File 432 - A Case of Pop-Ups

By Mike McCarthy

The following blog is copyrighted by Mike McCarthy, 2011. All rights are reserved.

Unauthorized duplication in any manner is prohibited.

A CASE of POP-UPS

Friday May 20, 2011

3:42 p.m.

     I leaned back in my rickety chair, propped up my tired old dogs on the worn desk and gave a satisfying sigh of a job well done. I had just wrapped up a rather complicated case that took me most of the week to resolve. Classic case of a scorned wife who wanted to recover data from her soon-to-be ex’s laptop for use in the divorce proceedings. As usual I uncovered more than anyone thought I could. "Guy’s gonna have a rough time explaining that to the judge!"

+++++++++++

     Feeling smug, I nursed a cup of joe in my hands, which by-the-way tasted like a ten-day old pair of socks, when there was a knock on the door. Before I had a chance to respond the door swung slowly open revealing…

Mike McCord

Data Detective

Your Partner in Technology Support

on the door’s security glass. It was Paulie, AKA Paul Lawrence, from down the hall. Nice kid. Tall, slender, well groomed.
     “Mac,” he said. Only my best clients call me Mac. “I’ve got real problems!”
     “Paulie, of all the years I’ve known you, you’ve never had real problems.” I smiled.
     “This it’s serious Mac!” he sounded distraught. His face looked like someone whose best friend had just been murdered.
     “Take is easy Paulie,” I motioned to the chair. “Take a load off and tell me what’s going on.”
     Paul lowered himself into the pleather chair as he began unraveling the situation. “I was on my web site updating products you know, when I opened a new tab to my advertiser’s site…” Paulie was like that. Very distinct and articulate. He explained to me how he clicked on a link to a new advertising site when suddenly screens began popping up everywhere. Not just any screens he tells me, but some were, well, very provocative. He said it got to the point where he had to restart his system. That was when everything went crazy. I waited until he finished before re-introducing my mug of coffee to the top of my desk and return my shoes to the floor.
     “Didn’t you have protection?” I asked.
     “I did Mac, I did! My anti-virus protection alerted me, but it was too late.” “Hmm”, I thought. “This can’t be good.”
     I leaned forward. “Tell me, when did this happen?”
     “About an hour ago. I tried closing them out, but it seems things just got worse!” I could see Paulie was getting frustrated. “What can I do Mac? My site is my work, my work is my world. What’s happening? Can it be saved?”
     I planted my hands on the desk and we rose up together. That’s when Paulie heard someone whisper.
     Paulie asked, “What?”
     I repeated, “What?”
     “I thought you said pick up the Poo. What Poo?”
     I turned towards the half-opened window to find my nemesis’ sitting on the ledge outside. I rushed the window swinging my arms wildly and yelling like a drunken Baboon. “Pick up your own Poo you filthy birds!” A group of pigeons had decided the ledge outside my window would make a great meeting place. All day long I hear, “Pick up the Poo. Pick up the Poo.” It made sense since they certainly leave quite a pile of it behind. They’ll be back. They always come back.

+++++++++++

     Over in Paulie’s office I sat down at his computer and took a quick assessment of the situation. I could hear the shuffle of shoes on the stairs as people went about their business which meant the lift must be on the fritz again.
     “Okay,” I started. “Let’s try a System Restore first.” Going through my usual motions I clicked on Start and selected All Programs, Accessories, System Tools and finally, System Restore. The restore calendar indicated a restore point a few days back. I said to Paulie, “We’ll try this one first…” and set about the restore. Once Paulie’s system rebooted however, I found the restore was unsuccessful. “Damn!” I blurted out. This upset Paulie who stopped his pacing to stare at me.
     “Damn what Mac?” he asked moving over to my side. “What’s wrong?”
     “First restore point didn’t work,” I replied. “So I’m gonna go back a little further.” But as the second, third and even forth restore point failed I had a sinking feeling this was going to be bad. “Okay,” I said. “Restore points aren’t cuttin it. I’ll have to go to the next step.”
     By now Paul’s system would no longer boot up. The infection had spread as if the creator of the infection anticipated Mac’s reaction. No, the creator played Mac like a cheap violin. Paul straightened up. “What’s the next step?”
     “Restore the system files and hopefully wipe out whatever was in there.”
     “Will this wipe out all my data? All my links?”
     “No, just replace the system files.” I said. “Course, we’ll have to reload and reinstall a lot of Windows updates to bring it current and you will lose any browser history and stored passwords.” Paulie was agreeable. “I’ll need your Dell System Recovery disk though if you have it.” Paulie wasted no time in locating this for me and within minutes I had started the recovery. Paulie, on the other hand, stepped outside to calm his nerves and have a smoke.

