Temporary Policies Addressing COVID-19
PLEASE NOTE that this is an ARCHIVED policy. Each part is not necessarily still in effect. Please contact us for current rates, times, and policies.
Thank you so much, Kentucky!
Customer Data Protection & Destruction
Purpose for Article
When we find ourselves in the situation where a customer leaves us an item that contains their personal data, it is our responsibility and duty to find a way to secure that personal data or securely destroy that data. This includes failing hard drives, customer purchases, and e-recycling. These are the established methods here at Computers Plus Repair to handle these situations.
Hard Disk Drives (Not SSDs)
Platters are the round disks in hard disk drives that spin at speeds typically from 5400 RPM to 7200 RPM. They are either metal or coated in metal so that they can store your data magnetically. Desktop hard drives — typically 3.5″ drives — have platters made of solid metal. To prevent them from being read by any but the most serious data thief, even the slightest bend in the platter would cause almost instantaneous destruction when the hard drive is powered on and tries to spend at such high speeds mentioned above. Compare it to when you get a very small “bump” in your car’s tire. At highway speeds, it can make your car feel like it’s going to fly apart! Significantly bending the platters removes all hope of recovering data from that drive.
The platters in laptop hard drives — typically 2.5″ drives — are made of metal-coated glass. It’s lighter so that less electricity is needed to keep those platters spinning at high speeds. Because they’re mostly glass, it is far easier to destroy laptop hard drive platters. In fact, throwing them against a hard surface just might be enough to effectively destroy the platters. Or try a hammer. In essence, if you hear pieces rattling around inside after such a run-in with physics, that drive has been destroyed successfully.
Failing/Failed Drives
These are drives that cannot be accessed — in part or in whole — through a computer interface for secure wiping.
For these drives, we crush them with our in-shop press or otherwise physically destroy the platters inside the drive, such as by drilling holes into the drive and through the platters.
Functional & Useful Drives
These are drives that are accessible through a computer interface, are in good health, and are of large enough capacity for reuse.
For these drives, we use a utility to securely erase the contents of the drive. The Linux utility Disks has an option to tap into a drive’s ability to securely erase the disk more quickly and more thoroughly than OS-based measures. The ATA Enhanced Secure Erase method accesses a function that is built into the hard drive itself. Because of the fact that the manufacturer must choose to include it, this option may not be available. These are the steps we follow to utilize this method.
- Using the Disks utility, once the drive is attached and selected,
- Click the “hamburger” menu icon at the top of the window.
- Choose “Format Disk…”
- For “Erase,” choose the “ATA Enhanced Secure Erase” option. This method takes a lot less time than the zeroing option.
- It doesn’t matter what partitioning scheme is chosen.
- Click “Format…”
- Allow this to complete.
Functional Yet Useless Drives
For those drives that are functioning and accessible but are too small or old for relevance, we will use one of the two methods above before depositing in the containers for e-waste.
The Question of Multiple Passes
The nature of hard disk drive technology is one based on magnetism. Magnetic fields aren’t perfectly precise. You can shape them and “aim” them, but they’ll let you down. Neighboring areas on hard drives can be affected by the same magnetic field that’s currently being used to write a 1 or a 0 to a bit. This “residual” effect can lead to data recovery even after the original data has been changed — but it’s still far from easy. Success relies on the data surrounding that bit to still be intact, as well. A single pass of random data would more than likely thwart any common data pilferer.
If you’re trying to avoid three-letter government agencies, however, multiple passes may be necessary. This would actually be more secure than crushing or drilling since those same agencies are becoming more and more adept at piecing back together your broken or bent platters.
How many passes is best? Let me put it this way: almost all of those same three-letter agencies you may be worried about use only three passes. And they’re dealing with state secrets. However, according to NIST and other experts, a single pass of overwriting the data on a drive is enough.
Of course, there are more extreme measures of platter destruction such as degaussing, hard drive shredders, melting, etc. However, for our regular customers, that’s certainly overkill. If the ATA Enhanced Secure Erase is available, we will perform that method. If that’s not available, wiping with all zeros or with random data over a single pass will be more than enough in our customers’ cases.
