AVG Antivirus FREE can detect the malware, but it won't remove the malware.

A friend contacted me that they were getting a message from their anti-virus program AVG and wondered if anything was wrong. I said take a photo using their mobile phone and email it to me. From the photo you can see AVG has detected the malware.

I wrote back to them letting them know their computer was infected and suggesting they click on the Protect Me option to remove the malware.

They then wrote back that they were still getting the messages and AVG had not removed the malware. At this point I suggested to drop the computer over. I usually scan a computer with multiple anti-virus programs and the scans can take some time. However I said if the scanners can't removed the malware, sometimes there's a clue as to the malware program and that gives me enough information to remove the malware manually. As long as the malware's done no damage and all the scanners don't report an issue, there's a very high probability the malware has been removed. Rootkits that install before the operating system is loaded and thus can hide, are the type of malware where this may not work.

Since the object name in the image provided the path and filename of the malware program I suggested they manually delete the file and then do a full scan which they did. This fixed the problem. I've suggested they do further full scans using multiple anti-virus programs to triple check their computer is clean.

It appears this was a relatively simple malware infection. This approach may not have worked with some malware. I've seen malware which has had three simultaneous infections. Remove one infection and the others recreate the removed infection. Now that was a bit of fun to remove.

The lesson here is even if the anti-virus program can't remove the malware, read the screen carefully, as there may be some clues that can assist you before you need to retain the services of a computer support person.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 for IT support.

Migrating floppy disks, CDs, or DVDs to an external hard drive.

A client asked me to copy all his old diskettes and CDs onto an external drive. This can be a relatively slow and thus costly process given the time involved. However I decided to re-purpose some existing code and create a couple of scrips to make the task much faster. The MyAnswers solution 2485 provides the scripts should you be faced with the same task.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 for IT support.

Free MS DOS games that can be played in your browser

I came across an article recently letting people know they could play MS DOS games in their browser. Now I'm not really a games person as I enjoy using technology to create rather than play. Having said that most of us have played games over the years so I decided to investigate.

https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos_games?sort=-downloads

I decided to pick PACMAN and yes it played as expected and yes I died as expected. There's a huge selection of games and I'm sure you'll spot a favourite or two. May be worth checking out.

For many years I really was a bit of a stick-in-the-mud. I'd even remove games from computers I'd install so they wouldn't affect the productivity of staff. However once I saw the joy people got from playing the games, and often playing games also enabled them to gain better skills at using the computer, I softened a bit. But gee, it's really easy to fritter away time playing games so be warned.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 for IT 

How much does it cost to make an Apple watch?

I thought the linked article on the cost for the Apple watch was interesting. When Apple bought out the iPad I was actually very surprised with the pricing. Apple is usually considered to charge more but the iPad came out at a very competitive price point.

With the Apple watch if this article is correct about pricing, Apple is again pricing their products in the premium range. That's OK. Apple knows they've got a lot of enthusiast buyers who are prepared to pay a premium for a "look at me" product. I watched the Apple video when the product was announced and I'm glad I did because it does do a lot more than you'd gather by reading the press articles. However, for me it isn't enough for the price. But hey, that's just me. Happy for others to buy watch.

In any case here's a link to the article.

www.theregister.co.uk/2015/04/30/apple_watch_bill_of_materials/

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 for IT support.

ATO AUSkey drops support for Google Chrome.

I thought it was interesting to read the ATO has dropped support for Google Chrome users using AUSkey and decided to checkout why from a technical point of view.

It appears the ATO, for users of AUSkey, are no longer supporting Google Chrome as from version 42. Now of course this will create a storm from Chrome users, but on the other hand, this change is a result of changes Google Chrome is putting into place when it stops supporting the technology NPAPI.

Firstly let's say this is a storm in a teacup. Most people I know now run two browsers. Browsers now simply fail on some sites and it's getting worse. To get around this you need to have two browsers installed. When one doesn't work, then use the other. Problem solved.

The government sites I've found to be rather lacking and you really do need to try sites using different browsers. For the government to continue to use Java, when Java is one of the most prevalent attack vectors for malware lacks foresight. I removed Java from my main computer years ago and recommend to others to do the same. Only if an application requires Java is Java needed to be installed. If you do need Java you can have it installed in your secondary browser to minimise the risk of malware infection.

As a tip. I don't recommend Opera as a browser, but if you need to quickly install a second browser, it's quick and easy to install. Best of all there's only 1% of people who use Opera making it less likely for malware writers to write software specifically targeted at Opera users. Of course you can select your own browser of choice for the second browser.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 for IT support.

Error code 80092004 Windows 7 Pro update KB3038314

I thought I'd share this experience in case it helps others.

Reloading a Windows 7 Pro 64 bit system and the final step was to apply the updates. There were over 200 updates so it was going to take a while. However it took much longer than I'd expected. The problem is the updates kept failing and then all updates would be removed. Yes. Pretty frustrating.

I decided to try to identify which update was causing the failure with the error code 80092004. It turned out to be KB3038314 which is a "Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer 11 for Windows 7 for x64-based Systems".

Checking on the internet revealed quite a few others having this issue recently. The best approach I found was to simply hide the update. It appears this may be a buggy update.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 for IT support.

RENEW YOUR SUBSCRIPTION To keep your Office applications with interruption, please renew by...Office 365 renewal message

Here's a tip for those wishing to save money on their Office 365 Home renewal.

If you were to click on the Buy button when you get the message, "RENEW YOUR SUBSCRIPTION To keep your Office applications with interruption, please renew by...Office 365 renewal message", and renew your subscription, you may be paying more than you need to.

As you can see from the following screenshot the cost for Office 365 Home is $119 if you renew on the internet.

Checking the cost on the Microsoft online store Office 365 Home is $119 (the same as the renewal online) and Office 365 Personal is $89.

However last year I decided to do a test and found you can renew your subscription by buying the Office 365 subscription from Officeworks (or possibly another retailer) and the renewal worked fine. The only problem I found is you need to wait until the last day, otherwise the renewal starts from the day you enter the subscription and thus you could lose a couple of days if you update early. It doesn't simply extend the renewal.

The benefit is Officeworks has the Ofice 365 Home subscription currently for $87 (limit four per customer for the card, but no such limit for the box version) and Office 365 Personal for $77. In both cases a good saving can be made by purchasing at Officeworks. A quick check of the other major retailers found their prices were higher.

For those with staff discount at Officeworks, even better.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 for IT support.