+++++++++++

     The first attempt at restoring the original system files failed. The second one was no better. Paulie walked in from his sanity break and must have seen the look on my face. “Didn’t work?” he asked.
     “Nope, didn’t work. Keep getting the blue-screen-of-death.”
     “So now what?” He was wringing his hands. Kids really concerned.
     “So now we go to the next step.” And I paused. Paulie looked down at me with his palms up as if to ask, “So what is the next step?” I shut down Paulie’s system and continued. “The next step is to install a fresh copy of the operating system.”
     “But won’t that wipe out all my files?”
     “Normally it would, but in this case I am going to install a fresh operating system in a different directory as your current one so as to preserve your data.” The look on Paulie’s face told me I just spoke in a foreign tongue and he has no idea what I just said. Shaking my head I reassured him, “Don’t worry kid. If this doesn’t work I’ll pull out your disk, pop it in my server and move all of your data off. After I save off your data I’ll wipe the disk clean and reinstall a fresh copy of the system. After that, I’ll move your data back on, run updates, tune it up and you’ll be good as new. Course,” I continued. “Any programs you installed not originally on your recovery disk will have to be reinstalled. Also, you’ll still lose any browser history and stored passwords.”
     “The least of my concerns.” Paulie said.
     “Okay,” I replied cracking my knuckles and restarting the system. “Why not take another break Paulie. This is going to take a while.” I stretched my neck and shoulders and proceeded to start the fresh system installation as Paulie left the office.

+++++++++++

     Time seems to fly when I'm in deep concentration, working on a system or data recovery problem. A wrong move, an incorrect response can means hours of delays and do-overs. I hate do-overs.

+++++++++++

     Glancing at my watch I saw it was pushing seven. I decided to keep going for Paulie’s sake. Paulie walked back into the office.
     “Looking good.” I said.
     “Do you think it’ll work?”
     “Looks like it. No errors so far.” I stretched my back. “In fact, it looks like we’ll find out pretty soon. The system is booting up now in its new environment.” Paulie moved to my side as the familiar boot chime we all have come to know and love, rang out, signaling a successful log in. But Paulie was starting to panic again.
     “Where’s my desktop icons? My files!”
     “Relax Paulie will ya! I haven’t pulled them over yet.” As Paulie hung over my shoulder I moved the cursor to My Computer and double-clicked. I navigated to his C: drive and then to his Documents and Settings location. Once there I opened his old user-name folder and copied his data to their new home. Like magic Paulie’s desktop came alive with icons and Paulie gave out a cheer so loud they heard it all the way up to the third floor.

+++++++++++

     I guess that’s why I like doing what I do. Providing a valuable service like this has immediate gratification and satisfaction of a job well done.

+++++++++++

     Back in my office I grabbed my head-lid and coat from the rack. It was 9:25 p.m. I slid the now familiar hat over my head and slung my coat over my shoulder. As I locked my door I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the door’s security window. I adjusted my hat, gave the reflection a smile, and left for home. Case closed, another job well done.

Epilogue

Although the story is fictional, the events are factual and names were changed to protect the privacy of those involved.

The problem Paul experienced is the same problem thousands experience every year. Paul, when surfing a fairly known and well respected site in his industry, got hit with what we call a drive-by infection. Actually, it’s really not yet an infection. You see, what popped up on Paul’s system were not browser windows or displays, they were actually large buttons. Once Paul clicked on Cancel or tried to X out, the infection began. Newer drive-by infections can infect your system immediately without having to click.

The infection downloaded was a Trojan Horse. This released its payload when Paul rebooted his system and subsequently infected system files and device drivers. Once this happens its impossible to flush out as, in some cases, the infection removes your ability to run executable programs. Attempting a System Restore to an earlier time is noble, and sometimes this works, but the really serious infections will go in and either remove your ability to perform a restore back or remove all of your restore points. Either way, a System Restore is not a solution.

