Tag: Call Duane

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Anti- Virus Protection

October 2025.2 Blog Graphic- Anti- Virus Protection

I get asked about anti-virus protection a lot. Questions like “do I really need anti-virus?” “What anti-virus is best?” Also, I get questions about specific anti-virus products and my opinion of them. So here are my thoughts on various types and brands of anti-virus.

  1. Do I really need an anti-virus program? Yes, every computer, whether it is Windows or Apple, should have an antivirus installed on it. Even people that are very cautious about using their computers can still accidentally click the wrong thing or accidentally allow something harmful onto their computers. I know Apple used to claim their computers don’t get viruses, but I have removed many viruses from MACs, so this is not true. Windows computers all come with Windows Defender preinstalled. If you don’t have another anti-virus installed this will give you a little bit of protection. After spending several hundred dollars or more on a computer that holds all of your precious documents, why wouldn’t you spend a few dollars a month to protect all of it?
  2. Are the free versions enough?  No, there is only one reason that a company gives you something for free. They give it free so they can then sell it to you in the future. All of the “free” products are really just marketing companies that constantly try to upsell you more products based on fear. I always feel like these companies have become the thing they should be stopping. They just keep popping up with new scary things and offer more products to protect you from those scary things. Most of those scary things are not real or needed. I have also installed a paid anti-virus on many computers that have a free version and during the initial scan the paid product finds things the free one never found. If your antivirus keeps telling you about new scary threats and offering to fix it for a price, give me a call and I will tell you if the threat is real or not. Many times, starting with a free version can end up costing hundreds per year if you fall for the scary pop-ups they use.
  3. What anti-virus is the best?  That is not a completely straight forward question. It really depends on whether you are using a personal computer or a work environment computer. Sometimes it makes sense to use a product with an add on if you were going to purchase that add on from someone else. For instance, if you want a VPN because you use public wifi a lot you can get an anti-virus that has a built-in VPN. For personal computers I like two different A/Vs. My go-to products are ESET and Webroot. They both do a good job, and they don’t constantly try to sell you more stuff. For business machines I recommend endpoint protection. The difference between endpoint and traditional A/V is that the endpoint version is managed by a console where all company machines are monitored and remotely fixed if there is a threat present. Another great feature is that an employee, or a bad actor, can’t even uninstall the endpoint. It can only be done from the console. If you have a couple of computers in your company, I can help you get this important coverage, and I will handle the monitoring for you. The actual cost is a lot less than you would think for this type of coverage.
  4. My computer came with a free trial from McAfee, should I just keep that one? I call McAfee the virus of the antivirus world. Their biggest marketing move was offering this free trial to all computer makers. They get a kickback from McAfee for adding this to their computers and whenever someone purchases from this trial. In a few instances I have pulled a computer out of the box and while setting it up I could not access the internet. After trying to fix it in the McAfee settings I ended up removing McAfee and then I could access the internet. They are probably the worst at pop-ups, trying to scare you and sell you more unnecessary stuff. They also give Adobe and a few other companies a kickback for allowing their product to download with the real software that you wanted. When downloading anything, watch out for check boxes to avoid getting things you don’t want. This extra product can slow down your system. It is always best to only have one antivirus on your computer. If you have more than one, they can cause issues for each other. More is not better.

I hope this has been helpful. Antivirus should not be expensive, and it should run in the background and not bother you too often. You should know what antivirus you are using so that if you happen to see another one on your computer you can quickly get rid of the extra one. I am always happy to help with questions about this topic.

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Screen Takeover Pop-ups

October 2025.2 Blog Graphic- Screen Takeover Pop-ups

This is one of the oldest scams out there. I keep thinking that surely everyone has heard about this one and is aware of how to resolve it, but I keep hearing from people that they fell victim to this scam. Please pass this on to anyone that might not be tech aware and needs to know about this.

Here is a video of what I am talking about:

This gives an example of what it can look like. There are many versions, some of them even turn your volume to full blast also. You can also get this on a MAC and a Chromebook. I did a Google search for Microsoft popup scams, and this is just a tiny bit of all the search results. As you can see this can take on many forms, but they all do the same thing.

