Weekend Windows Attacks Can Hold Your Data for Ransom

The WannaCrypt (called WannaCry if your become a victim) has caused world wide panic. Here’s how to protect yourself.

If you get a call about your computer, IT’S A SCAM !

UPDATE: In addition to the scam of the bad guys calling you, there is a new type of “scareware” that’s appeared. It pops-up a message on your screen saying your computer has been infected and with a phone number for you to call them so they can “fix” your infected computer–for several hundred dollars. The rest of their scam is just like my article here. Watch out for these dirty “rats”!

From “Ugh!” to “Ahhh!”: Making Windows 8 more Windows 7 / XP friendly

Tired of Windows 8’s “Metro” look and it’s big “charm” tiles”? Do you long for the old Windows 7 (or Windows XP) Desktop?

You’re not alone. I’ll show you a great piece of software that will make the most stubborn Windows 8 computer look and purr just like the old Windows that you know and love.

Hope for Victims of RansomCrypt and CryptoLocker

For those who’ve had their files hijacked and unreadable by the CryptoLocker “ransomware” virus– a nasty piece of code that encrypts your files and demands you pay them to get the “encryption key” to read them again–there’s hope.

Go to this web site on WinTips.org :  http://www.wintips.org/how-to-remove-cryptolocker-ransomware-and-restore-your-files/#comment-3532 .  There’s a lot there, so read everything (including the Comments) first before trying this.

Thanks to blogger Lakonst  in posting the solution. If you have questions, you can contact me or Lakonst.

~CC, The Computer Cat

April 8 Windows XP “deadline”: Do you really need to upgrade?

Remember the fervor (more like a panic) over Y2K? Well the same “fervor” is happening in the last few weeks as people’s XP computers are suddenly getting pop up windows saying their system will no longer be safe after April 8th, and everyone show go to Windows 8 immediately. But do you really need to upgrade? I’ll give you a checklist so you can make the choice on whether to upgrade your XP (and likely your actual computer) and what you can do to keep XP and still stay safe.

Buying Your First Computer

The first thing people ask my Human when they find out she’s The Chief Geek is “I want to buy a new computer. What kind would you get?” If you’re buying your first computer or going to buy a new one for going back to school, here’s some of The Chief Geek’s tips to save you some time, money, and aggravation.

Chicken Soup for Computers

Is your computer losing it’s spring? Not performing like it used to? Here are the five most common computer problems and their remedies.

Givin’ Some “IE 10 Love” to Windows 7

My Human is very excited today. Out of months of saying “no new IE for Windows 7 users”, Microsoft has finally relented and announced that the more secure IE 10 will now be available for Windows 7 (and Server 2008 too!). Find out more on how to get it for your Win 7 machine!

July 9th and the Dreaded “DNS Changer”

You might have heard on the ‘netwaves talk about the DNS Changer attack scheduled for July 9th. I’ll give you a non-geek description of what it is, what it does, and what you can to do to test your computer for it.

When Windows Search Doesn’t

I’m sending this out to all the other Computer Cats out there to see if any cat (or dog) has experienced this problem too. Windows 7 has been out for a couple of years now. And while I consider Windows 7 to be a big improvement over Vista (and from what I seen, Windows 8), there’s been one issue that bugs me more that a pesky flea in my fur.

You Don’t Need To Buy Office 2007/2010 Just To Read Those Files

If you can’t read the new Microsoft Office .DOCX or .XLSX files, you don’t need to toss out your good old, reliable version of Office. Here’s how you can read those new file types for free!

No Phishing Here!

You probably have heard a lot about “phishing”, but don’t know what it is. Let a cat explain why you don’t want to catch this particular fish!