So this leaves me with only two choices: Try to perform a system file recovery or, in this case, install a fresh operating environment in a different location. Once the installation is done, I then move all of the user’s data over and delete the old location’s system files. This was Paul’s final resolution.

After the recovery is completed, and the data is moved back into place, the tedious task of downloading the myriad of operating system updates need to begin. I left this task for Paul, which took him well into the next day to complete.

Footnote: Paul filed a complaint with the owner of the advertising website. Although the owner sympathized with Paul, he claimed no responsibility and stated it is not his business what his advertisers post. A lack of integrity and professionalism I suspect.

To have your case reported, resolved and written up, contact ITC for all of your technology support needs. You can visit ITC at http://www.itcaz.com/ or you can call Mike at 602-684-7501.

True Reports of Viral Infections - The Case of the Missing Files

By Mike McCarthy


I recently received an email from a close client of mine. In the email body she raved about a website she found and included a link. The link seemed legitimate so I clicked on it to see what it was all about. This took me to a web site selling products of this-and-that which I quickly closed. I forwarded the email to my client asking if this email was from her and was legit. Of course, it wasn’t. My client quickly contacted everyone in her email address book and gave them the warning about possible infections although I’m not sure if it was too late. I thought nothing more of it. (Note: Propagating an infection through ones address book is the behavior of an infectious Worm.)

My troubles began the next day when I updated my windows files and rebooted my computer. It was clear something was wrong as my desktop icons would appear upon login and then disappear. Appear and then disappear, over and over again. I went into Windows Task Manager and saw that explorer.exe (basically, the program that runs your Windows Desktop) kept trying to start and was being closed. I restarted my computer, went into Safe Mode and performed a System Restore back to a week prior to the email incident.

When the restore finished unsuccessfully, I got a sinking feeling I was infected (yes, it even happens to me once in a while). So, I performed a second attempt at the System Restore back to May 1, 2011. This restore was successful and, after rebooting, I found everything pretty much back to normal.

However, everything is not always what it appears to be…

Today I started up the software tool I use for managing my website. When I went to open my web documents however, nothing was there. I use a second server to synchronize my files each afternoon between the servers, so I wasn’t too concerned about getting these documents back. But being that I am born Curious George, I ran a search for these documents and it didn’t take long to find them. They were sitting in my Recycle Bin! In fact after opening the Recycle Bin I found over 7,000 of my documents and files were in there! I carefully sorted these out and found the ones I needed being careful of what I restored to ensure I didn’t bring any infections back with me. I left over 500 behind that I didn’t need and then emptied the bin.

The odd behavior of my Desktop icons disappearing warned me something was terribly wrong. It appears now what was actually happening is the infection was clearing out all of my documents and files, moving these to my Recycle Bin. I suspect when it was done a command was to be issued by the infection to empty the bin thereby losing everything.

Now, I have been known to occasionally empty my Recycle Bin without checking the contents first, but seeing this made me realize I will check from now on!

Lesson Learned: Don’t ignore odd behavior of you computer or if something appears strange. Shut your computer down and call a professional to look into the matter. Doing so could save you a lot of time and anguish over lost files.

The Truth about MagicJack

By Mike McCarthy

I know MagicJack has been around a few years and to be honest, I am considered a late adopter of new technology by nature. I want to see what path this technology takes and prefer others to do all the debugging for me. By the time I decide to adopt the technology hopefully all of the bugs have been worked out.

Now at first I was skeptical of MagicJack promising to add a new or additional phone line to my office or home utilizing VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol). The claim is that for $19.95 a year you can make and receive both local and long distance calls (International is a bit higher) for free. FREE? No one gets anything for free nowadays, but as I had recently cancelled my land-line (in lieu of cellular technology) I soon discovered I could no longer fax documents. A minor glitch in my decision process I know, but I am saving $45 a month by disconnecting the local telephone service to the house.

So out of necessity, I ran down to my local Staples store and plopped $40 on the counter for a MagicJack device.

