Any person who uses modern computer technology should know about these issues. They can be easily avoided and save you the headache and money of a malfunctioning computer or malicious scam. These issues can easily be avoided by following this guide.

• Do not let somebody unknown remote access your computers or devices
• Do not give somebody unknown any personal information or billing information
• Do not wire money through a company like Western Union
• Do not click on links you do not know their origin, especially in email
• Have good passwords
• Have a backup plan

If you are contacted by an organization without a known motivation, you are most likely being targeted by a scam or solicitation. Some examples of Scam phone calls are:

• A Rep from Microsoft claiming your computer has a problem or has been hacked
• A Supposed highly reputable computer repair company saying your computer has a problem like needing an update
• Somebody claiming to be from your Internet Service Provider saying you have been attacked
• An IRS rep saying that you are being sued
• Person claiming to be a distant relative marooned in some town and needing you to wire them money.
• A company trying to sell you home security

For the computer scams they expect you to pay a $100-500 to repair your computer remotely. They often will have you perform a function on your computer and show you how many errors you have in your computer. Whatever readout or function they perform is likely a simple log file of things that that will not hurt your computer. They also can claim malicious scammers can see that you have money in your account will try to get personal information. It is usually best to ignore these scam organizations. You can also try to contact the actual company by calling the number on your bill, or one the actual website by typing in something like microsoft.com, comcast.com, etc

Tip: If you feel inclined, you can tell any obviously false organization that you know they are a scam and if they call you again, you will report them to the authorities. If you feel inclined to perform a civic duty, find out the name of their organization and report them to the BBB or other computer and company review sites.

• Do not click on any unknown links in email, even if it is from a trusted person you know. Often times people have their email hacked and a scam email will be sent to everybody in their contact list. If you see one of those emails, try to call that person to let them know about the hack and suggest they change their password.
• Do not click on any popups or advertisements that seem to be directed at you about cleaning up your computer or needing extra virus protection (see below.)
• Be weary of the links you click on when doing a search with Google, Bing, or anything other providers. Usually 1-3 of the top links. Each search provider is different but you can usually look closely figure out where the adds are. This is an unfortunate issue that the search providers fail to mitigate, but it is just how the system works.

Your computer or device has all the necessary programs for it to perform properly, even virus protection. Most modern systems including Windows 10, Apple, Android and iPhone mostly do not need third party virus protection. In fact, many 3rd party virus protection companies are malware. Some Common types of programs and examples that are malicious and will do your computer no good are:

• Speed up programs: SpeedupmyPC, MyFasterPC,
• Cleaning programs: MyCleanPC, WiseCare365, Advanced System care
• Registry Cleaners
• Virus protection like: PC Matic
• Driver Update Programs
• Alternative Disk Defrag Programs
• Search bar addons: Ask Toolbar, Google Toolbar, Yahoo toolbar
• Browser Addons: many virus protection addons like Norton and Avast,My Weather, Coupon
• Search protectors:Conduit

Along with programs that are falsely help your computer, many of them are meant for recreational and can slow down and/or harm your system. here are some examples:

• Weather, coupon, and news addons
• Games downloaded from a non managed site. Best to use Steam, amazon, or buy the software form a store.
• Alternative Writing programs. Microsoft Office and Libre Office are best.
• Vanity programs like skins or visual tweaks, extra themes

When installing programs, Be sure to look at all the install windows and read them very carefully. (not reading the full user agreement can usually be acceptable) Here are some considerations:

• Do you really need a program for something specific?
• Is there a program in my system that can perform this function?
• Did I download this program from a reputable source. Type in your address bar the company.com, such as adobe.com, steam.com, amazon.com. and follow that link, not an advertisement or something from an email.
• When doing the install, look for any check box that wants you to install ANYTHING extra like a toolbar, or search protector, etc. Sometimes they fool you and make you check the box to not install something. They may also make it look like you have to install the addon by graying things out, but if you actually click the check box or hit cancel, your installation will continue. If it does not, then you probably should not install the main program in the first place.

TIP: If you do install a reputable program or application, you may want to disable it from starting with your system and/or running in the background when not in use. Each program has different places to change this. Usually it is in the settings, tools, or configuration.

If you are going to install 3rd party software, here are some suggestions:

• Microsoft Security Essentials - Windows 8,10 and above, has this built in as Windows Defender. But if you have windows 7 you will need to download and install. Here is the link: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/security-essentials-download
• Avast for Windows XP - This suggestion is ONLY for Windows XP. Please note that it is highly recommended that you upgrade from windows XP due to Microsoft not supporting it anymore. However, if you still have it, Avast is a good antivirus
• Eset - This is recommended for businesses and one of the best Anti Virus software on the market. Personal use is about $60 a year.
• Malwarebytes - This program is good for running a full scan but not meant for live monitoring. If you feel you have a virus you can run this. Always make sure you are downloading from their website which is: www.malwarebytes.org
• CCleaner - This is a general tool for doing cleaning of registry and Temporary files.
• Ublock Origin - This is an addon for Google Chrome and Firefox. It is one of the best ad block extensions. Please make sure to install from your browsers extension webpage.
• You! Knowing all these things is the best line of defense. By using your devices in a smart manner you can reduce the amount of problems and save money on computer repair.

Please be sure to have a good password and to change it periodically. A good password will be 8 characters or longer, have Upper and Lower case letters, have numbers and symbols, and not be made of common words or personal information. For the most sensitive data consider using some sort of 2 step verification. Do not store your passwords in a document on your computer in in an email. If you have a lot of passwords, a good system to use is LastPass.

Please make sure to have some kind of solution for backing up your data. Even if it is as simple as copying important documents to an external USB flash drive. Other Services are:

• Cloud based services such as: Onedrive, Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud
• Professional Backup Programs such as: Carbonite, Mozy
• Full Backup to an external Hard Drive with a program like Microsoft Backup, or Apple Time machine

For most of the items discussed above, there are many websites that will have positive and seemingly official reviews claiming a certain service is good. Many of the scams can easily post legitimate looking websites, and massive amounts of positive reviews. They can also delete bad reviews and try to censor any negative information. Furthermore, and unfortunately, they often advertise with Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and many other media services that offer any kind of content. If you are really unsure about the legitimacy of a program or service, either do not use it, or try to read all the reviews. A good tip is to read the bad reviews. Sometimes the good reviews will be generic, and the bad reviews will be specific, a good giveaway of a malicious service.

Most online computer support are scams. It is best to find a local computer repair person or shop that has reputable reviews such as on yelp or angies list. Click here for a local references in Central Sierra Nevada and foothills.