Computing Links

 

  • Action Fraud – Action Fraud is the UK’s national fraud reporting centre.
    There are details on how to protect yourself against fraud, how to report a fraud and valuable advice on fraud prevention.
  • Ask Jack – The Guardian’s Jack Schofield has an excellent technology/computing blog.
  • Avast Antivirus Free – The simple home solution to great protection. Avast Free antivirus represents the best FREE antivirus protection currently available.
  • Backup your computer-A backup of your computer’s drive or data is absolutely vital to avoid total data loss.
  • Banking Online – Follow the advice here to avoid problems when banking online.
  • Beware of the hackers – How easy is it to hack into your life? Find out here.
  • CryptoLocker is a trojan which encrypts all your files and then holds you to ransom.
  • Complaints Board-Just Answer – This link shows a typical customer complaint about Just Answer. If you do a quick search you will find many thousands more. One of our members fell foul of JA recently but fortunately managed to recover her money.If you have problems of any kind, please do NOT ask JA for assistance.
  • Email hacked-1 – What to do if your email account is hacked.
  • Email hacked-2 – Further advice on how to avoid email hackers.
    NEVER, EVER click on an unknown link contained in one of these emails. Delete the whole email immediately.
  • Firefox is a FREE and open source web browser from Mozilla.

  • Foxit Reader is a FREE small, lightning fast, and feature rich PDF viewer which allows you to open, view, sign, and print any PDF file.

  • Fraudulent emails from “HMRC” – Fraudulent emails (phishing) purporting to come from HM Revenue & Customs telling you that you have paid too much income tax and are due a rebate.
    Read this very carefully because the emails are very sophisticated and at first glance appear to be genuine.
    HMRC will NEVER send notifications of a tax rebate by email, or ask you to disclose personal or payment information by email.
    To be completely safe from phishers, do not select links in emails. If in doubt, close your browser, reopen it, and type the web address for the site you want to visit directly into the address bar.
  • Get Safe Online – Useful tips on how to keep safe from online fraud.
  • How secure is my password? Check the security of your passwords and strengthen them if necessary.
  • How to create a strong password. – How to create strong passwords and in addition, how to avoid weak ones. Also see the link, ” Secure Password Generator”.
  • ImgBurn is FREE burning software that allows recording to CD,DVD and Blu-Ray discs and much more besides. Download using ImgBurn’s own mirror (Mirror 7).
  • Java security flaw – A major flaw in Oracle’s Java code led to millions of computers worldwide being infected by harmful trojans. Unless it is absolutely necessary to run Java in your web browser, disable it.
  • Kaspersky TOTAL (not Internet) Security 2017 is a first class security suite which includes a Backup & Restore (B & R) facility for documents, photos etc. This product is recommended by Which? The Internet version does not include B & R.
  • Libre Office is the leading open-source, totally FREE, office software suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, databases and more. It stores your data in an international open standard format and can also read and write files from other common office software.
  • Macrium Reflect is extremely versatile FREE backup software.
  • Microsoft accused of “dirty tricks” regarding Windows 10 upgrade in BBC report. Essential reading if you do not want Windows 10 sneakily installed on your computer.
  • Microsoft Support Centre scam – This well-known scam is still doing the rounds and lots of people are still falling for it.
  • Online fraud via Gmail – As usual, when something sound too good to be true, it is usually fraudulent.
  • Passwords for surviving partners  Make sure that your partner or solicitor knows your computer password.
  • PIXresizer is an excellent piece of FREE software for resizing multiple photographs very quickly, either for uploading to a website or for attachment to an email. In both cases there are restrictions on image file sizes, hence the need for PIXresizer.
  • Protecting your computer. Sensible precautions to protect your computer from malware attack.
  • Protecting yourself. Online protection advice.
  • Report an email scam – This BBC news item gives more information on reporting email scams to Action Fraud and highlights the plight of one victim who lost thousands of pounds.
  • Secure Password Generator – If you have run out of ideas for a secure password, generate one by simply ticking the various options boxes.
  • Skype – Make telephone calls from your computer; FREE to other people on Skype and cheap to phones and mobiles around the world.
  • Thunderbird is a FREE and open source email program from Mozilla.
  • Vishing or Voice Phishing – occurs when fraudsters phone up, posing as the police or the victim’s bank.

  • 7-Zip is a FREE utility for dealing with zip files.