If you own an Asus PC and have been reading recent headlines, you may be a little worried. So what’s the story and do you really need to be concerned? Dave’s Computers investigates.

The story broke in March that potentially millions of Asus computers had been unwittingly infected with malware. The ShadowHammer malware was sneaked into the supply chain and onto the Asus update server. This means every Asus computer that contacted the server for updates could potentially have been infected.

The malware was live on the server between June and November 2018 and could have been downloaded thousands of times. Discovered by Kaspersky, as their software runs on many Asus computers, the company traced it back to the source and said it alone had dealt with over 57,000 infected machines.

What to do if you may have been infected

If you think you may be one of those users infected by ShadowHammer, you need to run your antivirus software and a separate malware scanner. You can also download Asus’ new Live Update software (version 3.6.8) which will tackle any malware installed on your computer.

While you may find it difficult to trust Asus Live Update, the company assures us that version of 3.6.8 is perfectly safe and can remove the malware from your computer. Asus has also beefed up the security on their servers and implemented as much security as possible to stop it happening again.

Keep on top of antivirus and malware

If a reminder was ever needed, this is the ideal lesson to remind all of us to keep on top of our computer security. It’s easy to get caught up in daily goings on and lose track of when we last performed a malware scan or antivirus check. The sophistication of this attack shows what lengths people will go to in order to attack our technology.

Always use an antivirus product on every device. Have it set to automatically scan if it has the option and to automatically update. Run a malware scanner after your antivirus. Malwarebytes or something similar is free and very simple to use. Get into the habit of using both of these regularly.

If you’re still concerned or wonder if you have gotten rid of ShadowHammer, bring your computer to Dave’s Computers in New Jersey. We can perform our own checks just to make sure.

Sometimes doing something yourself is not the easiest or cheapest way to do something. It may offer more satisfaction and a deeper knowledge of your chosen subject but it can come at a financial cost. Computer repairs are one of those subjects.

I always encourage my customers to learn about how their computer works and how to keep it running efficiently. I think an understanding of the machines around us reduces fear, helps confidence and helps us accept them more. There is a limit though.

When it comes to basic repairs, DIY is definitely the way to go. Optimizing Windows, setting up antivirus, cleaning hard disk space and those kinds of things are simple and can be done by anyone. Read our blog for detailed instructions on most of those!

Time is money

When it comes to changing processors, troubleshooting memory, changing boot drives and more complex matters, it is often better to let us do it. We don’t doubt your enthusiasm, intelligence or ability. Not at all. It’s all about efficiency.

Is it cheaper for you to spend two or three hours of your time changing a boot drive and cloning your operating system or paying us to do it?

Would it be cheaper to buy a new processor from Dave’s Computers and have us install it or buy it online and try to do it yourself?

If that time could be better spent working, spending time with the family, being with friends or doing something more fulfilling, we would argue that it is better to pay us. You could likely earn more in that time than it costs for us to do it and there is no price for more family time!

Dave’s Computers uses a very fair pricing model. We offer free quotations and then a fixed fee or hourly rate depending on what we are doing. We tell you up front how much it will cost and will stick to that price. We believe in fair, transparent pricing and will do everything we can to deliver on our promises.

If you have a busy life and time is short, do you have the time to scour the internet for how-to guides or YouTube videos showing you how to do what you need to do? Do you have the patience to safely take a computer to pieces and put it back together again? Do you have the resources to replace components you inadvertently break while working on your computer?

If the answer is not to any of those, it is better to pay a computer repair expert to do the work. We are cheap and cheerful but guarantee the quality of our workmanship and the components we use. Try us and see for yourself!

If you saw or heard Google’s presentation last week and the announcement of Google Stadia, you’re likely to be as excited as I am. But what about Microsoft and Sony? With the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Two on the way, should they be worried?

In a word, yes.

Google Stadia in theory at least, could make gaming accessible to everyone. It won’t matter if you don’t have the latest gaming PC, newest Xbox or PlayStation. As long as you have a decent internet connection, some kind of basic PC and controller and the cash to buy the subscription, the entire world of gaming opens up.

Most people of a certain age with have a PS4 and/or an Xbox. PC fans will also have gaming computers. Those people will know that hardware doesn’t come cheap. A good graphics card for a PC could run you $500-800 without the rest of the hardware. A PS4 or Xbox is almost as expensive.

Google Stadia

According to the announcement, Google Stadia will require just a 15Mb internet connection to deliver low latency (<40ms) and low loss (less than 5% packet loss) gaming. The demonstration played Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and if you have played it, you will know how demanding that game is!

As the Stadia server does all the heavy lifting so you can play it on almost any device with a decent screen and controller connector. As long as the device can run Google Chrome, it should be able to play any game on the platform.

If you have an older PC in the house and was wondering whether to upgrade it to play the latest games, you might want to check out Google Stadia. It might not be for you and won’t be here for a while, but it is coming and it will be good. Google are betting the bank on it!

To make it all work, they and AMD have designed special processors capable of 10.7 teraflops of graphics processing. That makes each one almost three times as powerful as a PS4 and almost twice as powerful as the Xbox One X. It will be able to deliver 4K resolution at 60fps with 8K coming later. The Xbox One X is capable of 6 teraflops while the PS4 is capable of 4.2. The graphics engine is paired with a 2.7 GHz processor and 16GB of RAM.