As the video says, the safe way to get rid of this is to completely turn off your computer and when you turn it back on do not restore your browser session. If you have a desktop computer just pull the power cord out of the wall and then plug it back in and start up your computer. If you are on a laptop, it is a little harder. The power button on laptops usually is set to put the laptop to sleep when you tap the button. The way to get it to turn off completely is to press and hold the power button for 30 seconds. Once you turn it back on you should get the entire startup where it shows Dell, HP, Apple, or whatever company logo and then your operating system will load. If it quickly goes to your sign in without the full startup, it did not fully shutdown.

Please make sure that you and everyone you know are aware that NO COMPANY IS MONITORING YOUR COMPUTER. Any pop-up like this is fake. Also, no government agency monitors your computer. So, if it says FBI, CIA or Justice Center it is also fake.

As always, if you are unsure about something on your computer you can call me or forward an email to verify if it is real or not.

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Overrun with junk emails!!

I often get questions from customers about how to cut down on the flood of unwanted emails they receive every day. Many hope there’s a magic button to stop it but unfortunately, it’s not that simple.

The right approach depends on the type of email you’re dealing with. Here’s a quick guide to the most common kinds of messages and how to handle them:

1. Legitimate Companies (Retailers, Restaurants, etc.)

These are emails that clearly come from a business you recognize, such as “sales@target.com” or “marketing@tacobell.com”. By law, these companies must include an unsubscribe link. Using that link is safe, and within 7–10 days you should stop receiving their promotions.

2. Affiliate Marketers and “Deal” Sites

These come from sketchier addresses like “jayne@yourbestdealsnow.com”. Technically, they’re supposed to follow the same unsubscribe rules—but often don’t. Be cautious: some “unsubscribe” links simply redirect you to more ads. Before clicking, hover over the link to see where it actually goes. A safer option is to use your email provider’s block or report button. This often pushes future emails straight to spam and, in some cases, can even get the sender shut down.

3. Fake or Spoofed Emails

These are the trickiest—and most dangerous. Examples include fake purchase receipts, antivirus subscriptions, or alerts from banks you don’t even use. These messages often come from throwaway or stolen email addresses. Never click “unsubscribe” on these. Doing so could add malware to your computer and tell scammers your email is active, which will only get you more junk. Instead, delete them or mark them as spam.

This list isn’t exhaustive, but it covers the majority of junk mail you’ll run into. If you’re ever unsure, you can forward a suspicious email to me, and I’ll verify whether it’s real.For small businesses, I also offer tools that automatically block scams and spoofed emails before they ever hit your employees’ inboxes. In the past year alone, my system has stopped nearly 1,000 scam emails for my customers. It’s affordable protection that could save your business thousands in lost time and money.

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Potentially Unwanted Programs

If you know me, you know that I swear by Malwarebytes. I use it on all computers – Mac or PC for initial clean up and to get rid of obvious malware. One of the categories of items that Malwarebytes finds and deletes is what they call PUP files, or potentially unwanted program files.

What are these files and why am I mentioning them? These are programs that you probably don’t want and did not download and install on purpose. You might have clicked on the wrong thing or didn’t see a checkbox when doing another download but now you have this new “junk” on your computer, and you don’t know how to get rid of it or even how it got there.

There are many different programs that fall into this category. A few I have dealt with are OneLaunch, Wave Browser and Shift Browser.

This is why I always tell people to make sure they know what is installed on their computers. If you see any of these icons on your desktop, get rid of these programs immediately!

These all work the same. They take over and become your default browser. They try to look similar to either Chrome or Edge hoping you won’t notice. What they really do is force you to use their search engine to build up their numbers and force you to go to websites you wouldn’t normally go to. I saw a customer just yesterday and he told me that Edge opens up every time he logs into his computer. He demonstrated this for me, and it turns out it was Wave not Edge. Since the colors were similar, he didn’t notice. Once we uninstalled Wave, he didn’t have a browser pop open each time he logged in.

I have seen these redirect you from a real site to a fake site. As I said before, I don’t know exactly how they get installed, but I know it isn’t from people going out and looking for them. If you see these on your computer, you should immediately uninstall them and make sure your preferred browser is set up as your default and your preferred search engine is also your default.

