More notes on Western Digital Caviar drives

One of the many services we offer is hard drive data recovery.  Every day we see another Western Digital Caviar SE hard drive come in for repair and recovery.

Today I had an interesting discussion with our recovery partners.  For more advanced recovery, including clean room services, we have a specialized unit to perform data recovery.  One of the drives that came up in discussion today was the Caviar SE.  Our recovery team advised us that the Caviar SE is one of the worst drives they work on.  Their success rate with Caviars is alarmingly low, about 15%.

They advised me that the worst recovery they attempt is the infamous Western Digital “click of death”.

“Our experience with ATA hard drive reliability (especially Western Digital) has been somewhere between extreme disappointment and outright despair. I have RMA’d 20% of our WD drives within the warranty period (usually just 1 year), and have seen a roughly 40% failure rate within 3 years. This is just unacceptable, and reflects poorly on the drive manufacturer(s). We have no other external problems which can explain the high failure rate, and the drives have been used in a variety of machines and interfaces. We purchased our drives from a local Fry’s or online through reputable, established resellers.” – James Carchedi

Please note that Western Digital has recently acknowledged that heat is a primary cause of premature drive failure and has released the Caviar RE2 and GP lines that specifically address this problem.  We know the RE2 to be a fantastic drive.  We’ll be watching the GP closely.

Many vendors offer the Caviar SE drive as they are $2.00 cheaper than the competition.  Apart from the infamous Fujitsu and now defunct Connor, we’ve seen more failures from Western Digital Caviar SE than all other brands combined.  Before you buy your next computer, ask yourself if your data is worth $2.00.

Aug. 31, 2008 addition:

Last night we were given an HP desktop that had a Western Digital Caviar SE in it.  The message on boot was “NTLDR missing”.  The drive had decided to lose the entire contents of the hard drive.  The unfortunate thing about it was that there were years worth of memories on the computer that can’t be replaced, including baby pictures.

We’re now in the process of attempting a recovery and will replace the hard drive with a more reliable unit, but would like to warn others:

1. Always keep current backups of your data
2. Even though people say “We’ve never had problems with Western Digitals”, computer repair specialists like us repair them and witness first hand the drastic consequences of trusting Caviar drives.
3. Regular, routine maintenance on your computer will help promote longer life.
4. Carefully consider when someone wants to sell you an old computer as “all you need”.  The drives in them are already beyond end of life.  The parts, such as the RAM (system memory) may be deteriorating, and the chance of data loss is very high.

Our focus is repair, not sales.  When we do sell products, they are hand picked to offer our clients the best performance and reliability.  Retailers seek volume.  As a value added reseller, we pursue long-lasting relationships.

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Antivirus XP 2008

We have been made aware of an in depth analysis of Antivirus XP 2008, it’s origin and the people behind it.  I would encourage you to view the article here.

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Malware still on the rise…Interclick.com flash-based advertising still an issue.

We’ve been seeing more outbreaks from spyware, with interclick.com’s flash based advertising continuing to appear on the infected computers.

A Google search reveals that Interclick.com was formed by the creators of MidADdle. MidADdle came under fire for complaints of adware installing campaigns. To get away from this bad rap, they created Interclick.com. Interclick was bought out by the Customer Acquisition network, which also acquired Options Media Group (email campaigners), Blue Lithium and Right Media by Yahoo, DoubleClick by Google, 24/7 Real Media by WPP, Takota by AOL, and aQuantive by Microsoft.

Interclick.com informed us that they are the advertising agency that Facebook uses. This Dec. 2007 article explains how Facebook’s advertising is used to track and report your movements, even after you log off their site.

Spyware is not a new concept to Facebook. In January Facebook pulled the Secret Crush application because it was installing Zango spyware. In August of this year Facebook stamped out a rash of links being posted to Facebook users that redirected them to a site asking the user to install a flash plugin to view a video. The visitor would then be infected with a Trojan Horse that would invite other infections onto their computers.

