IT News - February 2009

In this newsletter:

1. Find Unprotected Passwords etc on PC. Free Software.
   
2. Blind Carbon Copy - What It Is And When And How To Use It.
3. Play All Types Of Movies On Your Computer. Free Software.
4. Windows Security. Stop Using Your Administrator Account. 5 Minute Fix.
   
5. Firefox Tip. Open New Tab Quicker.

Free Software: Find Unprotected Credit Card Information, Passwords etc On Your Computer With "Identity Finder"

So, you've protected your computer with anti-malware and firewall software. You've taken all the advice about strong passwords; you've even password protected your saved passwords in Firefox (see December's newsletter). But what about the information stored on your computer. I came across this piece of free software the other day and I was staggered by the amount of information that was stored in old letters and other files long since forgotten on my computer.

If your computer is stolen or is accessed remotely or even by people staying with you then this information can be found and used to your detriment.

This software searches your computer and gives a list of this information and you can then decide what to do with it. You can ignore it, delete it, shred it or encrypt it. It doesn't take long and is quick to install and easy to use. Bear in mind that this software can also be used by the thief to quickly obtain this information: I urge you to find the time because you know the thief will find the time!

Download Identity Finder and be surprised! Please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it   if this link doesn't work.

Blind Carbon Copy - What It Is And When And How To Use It

What is BCC?

In the context of e-mail, blind carbon copy (abbreviated BCC and sometimes referred to as Blind Courtesy Copy or Blank Carbon Copy) refers to the practice of sending a message to multiple recipients in such a way that what they receive does not contain the complete list of recipients.

To specify recipients, an e-mail message may contain addresses in any of these three fields:

• To: Primary recipients

• CC: Carbon copy to secondary recipients—other interested parties

• BCC: Blind carbon copy to recipients who receive the message without seeing who else received it

Why Use It?

It is common practice to use the BCC: field when addressing a very long list of recipients, or a list of recipients that should not (necessarily) know each other, e.g. in mailing lists.

This is a 'pet hate' of mine because I frequently receive emails from friends that have been sent to everyone in their address book. I don't mind seeing everyone's email address but I DO object to my private email address being given to perfect strangers.

From a professional standpoint I send my monthly newsletters to my clients but all the addresses are BCC to protect their personal addresses.

How Do You Use It?

Every email service handles it a slightly different way but in my full article on BCC there are instructions for how 'yahoo' deal with it. Annoyingly, most services don't show it as default so you have to enable it!

Free Software - Play All Movies On Your Computer With K-Lite Codec Pack

K-Lite Codec Pack is a collection of codecs and related tools. Codec is short for Compressor-Decompressor. Codecs are needed for encoding and decoding (playing) audio and video. This Codec Pack is designed as a user-friendly solution for playing all your movie files. You should be able to play all the popular movie formats and even some rare formats.

The K-Lite Codec Pack has a couple of major advantages compared to other codec packs: It it always very up-to-date with the latest versions of the codecs; It is very user-friendly and the installation is fully customizable, meaning that you can install only those components that you really want; It has been very well tested, so that the package doesn't contain any conflicting codecs; It is a very complete package, containing everything you need to play your movies; and has different packages.

Security: Why You Need At Least Two Users On A Windows Computer

Most computers that I work on only have one user account and this has administrator rights. Or, if they have more than one, they all have administrator rights. This is a security risk that malware can exploit.

Recommendation: Create a 'Limited' user account and use this as the account you use all the time. Only use the 'admin' account when you need to.

In Practice: You already have an account set up with all your files, photos, music etc as you like it so rather than starting again:

1. Create a new administrator account (don't call it admin!) in Control Panel --> users
   
2. Add a password to this account (essential)
3. Change your existing account type to 'Limited'.

5 Minutes Maximum and a more secure computer!

Firefox : Quick Tip

Double click in the blank space to the right of an existing tab to open a blank tab. This is quicker than clicking File then Tab. Quicker still: hold down CTRL and Press T.

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