When I got back to my office I carefully opened the package (makes it easier to return), read the brief instructions and inserted the device into one of my USB ports. Nothing happened the first time I inserted it, but the second time did the trick. Almost immediately an installation program began and within a minute my MagicJack main window was up and asking me to register.

I clicked on the link provided, registered my device, paid my $19.95 (surprisingly they gave me a second year for free!), selected a local area code and prefix from a list of options and viola! My new telephone number showed up on the display and was awaiting calls. The entire process took less than 15 minutes.

Still skeptical, I grabbed my desk phone and popped in the telephone cable knowing full well to expect a noisy connection with delays. What did I get? A pure, clean signal that even my wife (I called her from it) could not believe.

So now I am a believer. The darn thing delivers what it promises. However, I still had one obstacle to overcome. The computer hosting my MagicJack is in one location (upstairs office) and my fax machine is in a separate location (downstairs family room). "Now what?" I thought. "The fax machine has to stay near a telephone wall jack. Of course, I could move the fax machine upstairs where it was very inconvenient or I could figure something else out."

Pondering this, it occurred to me that my house (like everyone else's) was pre-wired by the local telephone company. Crazy thought I know, but, "What if..."

Outside I found the phone box connecting my house to the telephone company (line is not in use anyway) and disconnected these (they just unplug). Next, instead of plugging my portable phone into the MagicJack, I plugged the MagicJack into the telephone wall jack in my office. I then added a phone jack splitter and connected my office phone to this. Now I have to test it out. The office phone works great. Okay, now to the rest of the house. Taking an old handset, I went throughout the house connecting this to the telephone wall jacks. And what do you know? It works! Crystal clear communication from everywhere. The fax machine also works.

Summary
For $40 plus $19.95 for two years of service I have upgraded my house with its own telephone network. Amazing. Friends and family can now call in (from anywhere in the country) and we can call out (to anywhere in the country) for free. Footnote: I love having my fax in service again.

Here are a few tips you should know about MagicJack:

• MagicJack needs only two things to operate: 1, A computer that is up and running and 2, An Internet connection.
• To my surprise I received an email from my MagicJack account alerting me that someone had left me a voice mail message. I opened the .wav attachment and listened.
• Although MagicJack offers 9-1-1 service, for your safety they recommend dialing 9-1-1 from a cell phone as a first option and only use the MagicJack for emergencies as a second option.
• The device comes with a 6" USB adapter cable you can use in order to prevent accidental damage to the device if inserted on a laptop.
• MagicJack offers replacement insurance for $1 a year. I purchased this in case it does get damaged.
• MagicJack tracks and displays incoming/outgoing calls on its display and even allows me to move these numbers to my own MagicJack contact list.
• MagicJack works with any analog phone. In my case a 5.0Ghz portable phone.

Now go out and get your own MagicJack and start connecting to friends and family for free!

Is it Time to Upgrade your Office Technology?

If you have been in your office for more than five years, chances are your infrastructure technology needs updating. Slow Internet downloads along with deficient internal network bandwidth used for local file sharing, network printing and client/server applications, can critically impact your office’s productivity.


So where do you begin? Here are a few tips on how to approach your technology review with an overview of related office technology and a bit of history as well:

Internet Access
In reviewing your technology you will need to start at the single point of entry and exit within your office: your DSL connection to the Internet.

Ten years ago the best bandwidth (measured in Internet download speeds) one could expect from an ISP (Internet Service Provider) was approximately 1 Mbps (Megabits per second). Not a tremendous width, but certainly better than the old modem which, at best, provided a whopping 56-Kbps (thousand bits per second).

Five years ago one could experience the best that technology had to offer: approximately 5 Mbps bandwidth. This was a major leap in Internet speeds which made Internet video and audio streaming a reality.

Today we see speeds upwards to 40 Mbps bandwidth providing us lightening Internet download speeds via Fiber Optics through DSL.

Cabled Local Area Networking
The next area to review is the office’s internal network cabling if present. Enter twisted pair Ethernet cabling.

Twisted pair technology was invented by Alexander Graham Bell in 1881 for use with telegraph systems utilizing a single twisted pair wire. Even with 100 year old twisted pair technology, the actual predecessor to our current twisted was shielded coaxial cable (capable of transfer speeds of 10 Mbps) used in the early days of network development all the way up to the 1990's.