If you are not sure how to uninstall these, or you just need help identifying if you have these or similar “pup” files on your computer let me know and I can help get rid of them. It will probably improve your computer speed.

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System Restore

I have talked about this many times before, but last week it happened to one of my customers again. His computer would not boot up after a restart and it kept going to the repair options. He Googled where to go from there and tried to fix this himself.

One of the options is System Restore. Your computer has the capability to periodically create restore points so that if there is a problem and the computer fails to start you can restore to a point in the past where it was still working.

When my customer tried this option, the computer said that System Restore was not turned on. The default used to be that it was automatically turned on and you had to go in and turn it off if you didn’t want it. That is not how it is now. If you want to have this safety feature ready for you it has to be turned on. If my customer had been aware of this, it would have saved him a lot of time and money. After he tried all of the Google ideas, he called me, and I had to reinstall Windows to get his computer working again.

If you want to make sure this is turned on on your computer, it is pretty easy to do. If you have the search bar next to the start button –

 A close up of a sign AI-generated content may be incorrect.

You can type “system restore” and it will give you the option to create a restore point. Click on that and it will tell you if System Restore is turned on or off. You only need it for your main drive, not any others since they don’t have the operating system on them.

This one simple thing can help make sure your computer keeps working. If you need help with this, I can walk you through it. Here is a video that explains this and another big issue that can make you lose access to your computer:

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To AI or Not To AI?

It seems like everywhere you turn lately some kind of AI (Artificial Intelligence) is being talked about. Some tout it as the next big thing, while others, in the words of mama from The Waterboy, see it as “The Devil.” I am sure the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

While I was researching my second book – The Higher Education Scam, I interviewed many people. One of them mentioned to me what they heard about AI from a supposed expert. This expert said, “you will not lose your job to AI, but you will lose your job to someone who knows how to use AI.”

Based on all of this, I thought this would be a good topic to write about, so I decided to ask ChatGPT to write an outline for me. Here is the conversation:

I asked:

“I am writing about how to get started using AI in my monthly newsletter this month. Can you give me an outline and a few pointers?”

ChatGPT said:

Absolutely, Duane — that’s a great topic for your monthly newsletter. An article like this can position you as both helpful and forward-thinking for your clients. Here’s a clear outline and key pointers to get you started:

Newsletter Title:

“Getting Started with AI: What You Need to Know”

Outline:

1. Introduction: Why AI Matters Now

Briefly define AI in simple terms.

Mention how it’s already changing the way small businesses and individuals operate (e.g., chatbots, automation, content creation).

Reassure readers: you don’t need to be a tech genius to get started.

2. Real-Life Examples of AI You May Already Be Using

Voice assistants (Siri, Alexa)

Auto-correct or predictive typing

Spam filters in email

AI in photo editing apps or customer service chats

3. Easy Ways to Try AI for Yourself

Break down 3–5 beginner-friendly tools:

ChatGPT – Ask questions, generate emails, summarize info.

Grammarly – Writing assistant with AI-powered suggestions.

Canva’s Magic Tools – AI image and design generation.

Google Gemini or Microsoft Copilot – For document help or web search.

Otter.ai or Fireflies.ai – Automatically transcribe meetings or calls.

Include a tip: Try using AI to write your next social media post, respond to a tricky email, or create a to-do list.

4. Do’s and Don’ts for Using AI Effectively

✅ DO start small—experiment with one tool at a time.

✅ DO fact-check—AI can sound confident but still be wrong.

❌ DON’T share sensitive client data with AI tools.

❌ DON’T expect it to do your job for you—use it as a helper, not a replacement.

5. How Duane’s Reliable Computer Services Can Help

Offer help choosing and setting up AI tools.

Offer a 1:1 intro session or group demo.

Mention any AI tools you’re integrating into your own service (e.g., EDR with AI-driven detection, automated maintenance alerts, etc.)

6. Final Thoughts / Call to Action

Encourage them to give AI a try this month.

Offer a quick consultation to help them find the right tool.

