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• * Note - All service requests begin with a $40 diagnostic service fee. This fee is non-refundable and is not waived in the event recovery is not possible.

  • The diagnostic fee is charged at the time of drop off.

Viruses - How they steal from us all!

Viruses modify the way your computer works in many different ways. they are designed to replicate themselves across file structures as well as propagate among other computers they come in contact with. Rarely are they non-destructive, and they come in many different forms.

Technically a PC Virus has any number of functions, one of which may be to breach the security of your system to gather information such as credit card numbers, social security numbers, banking information or other personally identifiable target.

Most viruses are maliciously constructed, many join your PC to other networks that the user is unaware of for purposes of targeting and stealing your personal or corporate information. Many will control your PC, and use it to target other computer systems in a coordinated attack (making a PC a "zombie") to bring larger ISP (Internet Service Providers) servers offline such as has been the case with AOL, Yahoo and other major ISP providers.

Some viruses manipulate and craft logical attacks against local or foreign governments as well.

Whatever the intent, it is rarely an easy removal process to rid yourself of any virus without in-depth knowledge of how to insure you are not simply increasing the damages to your data or (in the case of Logic Bombs) - triggering a mechanism that will format your hard drive clean or (worse) infect your boot sector and thus removing your ability to even use your hard drive ever again.

To proceed with virus removal without knowing what you are fighting against, is as good as walking into a "never before visited" room with the lights off and having your eyes closed.

Without professional assistance during removal you may even cause more harm (in the case of Logic Bombs).

Today's malicious software Viruses and Trojan Horses can steal your identity & ruin your credit identity in seconds, without you ever realizing anything even happened.

In order to fight back, you must be able to help yourself and you must have your own small army of tools to defend your PC. There truly are too many viruses out there to keep up on your own in fighting them, so we suggest you get a anti-virus solution that keeps your system up to date automatically, and one that also scans your PC automatically on a daily basis.

Viruses - & - Anti-Virus help!

Virus writers don't charge a fee to write their files, (usually they just steal from the intended victims whatever they want)... a major point for virus writers is to remain anonymous. Maybe they are trying to exact some form of revenge or make some form of protest. Some just do so simply because they can. Some writers are just in need of attention, all are in need of something they lack.

Whatever the reason of the virus writers hold in their mind that allows them to commit the acts that they do, there are just as many reasons for those of us who wish to remove them from being able to exact their revenge, proliferate their un-ethical tactics along with their methods, and permanently remove them from being granted use on a public forum such as the internet.

Too many people are becoming victims of identity crimes and some of us are tired of sitting on the sidelines watching it happen. So, what can we do to help....? Better yet, how can we collectively help ourselves...

At Couri tech we point out some things we can all do for free, to help ourselves out.

Here is a list of websites you can visit to greatly increase your chance of surviving or stopping a virus - and a few tips that can help you get rid of viruses once you've been infected.

This is not a cure-all list, nor exhaustive in depth. Some of you may find their virus infections are too serious to solve without professional services such as those we offer.

We offer below some program choices, in out attempt to help our customers fight and hopefully stop infections from ever happening, or to prevent the further spreading of infections to other PC systems & networks!

The List - "It's a good place to start"

Anti-Virus Solutions 

http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/

• (Microsoft Anti-Virus - Very highly recommended "Free Personal Use" Anti-Virus program).

http://free.grisoft.com

• (AVG Anti-Virus - Very highly recommended "Free Personal Use" Anti-Virus program).

http://www.avira.com/en/download/

• (Avira Anti-Virus - Very highly recommended "Free Personal Use" Anti-Virus program).

http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/default.htm

• (Microsoft software safety scanner is a free service designed to help ensure the health of your PC).

  • Check for and remove viruses

  • Get rid of junk on your hard disk

  • Improve PC performance

http://vil.nai.com/vil/stinger

• (McAfee - free scanner tool for Virus removal of many well known viruses and Trojan horse infections).

http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/tools.list.html

• (Symantec - Virus removal tool center - Handy if you've already been infected, and unfortunately quite the necessary tools for many).

http://housecall.trendmicro.com

• (Trend Micro - House-Call utility will scan your infected PC and help you clean house). Great against Trojan Horses, viruses, Ad-ware and Joke programs! Use either the Internet browser add-on to scan... or the Java download.

Anti-Spyware Solutions

http://www.safer-networking.org

• (Spybot - Very highly recommended spy-ware removal tool).

http://www.lavasoft.com

• (Ad-Aware Personal Edition - Recommended for most users - used as an added Adware removal tool).

Pop-Up Blockers

http://toolbar.google.com

• (Pop-Up blocker is included with Google and is considered by Couri Tech to be a very valuable & functional toolbar).

Firewall Solutions

http://www.zonelabs.com

• (Zone Alarm - Free firewall and IM Security tools (click the Product Support page and look for the releases after clicking the product you want to download).

  • Also is a handy tool if you've already been infected, and definitely a "must have" tool for all IM users.

Malicious BHO (Browser Helper Object) Hijack Removal Tool

http://free.antivirus.com/hijackthis

• (Trend Micro - Use this if your internet browser has been taken over and your homepage is re-directing you to a malicious site use this).

  • Be careful as changes you make are permanent changes and cannot be undone when initiated, so be sure you read the instructions. Great tool for every security arsenal!!

