Why does my computer randomly reboot without warning?

My computer likes to turn itself off and restart itself of its own free will. I do have virus and spyware protection. It doesn't present any error message, it just shuts itself off and reboots no matter what I am doing on it.

Ho, Ho, Ho: Credit Card Fraud Not A Holiday Killer. Unless You Get Hit.

A recession is when your neighbor gets laid off. A depression is when you get terminated. With credit cards, fraud is not a big deal. Unless it’s your number that’s for sale, online.

A Symantec report says the underground economy is booming. The total value of goods and services was “more than” $276 million. The most popular stuff: Bank account credentials and credit cards that have CVV2 security codes with them.

What Not to Buy in 2008

No question about it, this will be a holiday buying season unlike any other. In PC Magazine's fourth annual look at the products and tech to avoid, possible buy, and definitely make part of your holiday season, they help make sure you're blowing your somewhat smaller holiday budget in just the right way.

NoScript Add-on for Firefox

The best security you can get in a web browser!
Add-ons extend Firefox, letting you personalize your browsing experience.
Allow active content to run only from sites you trust, and protect yourself against XXS and Clickjacking attacks.

Google gives online life to Life mag's photos

Google Inc. has opened an online photo gallery that will feature millions of images from Life magazine's archives that have never been seen by the public before.

The new service, available at http://images.google.com/hosted/life, debuted Tuesday with about 2 million photos. Eventually, Google plans to scan all 10 million photos from Life's library so they can be viewed on any computer with an Internet connection.

Can Two Security Suites Co-Exist?

Are two security suites better than one?For example: Trend Micro Internet Security as added spyware protection, along with Norton 360. Answer: They don't play well together.
Read more...

BugMeNot

This Firefox add-on solves the problem. Go to a Web site, right-click in the user name or password field, and select BugMeNot. A valid user name and password will then be entered into the form. You can then use the site without having to register. The add-on works in concert with the BugMeNot Web site, which has many user names and passwords for multiple sites.

A Parent's Guide to Safe, Simple Kid-Friendly E-Mail

The Internet can be a dangerous place for children, but it's an increasingly necessary evil. Here's how to set up e-mail for your young'uns while maintaining parental control.

Antivirus vendor AVG prevents booting up

From: Windows Secrets Nomewsletter • Issue 175 • 2008-11-13

AVG's antivirus software is causing problems for Dutch, French, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish customers by flagging a key Windows file as a virus and blocking computers from booting.

AVG flags an essential Windows file, user32.dll, as a Trojan. If you agree to Heal or Move to Virus Vault, your computer then shows a Blue Screen of Death (BSoD). Subsequent attempts to reboot either end in BSODs or in endless rebooting cycles. But if you don't "heal" the file, your computer should be OK.

AVG posted a fix on its support site (enter 1575 in the Search in FAQ box to locate the specific download). Follow the instructions on the AVG site to get your broken PC back into working condition.

HOW TO SUBSCRIBE to "Windows Secrets": Anyone may subscribe to this newsletter by visiting our free signup page.

UK couple in real-life divorce over virtual affair

A British woman is divorcing her husband after discovering his online alter-ego was having an affair with a virtual woman in the fantasy world of Second Life, media reported on Friday.

Circuit City Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

When it comes to retail electronics, the two big kahunas have been Best Buy and Circuit City. Well, now Best Buy must be pretty happy because Circuit City is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. This makes them the first major retail casualty of the U.S. economic downturn.

Want to help? Just take care to avoid online donation scams

You can use the Internet to contribute money quickly to most of your favorite nonprofit organizations.Unfortunately, there are a number of online donation scams on the Internet.

How to shop online more safely this holiday season

People shop online in large numbers to save time and avoid crowded stores (not to mention gas) during the holiday season.

Unfortunately, increased online shopping also provides cyberthieves with new potential victims. Research shows that shoppers are at increased risk of online crime during the holidays, especially if they use a retailer that they're not familiar with because the retailer offers free shipping or discounts.

If you don't know an online retailer by its brand or reputation, these tips can help you determine whether they're operating a secure and trustworthy Web site before you enter your credit card number or personal information.

YouTube to Run Full-Length MGM Films

YouTube, the largest video-sharing website, will show full-length television shows and films from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's archives in its latest step to boost advertising revenue by adding professional programing, the company told Reuters on Sunday.

Foxit Reader 2.3 for Windows

Dump Adobe Reader. Foxit Reader is free and easy to use. What is a PDF?

Malicious Spam Jumps Eightfold

The amount of spam containing dangerous attachments designed to infect PCs with malicious viruses increased by eight times between July and September this year, according to Sophos.

The security firm said one in every 416 email messages received between July and September was spam compared to just one in every 3,333 emails between April and June.

Much of the increase has been caused by several large-scale malware attacks. Sophos said the worst single attack was the Agent-HNY Trojan horse, which was disguised as the Penguin Panic arcade game for Apple iPhones. However, only Windows users are affected by the viruses.

F.B.I. Looks Into a Threat to Reveal Patient Data

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating an extortion letter threatening to expose millions of patient records stolen from Express Scripts, a medical benefits management company.The company said Thursday that it had been investigating the threat since early October, when it received a letter that contained personal information on about 75 of its members including names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers and, in some cases, prescription information.

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Sony recalls 100,000 PC batteries

SAN FRANCISCO/TOKYO--Sony said five PC makers including Hewlett-Packard and Toshiba will recall 100,000 computer battery packs made by the Japanese electronics maker due to a fire hazard

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Sneaky Fees: 7 New Ways You're Paying More

Faced with a worsening economy, companies are afraid to raise prices, sothey're introducing sneaky fees instead.

Third Chrome beta another notch faster

The latest beta (trial version) of Google's browser, Chrome, shows a 37 percent JavaScript performance improvement over the initial beta released two months ago.
JavaScript is a programming language used to add some pizazz to innumerable Web pages, but more importantly from Google's perspective, to power sophisticated Web applications such as Google Docs, Google Calendar, and Gmail. Users of Chrome should see that speed bump in other JavaScript services too. Read more .

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