Crushing vs. Wiping
When there are a significant number of hard drives with data to be destroyed, the time in doing so needs to be considered. To crush a drive, you have to stand at the press the entire time and risk flying parts and pieces hitting you. (Even with the proper personal protective equipment in place, it’s best to avoid them!) The most you can do effectively at any one time is two drives. With our manual press, that’s a lot of time and a lot of elbow grease!
With wiping, we can wipe as many drives at the same time as we have freed drive connectors attached to our computers around the shop. We plug them in, start the wipe in the Disks utility, and let it go. It can take us under a minute to get three or four disks wiping concurrently. Then we go do whatever else, leaving the computer to do its work, and check back in on it at some point later.
Let’s say that one of our techs can wipe three drives per workstation. Wiping using the ATA Enhanced Secure Erase option usually takes 2 ½ to 3 hours. With two computers, that’s six drives wiped at the same time. With three computers, that’s nine drives. With four, that’s 12. We have at least this many workstations available. And setting that up across four computers would take that tech maybe five minutes. Crushing the drives in the press would take longer than five minutes to do only two drives. And there are no messy hard drive pieces to clean up afterward!
Solid State Drives (SSDs)
The obvious difference between hard drives and SSDs is that one moves and the other doesn’t — hence the name solid state drives. SSDs use a type of non-volatile RAM that has only so many “writes” per chemical cell. The chemical membrane in this cell will wear out — unlike the magnetism in a hard drive.
Because of the finite writes available on SSDs, manufacturers have implemented wear-leveling. The computer the SSD is plugged into may be told it’s writing to such-and-such sector, but the SSD’s internal logic is constantly moving sectors across the NVRAM (non-volatile random access memory) as they are written. This way, no one part of the SSD is worn out before another. And this is the main difficulty to overcome in truly and securely erasing an SSD.
To complicate matters, there’s more space available to the SSD than is available to the external device. This additional space is dedicated to assisting in wear-leveling, the accumulation of bad sectors, and other reasons. So, even if a utility like DBAN is used to write zeros to all the available space of the drive, there’s still a lot of personal data left in the drive.
Therefore, you cannot use any external or OS-level mechanism to securely erase an SSD. [Reference: Securely Erasing SSDs]
ATA Secure Erase
Just like with hard drives, SSDs can have a built-in, hardware level mechanism for securely erasing all data on the drive. Refer to the following from Kanguru:
Secure Erase
When the Secure Erase command is issued by an SSD that properly supports it, the SSD’s built-in controller resets all its storage cells as empty (releasing stored electrons) including the protected storage service regions, restoring the SSD to the factory default configuration.
Enhanced Secure Erase
Enhanced Secure Erase is device-specific, and how it is actually carried out can vary from drive to drive. In some cases, the Enhanced Secure Erase will overwrite all sectors with a predefined pattern of ones and zeroes. In other cases, the drive has an internal encryption key which is simply destroyed and regenerated.
Access to this feature is usually found in the SSD manufacturer’s software. It can also be found in utilities like Parted Magic. MakeUseOf has a good article relating to this utility and how to actually use it: How to Securely Erase Your SSD Without Destroying It.
Physical Destruction
Computers Plus Repair currently has no solid opinion on what is effective — outside of shredding the memory chips inside the SSD to fine powder or melting them — for physically, securely destroying SSDs and other NVRAM.
10 Ways to Spot a Phishing Email
10 Ways to Spot a phishing email
Phishing emails are quite prevalent these days. Below are some ways to spot malicious emails. “Phishing” is an attempt to obtain sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, and/or credit card details (and, indirectly, money), often for malicious reasons, by pretending to be a trustworthy entity in an email. [1] Phishing can also occur over the phone or on websites, but email is the most common means. Millions of phishing emails are sent to unsuspecting victims all over the world everyday. Some phishing messages are so ridiculous that it is easy to identify them as frauds. Others can be more deceptive. Below are ten things to look for when trying to decided if an email is legit.1: The email contains a mismatched web address
Oftentimes the URL (aka. web address) in a phishing message will appear to be valid. BUT, if you hover your cursor over the URL, you can see the actual hyperlinked address (often at the bottom of the screen). If the hyperlinked address is different from the address that is displayed, the link could be fraudulent or malicious.