Productivity Software

http://www.java.com

• (Java by SUN - software allows you to play online games, chat with people around the world, calculate your mortgage interest, and view images in 3D).

http://www.adobe.com

• (Adobe - Software includes Adobe Reader allowing you to read .pdf files, and Flash player among other many free downloads that can help you navigate and see websites that display in movie format).

http://www.openoffice.org

• (Need an Office Suite of tools but don't have the money for Microsoft Word & Excel, or WordPerfect)? Open office includes a suite of tools "and is compatible with MS Office"... Open Office is designed around "open source" and has user forums for available support.

Backup Solutions

Wikipedia - Very Good List of Backup Software

• (Backup Solutions Comparisons)

http://www.freebyte.com/fbbackup

• (Freebyte - Backup is a freeware backup program for Windows. It allows one to easily copy "and filter" a large number of files and directories from various sources into one backup directory).

Desktop Imaging Solutions

http://downloads.vmware.com

Safer Web Browsing Tools

http://www.siteadvisor.com

• (McAfee - This tool shows Google and many other search engine results using identifications such as a mark known good sites, a Red X indicates known problem sites, mark questionable sites (e.g.) that may send spam, or a for un-reviewed sites).

  • (Highly recommended for every single customer).

   

http://www.google.com/familysafety/tools.html

• (Google SafeSearch - Designed to screen sites that contain sexually explicit content and remove them from your search results).

  • While no filter is 100% accurate, SafeSearch helps you avoid content you may prefer not to see or would rather your children did not stumble across.

   

Secure FTP (File Transfer Protocol) Solutions

http://filezilla-project.org/download.php

• (Filezilla - This program allows you to run FTP, FTPS, SFTP, SSL, TLS and more).

http://www.coreftp.com/download.html

• (Core FTP - This program allows you to also run FTP, FTPS, SFTP, SSL, TLS and more).

• In certain cases we recommend this as a second program if your firewall is blocking use of FileZilla

Remote Desktop Solutions

http://www.crossloop.com/download.htm

• (Crossloop - This program allows you to share your desktop with someone remotely - or vice-versa however both parties must have the client program installed... help friends or family from your desktop)

http://www.realvnc.com/products/download.html

• (Real VNC - This program also allows you to remotely control a PC across the web).

  • It can be used as an alternative to Microsoft RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) - and it also adds more security to your configurations.

Secure E-Mail Certificate Solutions

http://www.comodo.com/home/email-security/secure-email.php

• (Comodo - SecureEmail automatically encrypts all emails and manages the certificate exchange process allowing you encrypt mail between you and your destination).

Web Site Backup Solutions

http://sourceforge.net/projects/getleftdown

• (Getleft - A Web site grabber, it downloads complete web sites according to the options set by the user).

Alternate Internet Browser Solutions

http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/products/download.html

• (Firefox - is an Internet browser that you can use to visit web pages and search the Web, and it has plenty of browser plug-ins to secure your experience).

http://www.opera.com/browser/download

• (Opera - Surf the Web with lightning speed, using the fastest browser ever).

Video Recording

http://www.camstudio.org/CamStudio20.exe

• (Screen Shot Movie making software allows you to capture a desktop movie of what you're seeing on your PC, then save it as an avi or swf file and then send it out).

  • This is extremely useful if you are sending out a help video with an instruction on a "how to" job, or better. You can have a movie (for free) showing the instructions in a first hand tutorial.

  • Forget trying to explain a problem to a help desk, take a movie and share the result on You Tube once you have an account. A movie is worth a thousand words.

Just Plain "Cool Stuff"!

http://www.worldwidetelescope.org/Home.aspx

• (Extreme Telesope - Immerse yourself in a seamless beautiful environment).
  • WorldWide Telescope (WWT) enables your computer to function as a virtual telescope, bringing together imagery from the best ground and space-based telescopes in the world.

http://www.effectmatrix.com/morphing

• (Magic Morph - Morph any photo with any other photo).

http://www.scitopia.org/scitopia

• (Scitopia - Search over 3.5 million scientific documents, plus patents and government data).

http://store.steampowered.com/app/39000

• (Moon Base Alpha - NASA developed game that lets you assume the exciting role of an astronaut working to further human expansion and research. Requires the free "Steam" software client).

http://store.steampowered.com

• (Steam - Over 1,100 games are available to purchase, download, and play from any computer).

http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/redmond/groups/ivm/ice

• (Microsoft Image Composite Editor - Microsoft Image Composite Editor is an advanced panoramic image stitcher).

   

  • Given a set of overlapping photographs of a scene shot from a single camera location, the application creates a high-resolution panorama that seamlessly combines the original images.

http://photosynth.net

• (Microsoft - Photosynth takes your photos, mashes them together and recreates a 3D scene out of them that anyone can view and move around in).

http://prezi.com

• (Create incredible presentations)! - Not free but very cool to look at...

Web 2.0 Sites (Freebies)!

http://ubuntu.com

• (Free Linux Operating System)!

http://www.box.net

• (Free web space in the cloud to store files).

http://del.icio.us

• (Free web space in the cloud to store your "favorite" links).

http://hubpages.com

• (Free site for help on getting yourself published).

http://flickr.com

• (Free site with over 10 million active groups with over 60 million photographers that share through photos).

http://jajah.com

• (Free VoIP Site - like Skype).

http://pbwiki.com

• (Make your own wiki - easily - and store it on the web).

http://linkedin.com

• (Like a Facebook for Business contacts).

http://docs.google.com

• (Store all your documents and make them accessible from anywhere).

http://gmail.com

• (Free E-Mail)!

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Copyright © 2007 Couri Technology - This website designed by Couri Technology This site last updated: 07/24/2011

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