Best Practices – Advanced:  #3. Configure Your Browser Privacy

You can configure your browser settings to better restrict the privacy controls.  Refer to your browser settings and look for “privacy” or “security” (or both).  By configuring these settings you choose what items to block or restrict including cookies and Private browsing or Do Not Track (DNT) browsing traffic.  In recent years all major browsers have included a Do Not Track (DNT) option.  This enables a user to choose to not have their online activities tracked.  This applies to Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, and Opera.  The one shortcoming of this: “The Do Not Track system is completely voluntary, and there are no legal or technological requirements for its use. As such, not all websites and advertisers will honor the request or may completely ignore it altogether.”^[4]

In Summary:

By using PC Clean Maestro you can easily access personal data items automatically stored on your PC.  Any of these items on their own may not constitute a substantial threat.  However, these items together – personal addresses, passwords, account information, and more – can be used together to provide an intruder what they need to gain access to perform financial transactions or use your data unlawfully. Here is a summary of the items that PC Clean Maestro scans:

We hope this article has helped gain some insight and offered you some effective strategies on cleaning your PC.  We will continue to provide story lines like this that benefit all of us and we will describe them in a manner that is within reach of everyday computer users.  If you have some ideas of topics you would like us to cover, email us at: newsletter@compuclever.com

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Have you ever wondered if it was safe to use a computer that was not your home PC – like the one in a library, hotel lobby, or Internet café?  You may not have anything to hide but do you want to inadvertently share your browsing information?  We are continuing the theme of privacy – one that relates to browsing the web using Internet Explorer. While there are many other good browsers, the majority of people at this time are using IE.  The functionality of this feature – InPrivate browsing and filtering – is available with other browsers.  Without dismissing these, we do want to say that the techvnology in IE is well crafted.

Privacy has become a growing concern in recent years as the amount of data and the options for mobility of communication and the proliferation of data expands.  The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has been involved in an effort to balance out the innovation focused on new products and services with the privacy interests of consumers.  In their report^[4] they state:

The report goes on to say that efforts by industry to address privacy via self-regulation have been slow and have in the past failed to provide adequate and meaningful protection.  Private Browsing is one response to providing a technology that offers you a greater choice with respect to privacy.

The Technology

Let’s begin.  InPrivate browsing is a fairly recent option available to Internet web surfing.  For IE version 8 and up, you can easily begin a session.  Let’s first get an idea of what this technology is and how you can use it.

Microsoft goes on to say that InPrivate Browsing prevents certain information from being retained by the browser including: your browsing history, temporary Internet files, form data, cookies, and user names and passwords.

Certainly if you are annoyed with advertisements and are suspicious of these content providers, we would recommend that you use InPrivate Filtering.  For the purposes of this article we will focus more directly on inPrivate Browsing.

The Rundown:

From a Microsoft site^[6] we have based the following information in this table to give an idea of what kind of coverage you can expect from InPrivate Browsing:

Why and When Would You Use This?

There are two main reasons for using this technology.  For one, data left on a computer can be used by other parties including advertisers or those with malicious intentions.  Cookies for example, can reveal account information that could be used for hacking into your online financial or banking credentials.  Secondly, not having items stored on your computer, like temporary files from your browsing session, is good computing practice.  We’re talking about less clutter.  Having the browser automatically delete files from browsing sessions is a positive step to a “lean and mean” PC.  The other option is to do this manually or with software solutions that can provide schedules (such as… PC Clean Maestro).

Caution

InPrivate Browsing is a useful feature for being stealthy but it does not provide complete security.  In other words – there is a difference here between secrecy and security.  While you are able to browse online in a more private fashion, you are still susceptible to other threats.  Some things to be wary of include:

When you do use private browsing you are not in disguise when visiting sites.  The websites you browse to can record your IP address and record information about the searches and information you enter.^[7] You need to keep in mind that if you have private and confidential data on your PC it is still susceptible to data theft.

How To Use InPrivate Browsing:

There are many ways you can initiate InPrivate Browsing.

Option 1:

Option 2:

Option 3:

During InPrivate Browsing:

When InPrivate Browsing is turned on, you will see this indicator:

To turn it off:

To turn off your InPrivate Browsing session, you can simply close the entire browser window.  The next time you open the browser it is returned to the regular mode of browsing.

In Summary:

While InPrivate Browsing is not a completely secure method of browsing but it can provide you with a more private experience when browsing the internet.  There are even more private solutions available and if you are interested you can check out the free program: Tor^[8] although be prepared that you may experience a loss in browsing performance.

We hope the information presented here will help increase your confidence in browsing online and inspire you to explore the possibilities of what is offered in our computer age.  We will continue to introduce and research available technologies explained in a manner that is not beyond the reach of average, everyday computer users.

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