2: Website address is misleading
This trick is often used by scammers as a way to convince people that a message came from a reputable company like Amazon, Apple, or your bank etc. The scammer creates a web address that looks like it’s from a reputable company. It could look something like amazon.badcompany.com or usbank.scammersRus.com. It likely won’t be that obvious, but you get the idea. The word before the “.com” is what matters in computer-speak, so make sure it’s legit before clicking on it. And if you’re still not sure, it’s best to just type a web address directly into the browser search bar.3: The email contains misspellings and bad grammar
This is often a tell-tale sign of a scamalicious email. If a message is filled with poor grammar or spelling mistakes, it probably didn’t come from a major corporation’s legal or customer relations department. It likely originated from Russia, China, or a poor eastern European country.4: The message asks for personal information
Scammers often trick people to give up personal info by saying something like, “your account is going to be closed unless you update your account information with us ASAP.” If you are still unsure if the email is really from your bank or the company they claim to be, call the company directly, or email them through their website. Do not click any links in the email. That’s exactly what they want.5: The offer seems too good to be true
This holds especially true for email messages. If you receive an email from someone unknown to you who is promising you the moon, the message is a scam.6: You didn’t initiate the action
If you get an email that says you have won the lottery or a contest you did not enter, you can bet your bottom dollar that it is a scam.7: You’re asked to send money
You might not asked in the initial message. But sooner or later, they will ask for money to cover expenses, taxes, fees, shipping etc. If that happens, you know it’s a scam. But hopefully you didn’t click on their questionable links to get this far.8: The email makes unrealistic threats
We touched on this above, but this is a common one. For example, people have received official-looking emails allegedly from their bank. Everything may look real, but then it will say something like “your account has been compromised and if you do not submit a form [along with your account number] and two picture IDs, your account will be canceled and a judgement will be placed against you.” A real company won’t send an email like this.9: The message appears to be from a government agency
Sometimes emails claim to be from a law enforcement agency, the IRS, the FBI, or some other agency. US government agencies don’t normally use email as an initial point of contact, so it’s more than likely fake.10: Something just doesn’t look right
When in doubt, don’t click. It’s best to be on the safe side and protect your computer and your personal information.Beware of Ransomware!
Ransomware is a common type of malware we remove for our customers in our Lexington, KY computer repair shop.
Ransomware has become so rampant, that nearly every phishing email that gets sent today contains this form of malware.
What is ransomware you may say? It is a type of malicious software, or virus, designed to block access to a computer system until a sum of money is paid.
This data comes from PhishMe Inc, a provider of software defense solutions. In its latest report, it found that 97.25 percent of all phishing emails sent during Q3 of 2016 contained ransomware, up from 92 percent in Q1.
Phishing is the attempt to obtain sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details, often for malicious reasons, by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an email.
Three major trends were identified over the past 3 months according to the report:
Locky ransomware continues to dominate: While numerous encryption ransomware varieties have been identified in 2016, Locky has demonstrated adaptability and longevity. Locky will be remembered alongside 2013’s CryptoLocker as a top-tier ransomware tool that fundamentally altered the way security professionals view the threat landscape
Ransomware encryption: The proportion of phishing emails analyzed that delivered some form of ransomware has grown to 97.25 percent, leaving only 2.75 percent of phishing emails to deliver all other forms of malware utilities
Increase in deployment of ‘quiet malware’: PhishMe identified an increase in the deployment of remote access Trojan malware like jRAT, suggesting that these threat actors intend to remain within their victims’ networks for a long time
The other 2.75 percent of malicious software delivered included remote access Trojans, keyloggers and botnets. These still represent a significant hazard in 2016. Unlike ransomware, so-called ‘quiet malware’ is designed to avoid detection while maintaining a presence within a computer or business network for extended periods of time.
Here’s the moral of the story: Be careful what you click on! Read our Ten tips for Identifying a Phishing Email.
Has your computer has fallen victim to ransomware or other malware
Give us a call and we will get right to work on rescuing your computer. If you pay the ransom to these bad actors, there’s absolutely no guarantee they’ll remove the malware from your computer. Call or email us, and we’ll let you know what your options are.
We’re Hiring; $50 Giveaway; Windows 10 Upgrade; Water Damage Repair; Business IT Support & Other News
We’re Hiring!
