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How to clean viruses off your computer for free

Dave Farquhar security December 14, 2016March 13, 2021antivirus, bitdefender, compaq, computer security, hp, malwarebytes, thumb drive, toshiba, Windows 10, windows 7

Whether you’ve gotten a tech support scam phone call or not, it can be helpful to know how to clean viruses off your computer for free. And yes, I do mean free.

A lot of people get ripped off due to virus scares and it makes me mad. I’m a computer security professional. I advise large companies on computer security for a living. Today I’ll take a few minutes to advise you.

Dave Farquhar

David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He started his career as a part-time computer technician in 1994, worked his way up to system administrator by 1997, and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He invests in real estate on the side and his hobbies include O gauge trains, baseball cards, and retro computers and video games. A University of Missouri graduate, he holds CISSP and Security+ certifications. He lives in St. Louis with his family.

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How to boot a Toshiba Satellite from USB

Dave Farquhar Hardware August 31, 2015October 15, 2017thumb drive, toshiba, Toshiba Satellite, usb device

Recently I needed to boot a Toshiba Satellite from USB (specifically an L505D-S5983). It didn’t automatically boot from a USB thumb drive when I plugged it in. That is often the case with name-brand PCs I’ve seen. You either have to pull up the boot menu or change the boot settings.

Dave Farquhar

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Fare thee well, Radio Shack. Hello, Battery Shack!

Dave Farquhar Retail April 9, 2015April 22, 20181980s, Batteries Plus, diodes, Missouri, radio shack, thumb drive, VCR

The new owners of what’s left of Radio Shack want to specialize in batteries. Although this isn’t a guaranteed survival plan, it makes sense to me.

Last week, I went to one of the few remaining Radio Shack locations to get some overpriced diodes and D-sub connectors for a project. My oldest son tagged along. He asked about the store. I tried to describe it, and finally I said, “It’s kind of like Batteries Plus would be if it sold electronic parts too. And phones.”

Dave Farquhar

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How to rebuild a PC in a hurry

Dave Farquhar security, Windows October 28, 2014October 18, 2014antivirus, building a pc, CIO, thumb drive

Sometimes rebuilding a PC is faster than trying to fix it, and if you’re dealing with a virus infection, it’s better to rebuild than try to clean. It’s impossible to know if the system is 100% clean after infection–unless you rebuild.

If you’re the family CIO, here’s how you can go about rebuilding a Windows PC in a hurry.

Dave Farquhar

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How to slipstream updates into Windows 8.1

Dave Farquhar Windows February 10, 2014February 5, 2014command prompt, ISO, thumb drive, windows 7, windows 8, x86

I need a Windows box, so I figured I’d experiment with Windows 8.1. I know it’s terrible, but I want to see just how much less terrible I can make it.

The first thing I wanted to do was figure out how to slipstream updates into it. I recommend slipstreaming because you get a faster performing system, you get the system up and running a lot sooner, and you save a lot of unnecessary writes to your SSD. It’s very similar to slipstreaming Windows 7, but not quite identical.

Dave Farquhar

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An upgrade. And an upsell.

Dave Farquhar Uncategorized May 20, 2013November 22, 20181990s, Australia, computer security, podcast, radio shack, resistors, sony, thumb drive, usb port

I bought a new radio for my venerable 2002 Honda Civic this weekend. I want to be able to listen to security podcasts on my commute, which wasn’t practical with my factory radio. So, off to the nearest car audio shop (Custom Sounds) I went, skipping both Best Buy and Audio Express. I looked at a couple of $119 decks, then the salesman mentioned an Alpine HD radio deck for $129, and a Sony deck with Bluetooth for $149. Bluetooth didn’t really interest me much, but HD radio seemed worth the extra $10. To me, the secondary HD stations seem more interesting than the primary ones. Then again, I’m the guy who skips right past the hits on U2’s The Joshua Tree and cues up “Red Hill Mining Town.” The stuff I really like generally doesn’t do all that well on mainstream radio.

But my main motivation was to get a radio with a USB port, so I can snarf down a few hours’ worth of podcasts every week to a USB thumb drive, plug it in, and stay in touch with the security world. Total overkill for an Alpine, but like the salesman said, Alpines aren’t crazy expensive anymore like I remember them being in the early 1990s. Read more

Dave Farquhar

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How to build bootable Debian installation USB media from Windows

Dave Farquhar Linux, Windows May 5, 2013August 5, 2017debian, Image File, ISO, thumb drive, ubuntu, USB flash drive

Debian 7.0 (Wheezy) came out this weekend, and I want to mess with it. Here’s how I wrote the installation media to a USB thumb drive for it using a Windows box. Because sometimes that’s all you have available to work with. If you prefer another Linux distribution, like Ubuntu or CentOS or Fedora, the same trick will work for them too.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

Advice on dealing with ransomware

Dave Farquhar security February 8, 2013December 1, 2018android, asus, bitdefender, infestations, malware, malwarebytes, thumb drive

PC Mag has some advice about ransomware. The most important bit of advice is to have a secondary machine that you can use to go get help.
Read more

Dave Farquhar

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How to quickly find the differences between two Word documents

Dave Farquhar Office, Software May 11, 2012April 23, 2017ASCII, command prompt, macintosh, thumb drive

From time to time, I have to deal with new revisions of familiar implementation guides or other system documentation, and the authors rarely include a changelog in the document. And of course the first question anyone asks about the new guide is what’s changed. That means I have to find the differences between two Word documents.

This week I found myself collaborating on a long-ish document and needing to synchronize some changes. Word’s tracked changes and comments can help somewhat, but generally I find them clumsy and annoying.

If you have five minutes and a willingness to use a command prompt, you can find the differences easily, then work from there.
Read more

Dave Farquhar

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How to slipstream IE9 and hotfixes into Windows 7, step by step

Dave Farquhar security, Windows September 12, 2011April 7, 2012command prompt, ISO, thumb drive, windows 7, x86

Normally, after you install any version of Windows, you have a ton of patching to do. And that patching takes as long, or longer, than the installation takes, while leaving the system vulnerable to exploits in the meantime. Slipstreaming your hotfixes into your installation media sidesteps those issues, and reduces fragmentation. You get a faster performing system, you get the system up and running a lot sooner, and you save a lot of unnecessary writes to your SSD.

So I wholeheartedly recommend slipstreaming.

Dave Farquhar

dfarq.homeip.net

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