The problem with flash-based advertising and web content is that it is capable of installing malicious code without you even realizing it. Under your macromedia directory on your hard drive, especially if you’ve visited Facebook, you’ll find a #interclick folder, which is used to track your views of their advertisements. This same vehicle can track your movements across any website that utilizes Interclick advertising. The advertisers receive reports of the performance of their ads on various sites thanks to that tracking mechanism and pay every time a visitor clicks on their ads.

To find it, click on Start, then Search, All files and folders. You will need to select to search hidden files and folders. Enter interclick and press “Enter”. Delete this folder.

Here’s what Exterminate It has to say about Interclick.com. One third party format Interclick uses is Mediaplex. You can read about Mediaplex here.

As Interclick uses several third party advertising venues, it’s possible for a malicious advertiser to use it as a vehicle to infect your computer without Interclick being aware of it. In my conversation with Interclick, they advise they have no knowledge of such activity, that they would look into it, eliminate the culprit and let us know. However to date we’ve not heard back and the rate of infection that we see continues to climb, and we continually see those infected computers with the interclick.com folder.

The infection is Antivirus 2008 and now Antivirus 2009. We’re now seeing it on computers of clients that don’t even visit Facebook, although one client today went there once, didn’t sign up and ended up being infected.

We urge you to use extreme caution when visiting sites with flash based advertising and to visit this link to opt out of Interclick’s tracking campaign. Interclick’s clients include Yahoo, MSN, Youtube, MySpace and Facebook. We’ve seen infections from the last three.

We’ve also noted that Clickbank, another advertising agency that pays advertisers commissions for every sale is hosting known spyware vendors such as AdwareAlert/SpywareRemover 2008. Clickbank ads are links on the host website with an affiliate tag at the end. They look like any other link on a website.

Clickbank ads are part of the “Weekend Millionaire” sites that you see popping up all over the place, trying to sell you on the secrets of “getting rich working from home”. They show you how to create keyword loaded sites filled with “referral links” (ie clickbank ads).

Today we found a Google Ad on Channel Register for the “Top 5 AntiSpyware Programs”. Two of them are known “rogue” programs…In other words fake antispyware programs. The links to the offenders were affiliate links.

If you get any warnings on your computer about infection, particularly from programs you don’t know or that look like Windows warnings, do not click on them or give them your credit card information.

Please have your computer cleaned of infection immediately, as Antivirus 2008 is a trojan horse and other infections will follow.

Some tips to help protect your computer:

• Keep your antispyware and antivirus programs up to date;
• Beware when clicking on any advertisements in Facebook, Youtube or MySpace;
• Do not click on any unknown emails or unknown links in emails;
• Do not click on any links posted on your Facebook “wall”;
• Do not install any “plug ins” that websites say are required to view or download their content;
• Avoid “free” screensavers and wallpapers that come in .zip or .exe formats, warez sites, crack sites, Myspace.com;
• Do not heed any “infection” warnings on your computer by following their prompts to “purchase” or “register” the program, unless they come from your known antivirus program;
• Carefully read the EULA (End User License Agreement) before installing “free” software. Applications that install “sponsor software” (in other words, spyware) will often embed your “agreement” to do so deep within the agreement;
• View this list for known fake antispyware programs

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Hard drive buying tips

On September 11, 2008 I will be speaking at the Mr. Bob’s Network Show, held at the Southshore Community Center in Barrie, ON.  Mark it on your calendar and plan to attend this informative event, with many local businesses displaying their products and services.

During my presentation I’ll be offering helpful hints, tips and tricks of what to look for and what to watch out for when buying a computer or just a hard drive.  A hard drive is the device that stores all your data such as documents, photos, music, emails, etc.

This will be one show you don’t want to miss.  See you there!

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Wide range wireless

One of the many computer services we offer is wireless networking.  Although many companies offer the typical household wireless networking services, very few have the ability or expertise to offer expanded wireless capabilities outside of the typical wireless/network card setups.

One job we completed today in Port Severn was an example of this.  Previously they had a wireless access point every hundred feet with a complicated mess of wireless bridges, access points, wires and routers scattered all over the resort.  At regular intervals the system would go down and staff would have to wander around the resort resetting this maze of devices.