Congratulations to Blake on his new job with MVC Vehicle Components. And congrats to Seth on his teaching position in Shanghai! We are happy for both of them, but they will be greatly missed!
We’re now looking for an experienced Apple computer technician, and an experienced on-site technician with a wide range of troubleshooting and repair experience, both with excellent customer service skills.
If you or someone you know fits the bill, please send a resume to [email protected]
We’re giving away $50 cash
All you have to do is go like our Facebook page and you’ll be entered into our giveaway.
Help us reach our goal of 1000 likes on our Facebook page. Once we reach it, we’ll randomly choose a winner who will get $50 cash!
Congrats to Jenny H. who won our previous giveaway.
DID YOU KNOW?
Microsoft is releasing Windows 10 on Wednesday 7/29
It’s a free upgrade for Windows 7 and 8 users if you upgrade before July 29 of 2016. Also, it is getting much better reviews than Windows 8. Check out our post for more info.
If you have any questions, let us know. Plus, we can help with the upgrade or any issues that may arise.
We can repair water damaged electronics
We have a fancy new water damage cleaning machine & process that successfully repairs water damaged electronics in most cases. Plus, we offer a 6 month warranty on the repair.
We offer business computer repairs
We perform IT support for many local businesses. We do a broad range of repairs, installations, data backups & recovery, networking, and other on-site services. Learn more
We buy & sell used laptops & devices
Get easy cash for your used devices. We buy & sell recent, used laptops, iPads, iPhones and Android tablets & smartphones. Learn more
We also sell new computer parts & accessories.
Remember Computers Plus Repair for any laptop, Apple, or data recovery problems. We offer free estimates and diagnostics!
Should You Upgrade to Windows 10?
Should You Upgrade to Windows 10?
After much anticipation and hype, Microsoft is finally launching Windows 10 on Wednesday, July 29th. As people become aware of this free upgrade, they will likely wonder, “is it worth the trouble?”
For the long answer, visit PCWorld’s in-depth Windows 10 review. But here’s the short version.
Windows 10 is a free upgrade for current Windows 7 and Windows 8 users upgrading before July 29 of next year, 2016. After this, the upgrade will cost $119. Once you install Windows 10, you’ll keep getting updates through 2025 with no subscription fees or the like.
If you have questions, let us know. We offer free advice, plus we can help with the upgrade or any issues that may arise.
Windows XP Users
It’s time to upgrade to a newer operating system if you’re still using an Internet-connected Windows XP machine, as XP no longer receives critical security updates from Microsoft. Unfortunately, Windows XP users can’t get a free upgrade, and it’s very likely that the old hardware will not be compatible with Windows 10.
RIP Windows XP – Photo from PCworld.com
Our recommendation: Buy a new Windows 10 machine or a slightly older Windows 8 computer. Some users who don’t want to upgrade have opted for a safer, cheaper alternative, a user-friendly Linux distribution that will work with your current PC.
Also, remember that Office 2003 will be incompatible with Windows 8 or Windows 10.
Windows Vista Users
Windows 10 is a definite improvement over Windows Vista, but the upgrade won’t be free. A fully updated & patched Vista PC works reasonably well, and will continue to receive security updates from Microsoft through April 2017.
If I still owned a Vista-based PC, I would likely upgrade to a Windows 10 laptop or desktop, or I might save a few bucks and get a new Windows 8 since prices are fairly reasonable.
Make sure your computer meets Windows 10’s hardware requirements if you decide to upgrade an existing Vista PC.
Windows 7 Users
When Windows 8 launched, many tech bloggers advised against the upgrade, if you were happy with Windows 7. Windows 8’s lack of a start menu button and attempt to push tablet style apps to your PC was confusing and befuddling at best.
Windows 8.1 fixed many of the most frustrating issues, but now many critics are saying Windows 10 is a masterful blend of the best features of both Windows 7 and 8.
The start button has returned to Windows 10 by popular demand (and should have never disappeared in most people’s opinion). So the user interface will seem familiar to long-time Windows 7 users.
Windows 10 Start Menu Returns!
