ItsGeekToMe.co

I had a great time meeting and talking with so many of you at the annual Northwest Florida Association of Computer User Groups!  For those that did not attend, one of the many things we talked about was privacy as it relates to the Google Toolbar.  Now, I’m a great supporter of Google – I use it all the time, for everything from simple Internet searches, to getting driving directions, to the webmail that drives this very column.  The Google Toolbar is a great little application, providing an instant Google search pane that’s always at your fingertips, plus other features such as a pop-up blocker, spell-checker for web forms, web bookmarks that travel with you to any internet-connected computer you use, and lots more.  It can also record every single website you ever visited and log it to the Google servers.  Oh, and there’s this cool gadget that… wait!  What did he say?  Yes, he said “record every single website you ever visited”.  I promised the group at the Expo that I’d provide instructions to determine if your toolbar is logging, and how to disable it, if desired.  Here’s how: First of all, if you’re not using the Google Toolbar, this doesn’t apply to you.  If you do use it, but don’t have a Google (or Gmail) account, this doesn’t apply to you either, but you’re losing the benefit of the mobile bookmark feature.  To see what Google knows about you, make sure you’re signed-in by clicking the “Settings” button on the far-right of the Google Toolbar.  If you see an entry on the menu that says “Sign out from (some username)” then you’re signed in.  Now, in the browser’s address bar, type google.com/history.  You may need to provide your Google account password for security reasons.  Once you’ve arrived at the Web History page, if you see a yellow bar across the top that reads “Your web history has been paused.” then it is not recording data.  Otherwise, you can use the calendar on the right-side to go back in time and see a log of every web page you visited since you installed the toolbar.  If you want to delete this information, click the “Remove items” link in the navigation pane on the left.  To prevent Google from recording any more history, click “Pause”.

Q: How do you turn off an anti virus such as AVG?  Where can you disable so you can get updates from Microsoft.  I am having problems getting SP3 installed. 

– User gjmoore2
Via NWFDailyNews.com website

A: Each anti-virus package is different, so I’ll cover the one you specifically asked about – AVG.  It is easily disabled, but doing so requires an understanding of terminology.  Most people generically use the term “Virus Scanner” to describe the software that protects their system from threats.  The fact is, the “scanner” is only that portion of the package that looks through the files already on your system to see if they’re harboring a virus.  That part normally runs on a timer, often in the middle of the night, and so would not interfere with a software install.  The part that might cause interference is the component that protects your system from real-time threats, such as those that arrive in an e-mail, or web page.  AVG calls that the “Resident Shield”.  To disable it, bring up the AVG user interface by double-clicking the AVG icon in the system tray.  Click on “Resident Shield” then uncheck the box that says “Turn on AVG Resident Shield protection”.  Don’t forget to re-enable it when you’re done with your installation!