The owner of the resort called us in.  A job like that is tricky, as they had a house across the bay they wanted the wireless signal to reach, plus full coverage across acres of resort.  With two 14db high gain, omni-directional antennas, two wireless access points and a router we were able to cover approximately two square miles of property, including getting the signal to the owner’s home.

At the home was a placed a “client bridge” with a high gain unidirectional antenna.

The end result was removing the bird’s nest of wiring and wireless clients, greatly simplifying the infrastructure, and providing rock solid wireless networking to the entire area, for a fraction of the cost quoted by another company (about 1/5 of the price, including parts and labour).

If you’re looking to extend your wireless network to the limits, give us a call.  We offer many specialized services, including wireless networking jobs such as this one.

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Urgent malware warning!

At Northern Protocol Inc. we are currently witnessing a severe outbreak of a malware infection named “Antivirus XP 2008″. If you see any warnings about “security” or “infections” on your computer, do not click on them. Click on the red “x” or “cancel”. They are trying to fool you into buying their rogue software. In other words, it’s not a legitimate security software package to begin with.

What we’ve discovered so far is that the infection is coming through flash applications on websites. The latest to get hit is Facebook. The message on Facebook is “You have been watched”. When you click on the link, the malware is downloaded to your computer and then automatically spreads itself through everyone in your Facebook contact list. Do not click this link.

The company that is apparently responsible for placing ads on Facebook is interclick.com.  Interclick is an advertising agency that provides flash based adervtising.  Some devious individual or company has used them as a vehicle to spread malware.  When the infection is installed on your computer, interclick.com installs some software in your flash directory. 

If you have already been infected with this or any other malware, call us at 705.812.2236 as soon as possible or drop in to our office at 331 Bayfield, Suite 210 in Barrie. We will remove all traces of your infections and help you develop strategies to protect yourself.

* UPDATE *  I was just telephoned by Mr. Marble, Senior VP at Interclick, and Mr. Kats, technician at Interclick.  They collected as much detail as they could about our findings and are currently going through their ads to find the offender and remove them.  Mr. Kats has assured that he will keep us updated with their findings.  Their rapid response is commendable.

If you have any other information that you feel may help them, such as anything you remember about your last actions before your computer was infected, please email me at admin@npinc.ca

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Spyware. Why is it prospering?

Lately we’ve seen a huge influx of computers infected with malware, or “spyware”.  AVG reports that 1 in every 1000 websites are currently “infected”.  When you think of the billions of web pages on the internet, that’s an alarming figure.

Naturally I felt compelled to ask why.  What is the secret behind their success?  The answer is alarmingly simple.  Money.

Spyware vendors are making money by leveraging the latest internet sales craze, referal marketing.  For every closed sale, they pay the refering party a commission.  This is done in various ways, one venue being a website called “ClickBank”.

The lure of easy money compells webmasters and software vendors to go to the “dark side”.  “Free” software will embed the “agreement” to install this “sponsor software” on your computer.  Most people don’t read the agreements, and thus unwittingly install it.  Websites will bury these devious schemes in their code, infecting unsuspecting visitors with “electronic rodents” which the vendors will then gleefully expose and promise to get rid of for a seemingly low price.

Ingenious “Social engineering” techniques are used once the infection is on your computer.  The idea is a simple one.  Fool the user into thinking that the “warnings” are legitimate Windows errors or warnings.  Fool them into thinking that the “infections” are genuine.  Once they get you to their website as a qualified lead, they “move in for the kill”.  Many are so convincing that even the most savvy computer user can be fooled.

Unfortunately it’s working, and unless the likes of ClickBank are shut down, you can only expect the problem to get worse.  Websites are starting to abound, promising to make you a millionaire while you work from home, simply selling packages that teach you how to cash in on the referal link craze, offering “cookie cutter” websites that you can make some basic modifications and host on your own provider.

It’s all a big game, and unfortunately the only way of dealing with it from the consumer end at this time is to not click on the popups that show up on your computer.  Avoid “free” software unless it comes from a well-known, reputable source.  Many sites can go to great lengths to “prove” their credibility.  It’s very hard to not buy into it.