Though Windows 10 still includes Windows 8’s contentious Metro apps and Microsoft services, it still carries over Windows 8’s under-the-hood improvements: lightning-fast boot times, pooled Storage Spaces, networking improvements, a much-improved Task Manager, OneDrive syncing that carries your preferences from PC to PC, etc. The list of benefits goes on, but now without the odd Start screen, full-screen Metro apps, and their confusing (un)functionality.
There are also new features like the Cortana personal assistant, virtual desktops, and the performance-enhancing DirectX 12 graphics API, which seeks to supercharge future generations of games.
With all the new features, and the low price of free, we think it’s safe to move on from faithful Windows 7.
There is caveat that you might consider if you’re a heavy Windows Media Center user. Windows 10 doesn’t support or include WMC, even if you upgrade from a system that already has it installed.
If you upgrade from a version of Windows with WMC installed, Microsoft will at least provide you with some alternative source of DVD playback later this year. In the interim, VLC is free and a great option.
Also, if you’re a current or future Xbox One user, it has replaced WMC in the living room as far as Microsoft’s concerned, and it is upgrading to Windows 10 anyway.
Windows 8 and 8.1 Users
Yes. Go ahead and upgrade. Reserve your download here. There is no reason not to, unless you’ve purchased Windows 8’s optional Windows Media Center add-on pack and don’t want to lose access to that software.
View the Windows 10 FAQ for more info
Check out the full Windows 10 system requirements and important notes below from Microsoft’s website.
These are for a pre-released version of Windows 10 and are subject to change.
System requirements
If you want to upgrade to Windows 10 on your PC or tablet, here’s what it takes.
- Latest OS: Make sure you are running the latest version either Windows 7 SP1 or Windows 8.1 Update.
- Don’t know which version you are running? Check here to find out.
- Need to download the latest version? Click here for Windows 7 SP1 or Windows 8.1 Update.
- Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster processor or SoC
- RAM: 1 gigabyte (GB) for 32-bit or 2 GB for 64-bit
- Hard disk space: 16 GB for 32-bit OS 20 GB for 64-bit OS
- Graphics card: DirectX 9 or later with WDDM 1.0 driver
- Display: 800×600
Important notes
- The upgradeability of a device has factors beyond the system specification. This includes driver and firmware support, application compatibility, and feature support, regardless of whether or not the device meets the minimum system specification for Windows 10.
- If your PC or tablet is currently running Windows 7 SP1 or Windows 8.1 Update, you can check to see if it meets the requirements by using ‘Check my PC’ in the Get Windows 10 app.
- Applications, files and settings will migrate as part of the upgrade, however some applications or settings may not migrate.
- For Anti-virus and Anti-malware applications, during upgrade Windows will check to see if your Anti-virus or Anti-malware subscription is current. Windows will uninstall your application while preserving your settings. After upgrade is complete, Windows will install the latest version available with the settings that were set prior to upgrade. If your subscription is not current, upgrade will enable Windows defender.
- Some applications that came from your OEM may be removed prior to upgrade.
- For certain third party applications, the “Get Windows 10” app will scan for application compatibility. If there is a known issue that will prevent the upgrade, you will be notified of the list of applications with known issues. You can choose to accept and the applications will be removed from the system prior to upgrade. Please copy the list before you accept the removal of the application.
Feature deprecation
- If you have Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Ultimate, Windows 8 Pro with Media Center, or Windows 8.1 Pro with Media Center and you install Windows 10, Windows Media Center will be removed.
- Watching DVDs requires separate playback software.
- Windows 7 desktop gadgets will be removed as part of installing Windows 10.
- Windows 10 Home users will have updates from Windows Update automatically available.
- Solitaire, Minesweeper, and Hearts Games that come pre-installed on Windows 7 will be removed as part of installing the Windows 10 upgrade. Microsoft has released our version of Solitaire and Minesweeper called the “Microsoft Solitaire Collection” and “Microsoft Minesweeper.”
- If you have a USB floppy drive, you will need to download the latest driver from Windows Update or from the manufacturer’s website.
- If you have Windows Live Essentials installed on your system, the OneDrive application is removed and replaced with the inbox version of OneDrive.
Additional requirements to use certain features
- Cortana is only currently available on Windows 10 for the United States, United Kingdom, China, France, Italy, Germany, and Spain.
