{"id":1171,"date":"2010-06-02T12:54:52","date_gmt":"2010-06-02T17:54:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alsplace.info\/tech-hints\/1171\/in-your-pocket-tech-support\/"},"modified":"2010-06-02T12:55:25","modified_gmt":"2010-06-02T17:55:25","slug":"in-your-pocket-tech-support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/alsplace.info\/?p=1171","title":{"rendered":"“In Your Pocket” Tech Support"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
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\"Techtips<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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"In Your Pocket"  Tech Support <\/span><\/h1>\n

by Ryan Morse – May 30, 2010<\/span><\/em><\/td>\n

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<\/font><\/font>If you're like me, you are your family's IT professional. Holidays and family get – togethers are a perfect time for me to catch up on my family's technology woes, after pleasantries are exchanged, of course. Lucky for them, I always come prepared to tackle their PC problems.<\/span>In this Tech Tip <\/font><\/strong><\/a>I'll go over some of the tools I use and what makes them great.<\/span> <\/p>\n

1. USB Flash Drive<\/font><\/a><\/span><\/h2>\n

<\/font>My number one tool that I carry on my key chain at all times is an 8 GB USB 2.0 flash drive,<\/font><\/strong><\/a> specifically, an OCZ Diesel.<\/font><\/strong><\/a> Its aluminum shell has stood up to the beating a key ring full of keys jangling and gnashing in my pocket for a couple years now. It doesn't have any fancy speed-boosting enhancements like ReadyBoost and those aren't necessary for what I use this drive for. Any sturdy flash drive will do, just make sure it's at least eight gigabytes (8 GB) in capacity<\/span><\/strong>. You're going to need that much space to load the next tool you'll read about.<\/span> <\/p>\n

2. Knoppix <\/font><\/a>(CD or DVD)<\/span><\/h2>\n

Knoppix is a live Linux file system that is Open Source and free to download<\/span><\/strong>. Previous Tech Tips have mentioned this re: Linux Rescue Help <\/font><\/strong><\/a>– and other live file systems, but none have given Knoppix the attention I think it deserves. I use it so much, I would have listed it as my #1 tool, but you need the flash drive to carry it on. Head over to knopper.net and download either the CD or DVD version. You might find the site is in German, as the author of this software is German, but there's an English page, as well. I recommend the DVD version because, "go big or go home," right? The difference is in the number of included applications.<\/span><\/strong> Both versions are loaded with thousands of useful Open Source, and in some cases, proprietary software.<\/span>It automatically viagra 100 mg dose<\/a> detects a wide range of hardware and networks and works without making changes to any of your hard drives<\/font><\/strong><\/a>. The obvious benefit of this is that it works completely outside of your existing operating system while still giving you the ability to read and write files on the hard drive, making it a perfect tool for booting systems with bad partitions and other common hard drive errors; even viruses, malware, and spyware.<\/span><\/strong><\/span>The latest version is 6.2.1 <\/font><\/strong><\/a>and as of version 6.0, there is a command that puts Knoppix on a USB flash drive for you. It runs a lot faster and is easier to carry than optical media, too! If you don't have a flash drive larger than 4GB, the CD version will work fine as long as it's at least 1GB capacity.<\/span> <\/p>\n

3. PortableApps<\/font><\/a><\/span><\/h2>\n

Alongside the Linux files on my flash drive, I also use PortableApps, a suite of Open Source applications for Windows that can be downloaded for free from portableapps.com.<\/font><\/strong><\/a> With PortableApps, you get the popular <\/span>software you might already be using on nearly any portable device for nearly any recent Windows machine. With titles like Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, OpenOffice, Clamwin Antivirus, and Skype, as well as the ability to package your own applications, PortableApps has almost everything you need.<\/span><\/strong><\/span>Boot into Windows and surf the web with your own settings, scan for viruses, and make a phone call while you're at it!<\/span> <\/p>\n


4. MalwareBytes Anti-Malware <\/font><\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

To me, it seems like malware has become more common than your run-of-the-mill viruses of yesteryear and your average anti-virus software might not be looking for the correct culprits. <\/span><\/strong>Enter MalwareBytes Anti-Malware; available as both a free version that does manual scans and a paid version that features real-time protection and scheduled scans. I keep a fresh executable setup file of the free version in a folder on my flash drive so it's ready for any occasion, even offline situations. If you already have this application installed on your system, <\/span><\/strong>you're one step ahead of me. This application has come through numerous times for me when other anti-virus applications delivered less-than-desirable results.<\/span>With these tools at your disposal, you're capable of handling some of the many problems your friends and family are likely to encounter. Keep in mind, both Knoppix and MalwareBytes Anti-Malware are powerful applications that are capable of deleting files you might be using, so be careful. <\/span>If you're not comfortable using these tools, just ask your family's IT guy, he'll be happy to help. \ud83d\ude42<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table><\/div>\n\n

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