In the early 1990’s a Category 3 cable was introduced (utilizing multiple twisted pair wires in a single cable) that transmitted data across a computer network at 10 Mbps. Category 3 cabling is still in use today by telephone companies. A few years later a Category 5 standard was introduced promising 100 Mbps data transfer rate.

In 1999 a new network cable technology found its way into the market. This technology is referred to as Gigabit Technology and offers us data transfer speeds of 1 Gbps (Gigabits per second) over a Category 5e or Category 6 twisted pair Ethernet cable. Chances are your office supports at least Category 5e cabling which means you can take full advantage of Gigabit technology.

Wireless Local Area Networking
Due to the complexity of wireless technology I am not venture far into details here, suffice it to say our current wireless technology supports the IEEE standard of 802.11N. Where its predecessor (802.11G) provided us a broader signal and speed over its predecessor (802.11B), the latest N standard surpasses bandwidth speed and signal reach far greater than any wireless technology in use today. For instance, the best transfer rates one could experience through wireless B was 11 Mbps and wireless G bumped this rate up to 54 Mbps. However, the wireless N standard now pushes data transfer rates up over 100 Mbps and in some cases you can experience even greater speeds using the correct technology.

The best feature of wireless technology is the lack of Ethernet cabling which has always hindered where networked computers and printers could be located. Of course, a network cable is still needed in order to feed the wireless router, but running a single Ethernet cable to the device is far more cost effective than swapping out or installing new cables in all offices and conference rooms. Unfortunately, powering these devices was still a constraint. Wireless devices had to be located near a power source in order to operate. Not any more.

With the advent of PoE (Power over Ethernet) power constraints disappear. The Ethernet cable not only provides the device with network connectivity, it also provides the power necessary to drive the device.

Local Area Network Devices and Adapters
The last part of your review examines network gear and component adapters.

Network gear includes network switches, hubs, repeaters, wireless access point(s) and wireless DSL modem/switch. Component adapters include wireless adapters and PC computer network adapters.

All tower and desktop computers support the ability to connect to the network via an internal Ethernet adapter. Up until a few years ago these adapters supported 10/100 Mbps Ethernet standard. If your office computers only support 10/100 Ethernet, then new Gigabit Ethernet PC cards will be needed.

Most laptops today come with 802.11G wireless adapters built in. These will need to be turned off and replaced with USB 802.11N adapters.

Networked printers, scanners and copiers will only support the 10/100 standard, but this is acceptable for these devices.

Recommendations
1. Meet with your DSL provider and ascertain what bandwidth speeds are available in your area or office and the costs per month. Ensure they can upgrade and install at least a combined modem with a 10/100/1000 network switch. If your provider can also supply you with a built-in wireless N router even better. If not you may have to purchase your own wireless N router.


2. Verify through your facilities management team which type of Ethernet cabling is supported in your office. If you have Category 5e or Category 6 you are all set to upgrade your internal technology. If not you may want to consider implementing wireless technology.


3. Examine existing wireless adapters and access points. Replace all B and G wireless devices with wireless N devices.


4. Purchase wireless N USB adapters for all office laptops and Gigabit PC Network Cards for tower and desktop computers.


5. If implementing wireless, ensure your wireless router is secure with 128-bit encryption in order to meet HIPAA requirements. Never install a wireless router without this level of security and encryption in an office environment.


6. Purchase and install PoE prepped wireless access point(s) and power injector(s) to drive your wireless devices in areas where no power access is available.


7. Locate network hubs and 10/100 Ethernet switches and replace these with 10/100/1000 Gigabit switches.


8. If you are using wireless technology, locate and replace wireless access points, routers, and modems that support the newer wireless N technology.

Estimated Component Costs

Description                               Cost                 Recommendation                  
Wireless N Router                     $160.00            Linksys E3000 Dual Band
Wireless N Access Point           $80.00ea          Linksys WAP610n Dual Band
Wireless N USB Adapter           $60.00ea           Linksys AE1000
Gigabit 8-port Switch                 $75.00ea           Linksys SE2800
Gigabit Ethernet PC Cards         $35.00ea           Linksys EG1032

*Linksys is a product of Cisco

The average office should be able to outfit themselves with new Gigabit and/or wireless N technology for under $1,000.00.