Example: “Reply to this email with ‘AI HELP’ and I’ll send you my top tool recommendation for your business.”

Pointers for Writing:

Keep it conversational and non-technical.

Use real-world analogies (e.g., “Think of AI like a really smart assistant that doesn’t sleep.”)

Include a screenshot or short demo gif if possible.

Keep it short and skimmable—use bullet points, bold key ideas.

Would you like help drafting the full article based on this outline, or do you want to write it and have me review it?”

This took about ten seconds for ChatGPT to give me this outline and some pointers. I don’t normally just copy and paste the response into a document. I usually use it as a starting point, but I wanted to show you a real-life example of what it can do and how it works.

I have been using AI for a couple years now. I regularly run emails through it if I want them to sound more professional, less threatening, or more concise, for example. I also use a program called Otter.ai when I am in meetings. This program will listen to the entire conversation and then transcribe it for me. It then creates an outline and lists any action items. I do pay for this tool, but it saves me hours per month, so it is well worth it.

If you haven’t tried AI yet, you can go to chatgpt.com and create a free account. It is best to create an account because over time ChatGPT will learn more about you and become even more helpful. Just don’t share sensitive information with it. In other words, AI could possibly help you do your taxes, but since it searches online you don’t want to input your social security number. 

It is also important to verify any information that AI finds because sometimes it is wrong. I heard about a jr attorney that used AI to prepare for trial, and he found a case that was very similar to his current case, and he used it as an example in the opening statement which a senior attorney had to read. As he read about the other case in the courtroom the judge looked it up on his computer only to find it did not exist. I am sure someone lost their job over that one.

If you are interested in learning more about AI or trying it for yourself, reach out to me. I can help you set up an account and get you started.

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Changing Wifi Name and Password

The average US home in 2023 had 17 internet connected devices. Between smart TVs, smart home devices like Alexa and Hey Google, security systems, smart watches, phones and of course computers, making a change to your wifi name or password can be an all-day task of setting up devices again. Just getting a new router or switching to a new ISP is a scary thought.

I had a customer call me recently because he decided to switch from CenturyLink internet and go to Verizon with their whole house wifi pod. He received the new router in the mail and followed the instructions and was successful in getting his computer on the new wifi but none of his other devices connected. He called me to come to help and having gone through this last year, I was ready for the challenge.

The first thing I did was verify his new connection and connect to my laptop so I could make sure the internet was working properly. Next, I ask him to tell me the previous wifi name and password. He had added one character to the old wifi name for the new wifi name. The passwords were the same. I logged into his new system and changed the new name to what the old name was and in just a few minutes all of his many devices began to connect to his new internet.

We did not have to reset any of his devices. Every one of them is connected to the new wifi. So, if you are switching ISPs or even just getting a new router, use the same name as before and the same password and you will probably have all of your devices reconnect also.

If you need to change the wifi name or password because they are compromised, do some research beforehand, so you have all the information at hand to quickly reset all devices. If you need help with this, I am available for this type of work.

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Password Managers – Pros and Cons

I have talked a lot about password managers in the past and thought I would bring it up again. I know many people are reluctant to try them because they don’t understand how they work or how to set them up. In this article, I will explain all of that and also give you the reasons to go this way and some possible pitfalls too.

If you are currently keeping all of your passwords on a document on your computer and you occasionally update it and print out a new copy, moving to a password manager will simplify your life. No more multiple entries with some scratched out and dates next to each when it was last changed, or the last time you remember changing it. When I help someone set up a new computer and they use the printed document method it usually takes 30 to 45 minutes longer to set up their computer since we have to try multiple passwords and then reset most of them anyway since the person doesn’t remember the correct password. Since they are paying me by the hour, they actually spend more than the yearly cost of a password manager just by having me reset their passwords.

If you are currently keeping all of your passwords stored in a browser and you rely on that browser to keep all of them straight you might be in danger. Those passwords are not secure and could easily be stolen or accessed. With a true password manager, you have one master password that you need to remember to keep all other passwords secure. Typically, you log in to your computer and then log in to the password manager whenever you need a password. This can also be used on more than one device so if you have a computer, phone and tablet all of your passwords can be shared with all three devices, but they are still secure behind your one master password.