Google didn’t mention pricing for Google Stadia. As the next best offering is PlayStation Now at $19.99 a month, it is realistic to expect the cost to be competitive with that. Then all you will need is a Google Stadia Controller and you’re good to go.

The launch of Google Stadia will be ‘sometime in 2019’. That is before the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Two and soon enough to begin feeling excited right away.

It also gives you time to prepare. If you want a custom PC built for Google Stadia or want us to refurbish and older computer, bring it to Dave’s Computers in New Jersey and we’ll make sure you’re ready for launch day!

There are a bunch of PC cleaner apps and tuning programs that offer to help keep your Windows computer running smoothly. Some are free such as CCleaner while others are premium, like PC Health Advisor. There are also ads everywhere online offering PC cleaning software for a modest cost. Do you need things applications running on Windows 10? Do you need to pay to keep your computer running well?

The short answer is no, you certainly do not need to pay to keep Windows 10 running smoothly. I would definitely avoid buying any ‘PC cleaning’ software from an internet ad. Whether you install a free program or not is up to you. The guys here at Dave’s Computers have tried all kinds of cleaning and tuning software in our time. Some of the programs are useful, others not so much.

During the Windows 95 to Windows 8 era, these programs did offer modest value. Windows wasn’t so good at housekeeping and would use up all your disk space, not completely clean the registry when you uninstalled an app and was something of a sulky teenage when it came to keeping things tidy. This is where tuning and cleaning applications were useful.

Now we have Windows 10, you don’t need anything else to keep things running smoothly.

Windows 10 housekeeping

While still far from perfect, Windows 10 has made huge strides in usability, utility and appeal. It now manages its own disk space, offers to clean the recycle bin every month, does a far better job at cleaning the registry when uninstalling and tries to keep everything running smoothly.

Windows 10 can repair it’s own registry. It enables you to empty the junk folder yourself. It has its own disk cleaner. It can defragment its own drives and you don’t need to defrag an SSD. You can clear your own browser cookies and history in a couple of clicks. You can cleanly uninstall your own applications.

These things are what most PC tuning or cleaning applications offer to do.

Never buy PC cleaning software from an ad

When I say ads, I don’t mean sponsored ads by recognized companies, I mean web ads for companies you have never heard of for programs that offer to revolutionize your computing experience by speeding it up, clearing out the junk and cleaning the registry.

At best all these programs do is what Windows can do itself. At worst, it will scare you with hundreds of ‘errors’ and ask you to pay to fix them. Some of these apps try to charge users up to $50 for a license to do what Windows can already do.

Don’t fall for the hype.

Use CCleaner if you want a tune up

If you like being able to perform all housekeeping tasks from a single place, Piriform’s CCleaner is the way to go. There is a free version which is plenty enough or a decent Pro version that automates all of the processes. For most home users, the free version is plenty enough.

It can clean out old files, free up disk space, tidy up the registry, change startup items and offers an easy way to uninstall old programs. All things Windows can do but in a tidy interface. Best of all, it’s free and it works!

Test your RAM with MemTest86+

1. Download the pre-compiled bootable ISO and load it onto a USB stick. You will need to boot your computer from this USB to access the tool.
2. Boot your computer and press F8 to open the boot menu. Select the USB and boot into it.
3. Perform at least 8 passes with MemTest86+ for maximum accuracy.
4. Watch for errors and note which RAM slot on your motherboard they appear.

1. Open up your PC case and identify the RAM slot you noted the error for.
2. Swap the RAM stick for another if you have one. Replace it if you only have the one.
3. Run the MemTest86+ tests again.

Ten signs of malware infection

1. Computer begins running slowly – There are many reasons why your computer may slow down but most of the time it happens gradually. If yours suddenly begins slowing down or taking longer to boot, run a malware scan.
2. Computer keeps restarting or crashing – There are many other reasons why this might happen too, but if you see other signs in this list, run a malware scan.
3. Hard drive or processor working overtime – If you’re just browsing the internet or doing something basic and your hard drive is working hard or your processor is at high utilization, you could have a virus or malware. Run a scan. It can be other things too, Task Manager will tell you what.
4. Browser homepage changes – Most of us have a favorite home page that opens every time we open the browser. If it suddenly changes to something other than the browser default, it’s a sure sign of malware or of you not opting out of changes when you installed free software.
5. Search engine changes – The same for your default search engine. Some free software offer to change it for you but so does some malware.
6. You begin seeing popup ads – If you start seeing more popup ads than usual, especially when you’re not using the internet, this is a sure sign you have malware.
7. Internet activity picks up – If your internet slows down or your firewall shows more activity than usual on your network, this could be a sign of malware. If there are no other obvious reasons for this, run a scan.
8. Your security software turns off – If you see your antivirus or firewall disabled and you didn’t do it, it could be malware. Some malware can disable security software without your knowledge so if you notice it, scan.
9. Unusual messages or activity – If you start seeing strange messages like not being able to open an app or cannot write to a certain folder, this could be normal Windows or it could be malware. If you also see some of these other signs, run a scan.
10. Friends receive emails or messages from you that you didn’t send – This is a sure sign of malware. A piece of code has gotten to your email contacts and is spamming them trying to spread itself. Run a scan.

Keep it clean

Check all fans are working

Check airflow