October can be a scary month, with Halloween just a few days away, but it can also be a happy month if you’ve been having issues with your Mac or PC and live near select Best Buy stores in the Twin City Metropolitan area in Minnesota.

Did you say “fix it free?”

To help reduce the October techno-stress your technology may be causing, Geek Squad Precincts in the Twin City area will be holding a “Fix it Free Day” on Wednesday, October 26^th.   If you bring your computer into select Minnesota Twin City Best Buy stores, our Geek Squad Agents can help with the following services at no cost:

• Virus and Malware Removal
• Troubleshooting and Diagnosis
• Hardware Installation
• Operating System Installation and Repair
• Software Installation and Repair
• Password Resets

So if your computer is running slow, your email program won’t load, or your word processing software won’t save files, let us show you exactly how Geek Squad can resolve your issues with our expert Geek Squad Agents and services.

What limitations are there?

Here are a few disclaimers for your PC or Mac to qualify for free service:

• Offer limited to select Twin City Geek Squad Precincts.
• One day only, Wednesday, October 26^th.
• Limit of 50 customers per store will receive free in-store support.
• Limit of one computing device per person (PC, Mac or Tablet).
• Does not include data backup or recovery services, or necessary hardware/software to correct any issues.
• Complex services may require customers to leave their computer with the Geek Squad and may take several days to complete.
• Does not include in-home or online services.
• Free support only provided to Macs using OS X and PCs running Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7 or higher.
• Computer must be able to boot up to receive free service. 

What should I do before I visit the store?

• Make sure that you have Antivirus and Antispyware software installed on your computer, and update it if possible.
• Back up any important data (documents, photos, etc).
• Be aware that repairs may take several days to complete and that you can be without the system for that length of time.

Which Geek Squad Precincts in the Twin Cities are participating?

For a complete list of participating Geek Squad locations at Twin City Best Buy Stores visit http://www.geeksquad.com/fix-it-free-day.aspx

Fix It Free Day is a great way to let Geek Squad show you why we are so proud of our Agents and our services, while helping you to get your computer issues resolved.  It’s all at no cost to you, so feel free to spend the money you save on Halloween candy you’ll be giving out on the 31^st.

-Virtual Agent Derek M.

1) Too many programs running at the same time. Over the lifespan of a computer it is common for users to download programs, applications, and other data that is running in the background. The more things that run in the background, the less “attention span” your computer has to do other things you are asking it to do.

Try to avoid downloading too many web browser-helpers like internet-search bars, programs that claim to “speed up” your internet or your computer, or multiple anti-malware programs. One or two may be fine, but too many will result in slow performance. Uninstall programs that you do not use that you see icons for in the lower right-hand corner of your screen, down by the clock. Once this is trimmed up you may notice a speed improvement.

2) Not enough free RAM. “RAM” is what your computer uses for temporary working and thinking space. The more you have the merrier your computer can be! If you look back to reason 1 in this article and have determined you need all those programs running, perhaps your computer doesn’t have enough RAM to do so. The hard drive inside your computer may make a lot of noise, accompanied by slow operation, if you are out of RAM.

RAM is a piece of hardware that can be added to your machine. Four gigabytes or more is recommended in newer computers, but the rule of thumb is to add as much as is affordable for you.

3) Virus/Malware infection. Quite often virus or malware programs running in the background can divert your computer’s attention away from what you want it to do. Internet slowdowns and general slow operation of the entire computer can be one of the symptoms of an infection. You should have the computer scanned for a malware infection to determine if this is the cause.

4) Low hard drive space. This generally applies to older computers. Hard drives, which store all of your computer’s information, only have a finite amount of space. Once filled up the computer no longer has the ability to manipulate your files. The computer will slow down, eventually becoming unusable.

Generally windows will alert you to “low disk space” if this is the case. Moving some of your less-used files such as pictures, music, and movies to an external hard drive would be a viable solution to regaining hard drive space. You can usually install a bigger hard drive as well. Deleting temporary files and performing a disk cleanup are also good ways to reclaim wasted space.

5) Due for a restart. Computer has not been restarted in…um, I don’t know how long? Yes, every once in a while it is a good idea to restart your computer. Some updates cannot be completed until you restart. In addition, restarting your computer can free up some resources that could be getting hogged up by buggy programs.

6) Sharing a wireless network. “My internet is slow but the computer is running fast!” There are many possible reasons this can be happening. Should you have a wireless network check to see if anyone else on your wireless is streaming video, downloading music, or playing online games. You should also make sure your wireless network is secure so someone else isn’t stealing your internet bandwidth. Wireless network security should be at the top of your important things to check.

7) Too many bells and whistles. Sure, that animated pointer and super hi resolution image of your favorite supercar look nice, but unfortunately these can also slow your computer down. These animations and images must be loaded into memory every time you start your PC which leaves less memory for other more important tasks.