Install a good anti-malware program, such as AVG 8, Panda or Kaspersky.

If you’re hyper-vigilant, it might be an idea to have your computer cleaned and then submit a copy of your repair bills to the vendor of the rogue products.  Bear in mind that chances are good you won’t realize a return from them, but at the very least you could use the same principal they are to spread the word.  Word of mouth is an exceptionally powerful tool.

And finally, have your computer professionally cleaned of all traces of these infections.  Many are getting more and more difficult to get rid of, and require professional intervention.  Call us today or drop in and see us.  We’ll get rid of your infections, most of the time in under an hour, give you tools to help prevent reinfection and we’ll do it in most cases without reformatting your computer.  We will preserve your computer’s state to one before the infections started.

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What laptop to buy?

Quite frequently we’ve been asked this question.  As prices drop and deals abound, the issue gets merkier.  We sell and repair dozens of laptops a week, and as such are able to provide some helpful tips when looking for your next laptop:

• The HP 6000 and 9000 series laptops are very good.  The 6000 series are their medium end home user product, the 9000 their flagship home user laptop line.  We’ve seen numerous issues and recalls with the 2000 series and as such would recommend going the little extra to the 6000.
• Sony and MDG laptops can be extremely difficult to get parts for, and chances are good you’ll be needing them sooner rather than later based on our experience with them.  MDG laptops are rebadged MSI products.  MSI will not sell the parts, and MDG will often insist that you take the laptop back to MDG for repairs.  They are also encoded with special software capable of disabling the laptop, which you agree to in your purchasing agreement.
• Seanix, while rare, are a hidden gem.  They use Asus motherboards in them.  They really aren’t much to look at, but the build quality is exceptionally good.  They’re based out west, and as such aren’t that difficult to get replacement parts for.  Even a used Seanix machine would be worth another look.
• IBM really didn’t make much of a dent in the home user market.  They’re more well known for their point of sale, servers and corporate products.  They can be quite ugly in appearance, but they are built quite tough/rugged.  If you’re using it for business, an IBM (not Lenovo) branded unit would be a worthy consideration.  The only note on IBM products is their use of Hitachi hard drives.  While some of them are decent, many of them have been notorious for failure.
• Fujitsu is not very popular around here, but their tablet PCs, along with Asus, are really quite decent and have proven reliable.  They never did establish much of a name in the retail consumer market after their disasterous attempts at making desktop hard drives, but their laptops, especially their tablets, warrant serious consideration in my opinion.
• Acer Aspire laptops, for the most part, are built with very poor quality components and as such should probably be avoided.  The Extensa series appears to be the exception, with a bit of a price premium.  We’ve seen very good results with the Extensa, while having to repair quite a few of the Aspires.  Acer does have a redeeming quality, however.  They have an excellent and comprehensive extended warranty plan available.  In an abusive environment, where damage is likely, an Acer with an extended warranty can prove to be the perfect solution.
• Toshiba Satellites have given us very good results for the most part.  A couple of the older A30’s and A40 series have given us a few issues, but overall Toshibas have proven to be very good.  The A200 series are a very good value for the money.
• Lenovo (IBM’s answer to Acer’s stiff competition) has suffered a very bad rap lately.  They’ve been plagued with quality control issues as a result of a rather archaic business model.  While we’ve seen some very good units come from them, we’ve also serviced a very large quantity of them and have seen a very large number of refurbished units hit the market.  We feel this may be good cause for caution when choosing a Lenovo model.
• Dell has recently introduced a Vostro line.  While rather inexpensive by comparison to other similar units, they’ve proven to be exceptional quality.  On our recommendation, a couple of clients have purchased them and been very pleased with the product.
• Asus has long been infamous for their top quality components.  Their laptops have proven no different.  We’re so pleased with the quality that despite their moderate price premium have become authorized Asus laptop resellers.  We gladly recommend them to everyone.
• LG, aka Lucky Goldstar, has been in the electronics business for well over a decade.  Goldstar, infamous for their “it wasn’t a Goldstar” television commercials, is owned by LG.  Their laptops have proven outstanding.  As you may know, they also make exceptional computer monitors.  This quality has been incorporated in their laptops.
• Gateway is a name you don’t often hear in this area.  We’ve sold quite a number of them and must say how pleased we are with the results.  Only one of them had an issue with it.  Other Gateways that have been brought in for repair were very minor issues.  They’re certainly worth a second look.
• An Intel-based laptop is arguably your best value for your money.  They offer industry-leading efficiency and performance, for very little price premium.
• As most new laptops are coming with Vista, ensure that you purchase a unit with at least 2 GB (gigabytes) of RAM (system memory).  A hard drive size of at least 160GB will ensure plenty of storage for all your media.
• Apple is now providing Intel-based laptops and desktops.  They come at a higher price, but they offer the unique ability of running both Windows and OS X.  We’ve found some rather annoying quirks in the OS X software, especially for users coming from Windows, but if you’re into photo and music editing, desktop publishing, or programming, a Macbook would be well-suited to your usage.  A Macbook Pro provides all the bells and whistles for any task that you may require of it.

