What A Virus Does to Your Computer

Sometimes people have to see a see something to fully understand it. If you've ever wondered about the damage a virus can do to your computer then this funny video from Planet Internet will help you appreciate security software. If you need PC Protection be sure and visit my Security Toolbox for Free PC Security Software.

Antivirus XP 2008

If you see something like the picture below on your PC then you've been attacked by malware. Antivirus XP 2008 is a bogus antivirus program that is advertised in the form of fake security alerts and warnings on web sites that state you are infected with malware or are being attacked in some manner. When you click on one these ads, it will automatically download the installer for Antivirus XP 2008 and install it on your computer. It is possible that Antivirus XP 2008 could be installed without any prompts from you.

Once installed, AntivirusXP 2008 will scan your computer and report a bunch of security risks found on your computer that can only be removed if you purchase the software. The risks are all fake and are being displayed to make you think your PC infected. The scumbags behind malware like this their money when you fall for the warning and buy their bogus software...which will most likely just install more Trojans, Worms, and Keyloggers so they can keep spreading the infection.

As always, I highly recommed that you run a layered defense on your PC as I outline in my Security Toolbox to prevent attacks like this from occurring.

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Google Chrome

Like every other Geek I've been trying out the Beta version of Google Chrome this week. It's a very easy to use and functional browser and for a Beta release very impressive. The installation went smoothly including adding all my current bookmarks from IE7. One thing I was happy to see was that Google didn't set Chrome to install and be the default browser.

I like the simplified look and feel of Chrome as well as the speed with which it loads web pages. It certainly appears faster than Internet Explorer 7 which is my current default browser. It also has an "Incognito Mode" that you can switch to to surf the web anonymously. This could be useful for a variety of situations besides just visiting adult sites.

I did have to install the latest version of Adobe's Flash Player to view Flash videos but that was no big deal and gave me the opportunity to watch how Chrome downloads files which is kind of cool...in a Geek sort of way.

There are a couple features it's lacking which will prevent me from using it on a regular basis though.

1. RoboForm doesn't recognize it so it won't pop-up to fill in passwords or forms. This is a huge issue for me as I use RoboForm on a regular basis. Hopefully the makers of RoboForm, Siber Systems will fix this...and not charge current users for some new version as a result.

2. The Bookmarks are organized alphabetically with no apparent way to sort them so Folders appear first followed by individual bookmarks at the bottom like you can do in Internet Explorer.

If Google adds more options for the user to change like amount of history to keep and sorting bookmarks this is going to be a very useful browser and certainly give both Internet Explorer and Firefox a run for their money.

You can learn about and download Google Chrome Here.