Tech Table Monday, May 5, 2014
May 5, 2014
Justin: Welcome to MPA Tech-Table. I’m Justin.
Diana: And I am Diana.
Justin: And we’re your hosts. We’ll be serving up a heaping spoonful of all things tech.
Diana: We promise, it will be easy to digest. Hello, Justin.
Justin: Hello, it’s Monday.
Diana: Yes, I’m trying to be really peppy today.
Justin: I can tell you are.
Diana: Let’s pep everyone up.
Justin: Wow, that’s impressive. Did you have some coffee?
Diana: Yes.
Justin: Yes. Very good. I ran into someone this morning, they said they had four or five cups. I was like, four or five cups since when? No, it’s craziness, just crazy. So you just promise not to drink that much coffee in a period of an hour.
Diana: Yeah, right.
Justin: It’s not good for you. So it’s Mail Monday, so we look into our mailbox. What’s that email address, Diana?
Diana: Questions@askMPA.com
Justin: That’s right, send your questions in to us. Now, Emily here emailed in a question. The question is, “Hey, PC Performer by Performer Soft keeps popping up and asking us to buy it. We remember you saying that Microsoft security essentials was part of the operating system now, right? So we shouldn’t need to buy this other pop-up, or should we?”
Diana: Wow, great question.
Justin: That’s a good question
Diana: Those pop-ups.
Justin: Yes, those pop-ups, they’re trying to sell you stuff. So we inform Emily that she does NOT need that secondary software. Most times, you know, you got some very small things on your computer that give you a pop-up box of some sort; you know they’re kind of infamous malware.
Diana: Yeah.
Justin: You know, that’s part of that we always warn you about: the malware. So you don’t trust those pop-ups, don’t click on them, just close them.
Diana: Yeah, and you can always give us a call if it’s something you are concerned about.
Justin: Yeah, and you really should go with that little tiny program to be inserted in your computer to get rid of that malware.
Diana: That’s true.
Justin: Right. So we suggested that she ran MalwareBytes and Spybot. I’ve always loved Spybot, absolutely.
Diana: That’s a neat name, too.
Justin: Yeah, it’s a great, great product – Spybot. That’s S-P-Y-B-O-T, and the Malware Bytes is M-A-L-W-A-R-E-B-Y-T-E-S. MalwareBytes.
Diana: Yes.
Justin: So if those came up with errors, then remove them, as this is trusted software suggests. So basically use those, and if you find errors then remove.
Diana: Right.
Justin: Absolutely.
Diana: And now another thing you can check is Chrome extensions, and occasionally things do in it, certainly, get downloaded, get directly to your Chrome, which can create pop-ups.
Justin: What’s your Chrome?
Diana: Your browser.
Justin: Your browser, right. I hope you’re not using IE, Internet Explorer still – duh-duh-duhm, that’s not good. You should be using Chrome. By Google, of course.
Diana: Yeah. So, now, how do you get in there? You can disable and remove those extensions by going to Settings. And you access Settings if you look in your upper right portion of your browser. There’s like these little three lines, three horizontal lines; click on that, and then find Settings there, okay? Once you’re… it’s like a new tab opens, I think?
Justin: Yep.
Diana: Once that tab is open, then find Extensions, which is in the upper left side.
Justin: Yeah.
Diana: Click on that, and you can from there disable and remove any extensions that you don’t want there.
Justin: Absolutely. So, you know, recognizing pop-ups as malware and running scans to remove it are some of the best things you can do to help protect your computer. Most times those malware pup-ups don’t hurt your computer, but they can be extremely annoying. I know, I mean, right now I have some errors, and I work at a tech place, you know, and I have errors in my QuickBooks; this error comes up all the time, and I’m like, “Blast you!” and then I call in Dave and he fixes it in two minutes. Yeah, and I deal with it for a month before I say anything, of course; that’s the way it goes. You know, take care of things like that. That’s important, because if you leave in untreated, it can develop into a worse problem. Absolutely. So, people can send questions, too.
Diana: Questions@askMPA.com
Justin: Until the next time.
Diana: Take care.
Justin: Tech Table is brought to you by MPA of Bloomfield, Iowa, and God’s Country Radio. You can visit us online at askmpa.com.
Diana: If you have questions or comments, please send them to questions@askmpa.com. That’s questions@askmpa.com.
Justin: And thanks for listening.
Post your comment