- Speech recognition will vary by device microphone. For better speech experience you will need a:
- High fidelity microphone array
- Hardware driver with Microphone array geometry exposed
- Windows Hello requires specialized illuminated infrared camera for facial recognition or iris detection or a finger print reader which supports the Window Biometric Framework.
- Continuum is available on all Windows 10 editions by manually turning “tablet mode” on and off through the Action Center. Tablets and 2-in-1’s with GPIO indicators or those that have a laptop and slate indicator will be able to be configured to enter “tablet mode” automatically.
- Music and Video stream through the Xbox Music or Xbox video app available in certain regions. For the most up to date list of regions, please go to Xbox on Windows website.
- Two factor authentication requires the use of a PIN, Biometric (finger print reader or illuminated infrared camera), or a phone with Wi-Fi or Bluetooth capabilities.
- The number of applications that can be snapped will depend upon the minimum resolution for the application.
- To use touch, you need a tablet or a monitor that supports multi-touch. (more info)
- Microsoft account required for some features.
- Internet access (ISP) fees might apply.
- Secure boot requires firmware that supports UEFI v2.3.1 Errata B and has the Microsoft Windows Certification Authority in the UEFI signature database.
- Some IT administrators may enable Secure Logon (Ctrl + Alt + Del) before bringing you to the log in screen. On tablets without a keyboard, a tablet with the Windows button maybe required as the key combination on a tablet is Windows button + Power button.
- Some games and programs might require a graphics card compatible with DirectX 10 or higher for optimal performance.
- BitLocker To Go requires a USB flash drive (Windows 10 Pro only).
- BitLocker requires either Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 1.2, TPM 2.0 or a USB flash drive (Windows 10 Pro and Windows 10 Enterprise only).
- Client Hyper-V requires a 64-bit system with second level address translation (SLAT) capabilities and additional 2 GB of RAM (Windows 10 Pro and Windows 10 Enterprise only).
- Miracast requires a display adapter which supports Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM) 1.3, and a Wi-Fi adapter that supports Wi-Fi Direct.
- Wi-Fi Direct Printing requires a Wi-Fi adapter that supports Wi-Fi Direct and a device that supports Wi-Fi Direct Printing.
- To install a 64-bit OS on a 64-bit PC, your processor needs to support CMPXCHG16b, PrefetchW, and LAHF/SAHF.
- InstantGo works only with computers designed for Connected Standby.
- Device encryption requires a PC with InstantGo and TPM 2.0.
Upgrade editions
We’ll keep you on like-to-like editions of Windows. For instance, if you are using Windows 7 Home Premium, you’ll upgrade to Windows 10 Home.
Some editions are excluded: Windows 7 Enterprise, Windows 8/8.1 Enterprise, and Windows RT/RT 8.1. Active Software Assurance customers in volume licensing have the benefit to upgrade to Windows 10 enterprise offerings outside of this offer.
1Windows Offer Details
Yes, free! This upgrade offer is for a full version of Windows 10, not a trial. 3GB download required; standard data rates apply. To take advantage of this free offer, you must upgrade to Windows 10 within one year of availability. Once you upgrade, you have Windows 10 for free on that device.
Windows 10 Upgrade Offer is valid for qualified Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 devices, including devices you already own. Some hardware/software requirements apply and feature availability may vary by device and market. The availability of Windows 10 upgrade for Windows Phone 8.1 devices may vary by OEM, mobile operator or carrier. Devices must be connected to the internet and have Windows Update enabled. Windows 7 SP1 and Windows 8.1 Update required. Some editions are excluded: Windows 7 Enterprise, Windows 8/8.1 Enterprise, and Windows RT/RT 8.1. Active Software Assurance customers in volume licensing have the benefit to upgrade to Windows 10 enterprise offerings outside of this offer. To check for compatibility and other important installation information, visit your device manufacturer’s website . Windows 10 is automatically updated. Additional requirements may apply over time for updates. See the Windows 10 How to Upgrade page for details.
Data Backups & Data Recovery
Data Recovery, Hard Drive Replacement, & Data Backups – Lexington, KY
Do you need to recover your data after a hard drive failure, replace a failing hard drive, or create regular backups of your data? Give us a call. We are glad to help.