8 ) Scanning programs running. Check to make sure your antivirus program, anti-spyware program, or automatic backup program is not the reason for the slowdown. If it is, I suggest you wait it out. Usually this type of activity is a necessity. Manufacturers of these types of software try to make everyday operations unobtrusive to you. There are times, however, when an update must be done or scanning must take place. Your computer will be a little slow to respond to you when this is happening.

I also find it is not necessary to scan your entire computer every single day for viruses and spyware. Once per week should be fine. The same applies for data backups. A complete system backup doesn’t need to run every single day for the average home user.

9) Not meeting software requirements. Software usually has a list of requirements on the box. Things such as processor speed, operating system, memory (RAM), hard drive space, and minimum video card requirements are usually printed somewhere on the box. Please note that this says minimum “requirements.” These specifications are the absolute minimum to make the software run. Run it will, run well it may not. Try and meet or surpass the system “recommendations” of your software, not the bare “requirements.”

10) A “fragmented” hard drive. This is becoming less of an issue with newer computers, but if you have an older PC it is worth a mention. Perhaps your hard drive needs a “defrag.”

Imagine a jigsaw puzzle. Computers like to store pieces of a file together, like a completed puzzle. Over time, with normal use these pieces can get scattered all over the hard drive; Similar to when your puzzle first came out of the box. The computer has to look to find all the pieces before it can access the file. This is not a problem if only a few files are fragmented. Once multiplied over several thousand files, however, we have a cumulative slowdown of your computer. Defragmenting your hard drive organizes all these pieces and puts them back together again.

So how on earth did something like this get up on to the New York Times website? According to a CNET article it sounds like a simple case of social engineering bait-and-switch at the human level. A person approached the New York Times appearing to represent a legitimate corporation looking to buy internet ad space on their website. This, in itself, is a common practice. At first glance everything checked out with this person/entity. A few days later, however, that legitimate looking advertisement was exchanged for an ad that was less than reputable. The ad was displayed for some time before someone realized what happened.

One of the most popular questions I receive in the field is “why do people do this?” In short, usually it is for monetary gain. Somewhere along the line whoever comes up with this false ad is getting money or steals your credit card number. Sometimes you are promised with a download that will fix all your “problems” that you didn’t even know you had. In that case they are looking for you to enter your credit card number to purchase some software. Other times you will be directed to a website in hopes that you will buy something off of the website.

The second popular question I get is “how do I not get infected?” Well, there is no one hard and fast answer. I can provide you with some guidelines that will help keep you safe which entail modifying your web surfing behavior. First off, most major “Name brand” websites (as I call them) are fine. The NYTimes, for instance, caught the problem quickly and removed the ads. Surfing less reputable websites that promise things too good to be true is a more dangerous proposition. Offers for free music or movie downloads are two common examples. Stay away from those websites, and don’t click on any ads that promise things like this. If you question a websites authenticity do some quick research on a search engine such as Google or Yahoo to see if it has been reported as illegitimate.

Secondly, be wary of ads promising to “speed up your pc,” “fix registry/system problems,” or “fix computer vulnerabilities”. There is no cure-all or magic program that will make your computer do some song and dance for you. They just do not exist.  The only thing that should be popping up with warnings of infection is the program you have installed to scan for viruses and spyware.

To recap, here’s a quick list of do’s and don’ts to protect yourself against rogue ads:

• Do stay away from websites or ads that indicate you have computer problems and promise to fix them.
• Do keep your antivirus updated, and run scans often.
• Do enable parental controls to prevent unauthorized downloads.
• Don’t use the apparent “cancel” button to make these windows disappear, use the little red “X” in the upper right hand corner.
• Don’t input your credit card number into websites unless you are sure the product you are buying is legitimate (look it up on a search engine website!)

Lastly, if you at all suspect something is awry with your computer you need to turn it off immediately and have it looked at. The longer you keep it online the worse the infection can become.

If you follow these tips you should have a much happier web surfing experience!

I see plenty of examples of younger people not automatically and immediately understanding technology. Many computers I work on have viruses and spyware that came from a teenager downloading music or movies off a peer 2 peer file sharing network and not understand the risks of doing so.

On the other hand, we’re seeing plenty of examples of the explosion of the older generation and their use of technology. An article from Cnet shows that the percentage of Twitter users between age 55 and 64 is the same as the percentage between 18 and 24, and most of its users are 35 and older. Facebook is seeing some of its largest growth in users between the age of 35 and 44.

As I’ve seen time and again while on-site helping my clients, once they get over the intimidation of new technology, they pick it up just as easy as anyone else, regardless of age.

Don’t forget though, even if you do get a little intimidated, Geek Squad is available online or in your local Best Buy to help you get the confidence to overcome that new technology and allow you to use it to improve your everyday life.