Laptops are not created equal and as such can have vastly different feature sets with a very large variation in price.  If you’re a gamer, a laptop with a discrete video card (in other words it’s not built into the north bridge like the cheaper units) should be a serious consideration.  If you’re into graphics, a DVI or HDMI output should be sought after.  If you need long battery life, an Intel chip and 8 or 9 cell battery should be high on your list.

Although different models may look very similar, the secret is what’s under the “hood”.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call me.  No matter where you buy your laptop from, I will be delighted to answer any questions, time permitting, and help you make an informed decision, at no charge (and no commission!).

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Thank you Jennifer

This weekend we had a lovely woman named Jennifer give us a call.  She had been referred to us because her laptop, a premium model, was running very poorly.

After some initial inspection, we found the hard drive was faulty, there was not enough memory to run her programs, it had Norton and Spysweeper on it, as well as some malware.

After an all night effort to repair the drive, we finally ended up having to replace it.  We successfully recovered the personal files off of Jennifer’s old drive and transferred them to the new drive.  We upgraded her memory, installed all the updates and service packs, and finished off with AVG 8 and a bunch of free software.

We ended up only billing for the products and the time it took to do the Windows install and data recovery.  I must say that it was very rewarding seeing how happy she was when she got it back, purring along like her adorable cat.

That is what we’re all about, happy, satisfied clients.  Just as she was a referal, she promised to refer all her friends.

Thank you, Jennifer, for your business.  It was a pleasure.

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Computer scams? In Barrie?

In a previous post I added a link for a video that played on the news a while back, exposing computer repair fraud.  While I found it relevant, I was skeptical about it being a problem in Barrie.  Until today.

Today I acquired a used computer.  I was informed that it had gone in for some data transfer and had come back not working.  When they called the company, they were informed that it would cost $35 for a power supply, plus labor.  Outraged, the owner asked if the company had disconnected anything, to which they indignantly replied that they wouldn’t have had any need to do so.

When I returned to the office, I opened it up.  The power plugs to the motherboard had been disconnected and tucked away, and the video card had been dislodged resulting in an error beep once I reconnected the power supply.  Although the interior of the PC needed the typical cleaning, it was otherwise in perfectly good functioning condition.

Suddenly the idea of computer repair fraud became all too real.  It’s saddening that this epidemic is spreading to Barrie.

A client brought her laptop in for repair.  She was told by another local company that the screen replacement they had done for her would never work until she bought an inverter for it.  They charged her for the screen and sent her on her way.  I ordered a new inverter for it and subsequently discovered that in fact the screen itself was defective.

Although she has gone back to them for a refund, as of yet the owners of the company have not confirmed that they would in fact refund her money.

We back all the work we do with a service guarantee.  We fix it or it’s free.  Of course if it’s not right, we’ll make it right at no charge.  We believe that there should be no risk to the client, we are very confident in our ability to get the job done right and we gladly stand behind our work, whatever it takes.

When you need honest computer sales or repairs, give us a call.

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