We offer the following services in our Lexington repair shop:
- Data recovery
- Hard drive replacement
- Backup solutions
- External hard drive sales
- Restore Operating system
- Computer repair – PC & Apple
- Virus removal
- Memory upgrades
- and more
Call us or stop in today. (859) 523-5355
We perform data recovery in Lexington KY on a regular basis for customers who have failed hard drives or have been unable to access their files due to malware, viruses or data corruption. If your computer is having problems, give us a call or come by our store. We are glad to help you out.
We can also help you set up a regular backup plan to keep your important files safe in the event of hard drive failure or other mishaps. It’s always good to have backups of important information.
Some tips to help keep your laptop & data safe:
Be careful with the coffee. As we all know, liquids and electronics don’t mix very well. Spilling a simple glass of water on your laptop’s keyboard can damage the main circuitry of the computer. Though, a lot of water spills are not catastrophic if the user takes the appropriate steps. For instance, turning the computer off immediately, removing the power cord and battery if possible and letting it completely dry out (in rice or silica gel) for at least 3 days on average. It’s best to take the computer apart so it can dry in areas where air may normally have trouble reaching it. Also, if soda or a sweet drink spill on it, the computer will benefit from a professional cleaning as soon as possible, especially since soda contains corrosive acids. Turning the computer off and unplugging it still apply.
So try to keep food and beverages away from your laptop or computer. We’ve met many people who wish they had!
Keep an eye on the kiddos. Perhaps it’s safe to say small children and certain electronics don’t mix very well either. As cute as the little ones can be, they are sometimes rough on things. Many LCD screens, hard drives, data and hinges have fallen victim to accidents by children. Although, we can fix or replace almost all internal components, the best repair is prevention.
If the kids are old enough to use the electronics, you can use some measures to help prevent accidents. For instance, try having a designated safe, low traffic area for laptop use. This will help prevent accidents.
Ensure good airflow so it doesn’t overheat. This is very important to a hard drive’s longevity. If a hard drive temperature often exceeds its upper limit, the drive’s life can be shortened and cause premature mechanical failure.
Computers and laptops have fans installed to prevent overheating and damage to the system. But sometimes people may not be conscientious of keeping the fan free from obstructions and dust to maintain enough airflow. If your hard drive has failed due to overheating or other causes, we can salvage important data in most cases and transfer it to a new, replacement hard drive.
We provide a free dust cleaning for most fans and cooling components with any other paid service (nicotine damaged computers are extra since they require more than a thorough dusting).
Be careful where you store it. Accidents happen, but sometimes they can be avoided by keeping them in a safe place. For instance, leaving a laptop on the floor or on a chair where it could easily be trampled over, kicked, sat on, or dropped should be avoided whenever possible.
Dropping a laptop or jarring it while the hard drive is running can cause damage to the internal parts of a hard drive – as well as other parts of the laptop, like the LCD screen. We have seen many a casualty in this fashion.
Remember that old age and long-term use is a common reason for hard drive failure as well. Even if you treat your computer perfectly it will still fail one day and you will likely want to have a backup plan set up for your important files.
Got files you’d hate to lose? Make backups of important data. You’ll save time in case of a mishap or hard drive failure, and it will help you to avoid a great deal of frustration!
Ask us. We can help. We offer data recovery, back up solutions, external hard drives, memory upgrades, virus removal, and more.
(859) 523-5355
Virus Removal – Computers Plus Repair Lexington
Computer Virus Removal in Lexington KY
The skilled virus removal technicians at Computers Plus Repair in Lexington have extensive experience and success in removing all kinds of computer viruses and malware.
One of the most common computer services we perform is virus and malware removal, including removal of rogue security software which is becoming increasingly common (see below for a definition of terms and prevention).
Our virus removal service is quick, guaranteed, and competitively priced.
See our price list or request a quote; or call us at 859-523-5355
First we diagnose the severity of the problem through observation of the computer’s symptoms. Then, we utilize one or more of a number of diagnostic scanning and removal programs. In more severe cases we remove the hard drive and connect it to one of our computers to run the scans externally. This way, the malware can’t prevent removal programs from scanning and removing the infected files.
In a few cases, where there has been substantial damage done to core Windows system files, we recommend a data back-up (if desired) and a re-installation of the Windows operating system. In this case, the computer’s software would then be restored to a similar condition as it was when the computer was new.