Setting up your password manager is easy if your passwords are stored in your browser. You can easily import them directly into the password manager from your browser. Once they are all loaded into the password manager you can delete them from your browser, and this will greatly improve the security on your computer.

So here is the quick Pros and Cons:

Pros – 

  • Better security, you need a master password to access all of your other passwords.
  • Passwords can be available on all of your devices.
  • Only one password to remember.
  • Password managers will help you reset or change passwords.
  • No paper copies lying around to get taken or lost.
  • You can even keep credit card numbers securely in the password manager.

Cons – 

  • Most password managers have a small cost if you want to share across your devices.
  • You must remember that one password.  Most have no recovery if the master password is forgotten.

As you can see, having a password manager is a smart step towards better computing. I know setting up things like this can be daunting, but I can help you through the technical stuff. Call me if you want help with this. Here is a link to my favorite password manager:

Keeper

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Two Factor Authentication and Authenticator Apps

I got a new phone recently. I have been putting off getting a new one for a couple years because I didn’t want to deal with resetting all of my MS Authenticator entries. I have close to 30 entries in my MS Authenticator because I am an admin for many different companies. I have helped others reset their authenticators before, but it usually doesn’t work easily, and it becomes a pain to fix it. After reading up on how to do it correctly, I decided to back my authenticator up to my Microsoft account and make the change.

It didn’t work out how I had hoped. The only entries that worked on my new phone after restoring my authenticator were my personal accounts. All of the accounts I manage for others did not work and required resetting them.

When I tried to reset them, I realized that I had added all of the recommended methods when I set them all up. I was able to get a text or email to get into the account and then I could easily go in and reset the authenticator. What I thought would be a nightmare turned out to be easy.

Why am I telling you this? My recommendation is, whenever you are setting up two-factor authentication, set up all of the methods they have available. This will allow you to easily get into your accounts even if your authenticator doesn’t work.

I know all of these extra steps are no fun, but they do keep your accounts safe. I recently had a couple of people at one of my companies that were getting text codes every few minutes for their email accounts. Since we had two factor set up, they did not lose access to their emails and the crooks did not get into their email. We were able to log into their accounts, reset their passwords and then sign out all instances so the crooks lost their ability to attempt to get in.

This happens often. Most months I get at least four or five people with this issue. As I have said before, if you don’t have two-factor authentication set up, Login to your accounts and get it going. If you need help with any of this let me know.

Here is a video I made about two-factor authentication.

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Your Document is Too Large

This recently happened to a customer of mine. He is writing a book, not for the general public but something for his kids to read about his journey and life lessons. He has been working on this for years and he is almost finished with it. He is writing it in Word and recently added most of the pictures to it. He called me because he can no longer open this document. It tries to open and then he gets an error message and it closes. This is his only copy, so he was very concerned. After trying a few other programs to open it and converting it to different versions of documents, we finally got it open but there were some errors. Eventually he was able to copy half of the document to a new document and then delete it from the original. This gave him parts one and two and he can safely complete his book.

Document size is a problem many people experience. It might be like my customer when you have difficulty opening a document or it might be when you try to send a document to someone in an email. Yes, your email also has size limits for attachments.

So how can you avoid file size issues? It depends on the type of file and what you want to do with it. 

For sending files as attachments, both Gmail and Microsoft max out around 20 MB for all attachments. So, if you have more than one attachment the total of all documents must be less than the limit. The easier way to send large documents is to save them in your OneDrive or Google Drive and then send a link to share the file(s). You can also use Dropbox for this if that is where you store your online files. If you right click on the file or even a folder in your online drive, one of the choices is “share”, add their email address, or copy the link and put it in a new email. As always, I am happy to help with this if needed.

If you are working on a document in Word, Excel, or another program. Consider putting it into two or more documents. You can always google “max size limit” for the type of document you are working with. It is much better to do this before you get an error that prevents you from opening your document. You can also adjust the size of pictures that you add to your document. This usually requires a photo editing program to reduce the file size of the picture.

Hopefully you never get this type of error, but if you do I have a few programs that can sometimes help. Reach out if you need to.

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