We guarantee our work for 30 days, but you can be free of viruses for much longer if you take some of the precautionary measures discussed below. Also, refer to our post about our top recommended free software, which includes some of our anti-virus software recommendations. We also sell some more robust anti-virus programs in our store. Feel free to call us or stop in with any questions. We are always glad to help. Read more
Remove Cryptowall Trojan Malware
Remove Cryptowall & Restore Files
A new piece of pesky malware is making its rounds. Often identified as “Trojan.Cryptowall”, it is a Trojan that encrypts your computer files making them inaccessible. It then requires payment to have the files decrypted and to remove Cryptowall.
The threat typically gets installed by clicking links in spam emails, via exploit kits hosted through malicious ads or compromised sites, or by other malware.
This is a nasty piece of malware. As always, we recommend users to be very careful what links they click on and to avoid suspicious websites. In about 30% of cases we have been able to successfully restore access to some or all of users’ files after removing Cryptowall. The remaining option is a system restore to remove the treat.
We do not recommend paying the ransom as directed by Cryptowall. There is no guarantee that the scammer will give you a decryption key to unlock your files, and the threat still remains. If your computer has been taken over by this frustrating piece of malware, give us a call or bring in your computer for us to take a look. We are glad to help.
Computers Plus Repair in Lexington, KY: (859) 523-5355
More Detailed Info on Cryptowall
Once Cryptowall is installed on your computer, it creates several registry entries to store the path of the encrypted files and the program runs each time the computer restarts. It encrypts files with certain extensions on the computer and creates separate files with directions on how to allegedly acquire the decryption code.
This threat attempts to convince you to pay money to get the passkey to free your files. It uses a number of different schemes to encourage you to pay the ransom. Of course after the scammer gets your money, he is under no obligation to release your files.
Another variation of Cryptowall is termed Trojan Cryptodefense. Cryptolocker is a similar piece of malware.
Means of Infection
In Cryptowall spam campaigns, the email will usually contain an attachment to an infected file along with a message that tries to coerce the user to download the file. The spam email might say the attachment is an purchase invoice, an undelivered package reminder, or a fax alert. If you open the attachment, your computer will promptly be infected with Trojan.Cryptowall or a variation of it.
It can also be transferred through exploit kits on compromised websites or malicious ads. The Rig exploit kit and the Nuclear exploit kit are two kits that have been used to compromise users’ computers with Cryptowall.
Other pieces of malware can install Cryptowall as well. For example, if a computer is already infected with Downloader.Upatre or Trojan.Zbot, then it’s at risk of getting Cryptowalled.
Functionality
Cryptowall was designed to prevent you from opening your files so that it could attempt to require payment in order to regain access. It does this by encrypting a large number of files on the computer with public/private key encryption using a very strong 617 digit or 2048-bit RSA key.
Once it has your files on lockdown, Cryptowall displays a ransom message via text document or HTML page. It may also warn that the decryption key will be deleted after a certain amount of time in order to pressure the you into paying quicker. The scammer may demand hundreds of dollars, and the amount may increase after a certain amount of days.
The message will then give a link to a website where the scammer wishes to take payment. These sites are usually hosted on the anonymous Tor network, which scammers often use to hide their identity. The threat has asked the user to install a Tor network browser in order to access the site, but newer versions of the threat do not require the user to do this. The user may have to pay using an anonymous currency such as bitcoin to help shield the attacker’s identity.
Even if you pay the ransom, there is of course no guarantee that the scammer will give you a decryption key to unlock the files.
Refurbished Laptops & an i7 iMac for sale – Lexington, KY
Refurbished Laptops & an i7 iMac for sale
Looking for a computer for work, school, or personal use? We have several affordable laptops, including an Intel i3 Toshiba Satellite with Windows 8 for $389, and a refurbished i7 iMac Apple computer in great condition for $1099! Come by or give us a call to check our inventory. (859) 523-5355 (check out the photos below)
Location
Lexington’s Personal & Business Computer Repair Specialists. Where Honest Advice is Always Free.
3120 Pimlico Pkwy Suite 142
Lexington, KY 
(Behind McDonald's & Next to Subway in the Park Hills Center)