Privacy & Security Articles

How To Make a Private Tumblr Blog

Tumblr is a great service for sharing media and blog posts, but what if you don’t want to share your experiences with the world? Here’s how to create a private, password-protected blog for your family or business....

Matthew Guay Jul 23rd, 2010

Screenshot Tour: Microsoft Security Essentials 2.0 Beta

The new beta version of Microsoft Security Essentials was launched yesterday to a limited amount of users. Here we’ll take a look at what you expect from the new version of How-To Geek’s favorite PC security application....

Brian Burgess Jul 21st, 2010

Tweaking a Dedicated Virtual Web Server

When you get a dedicated virtual server to run your website, chances are good that it’s configured for everybody, and not customized to maximize performance for running a website.

Lowell Heddings Jul 16th, 2010

Add Automatic Website Encryption to Firefox

Would you like to have websites automatically open encrypted and secure? Enable a set list of websites and the ability to create encryption rule sets of your own with the HTTPS Everywhere extension for Firefox....

Akemi Iwaya Jul 15th, 2010

Keep Your IM Conversations Private With Off-the-Record

There may be times when you don’t want “the man” knowing what your IM conversations are. Today we look at an Instant Messenger plugin that will keep your conversations completely private.

Brian Burgess Jul 12th, 2010

Using Local Users and Groups to Manage User Passwords in Windows 7

If you have multiple user on your local machine or manage workstations in an office, you might want to enable or disable their password protection for added security. Today we take a look at how to do it in Windows 7....

Brian Burgess Jul 12th, 2010

Create Your Own Twitter-style Group Blog With P2

Would you like a great way to post stuff quickly online and communicate with your readers? Here’s how you can use the P2 theme to transform WordPress into a great collaboration and communications platform....

Matthew Guay Jul 9th, 2010

Decrypt and Copy DVDs to Your Hard Drive Without Ripping

Have you ever wanted to make backup copies of your DVDs but didn’t want to mess with confusing DVD ripping software? Today, we’ll look at drop dead simple method to decrypt DVDs on the fly with DVD43 so you can easi...

Andrew Gehman Jul 8th, 2010

Change the Length of Time When Users Need to Change their Login Password

If you’re the administrator of a shared computer or a few in the office, you probably want to have the users change their password periodically for enhanced security. Here’s how to do it in Windows 7 & XP....

Brian Burgess Jul 8th, 2010

Beginner Geek: Remember Everything You See Online With Evernote for Chrome

Have you ever discovered a great article, picture, or download on a website, only to forget where it was later on? Here’s how you can use Evernote to keep up with interesting stuff on the web with the new Evernote ext...

Matthew Guay Jul 8th, 2010

View a Website’s Security Level in Firefox’s Address Bar

If you run a minimal UI and hide the status bar then you do not have access to the security level lock icon. View the security level using colors in the address bar with the Glassy Urlbar extension for Firefox....

Akemi Iwaya Jul 7th, 2010

Keep Google From Tracking Your Every Move Online

Google offers many helpful web tools that make our lives easier, but it also collects an enormous amount of data about its users. Here’s how you can opt-out of some automatic data collection and preserve a bit more privacy....

Matthew Guay Jul 1st, 2010

How To Change the User Agent String in Firefox

Do you need a quick way to change the user agent string in Firefox for a specific website? Choose the string that you need from a preset list (or from custom entries) with the User Agent Switcher extension....

Akemi Iwaya Jun 25th, 2010

Getting Started with TrueCrypt Drive Encryption on Mac OS X

We have covered TrueCrypt for on the fly encryption on other Operating Systems in the past. Now it is time to look at installing and using TrueCrypt on Apple Macintosh OS X (specifically 10.6.4).

Christopher Welker Jun 24th, 2010

Create Enhanced Bookmarks with Diigo

Do you want more than just tags and a few notes to go with your bookmarks? With Diigo you can add tags, personal & sticky notes, snapshots, comments, and share your new bookmarks with ease.

Akemi Iwaya Jun 21st, 2010

Microsoft Desktop Player is a Valuable Tool for IT Pro’s

If you are an IT Professional, a new education tool introduced by Microsoft is the MS Desktop Player. Today we take a look at what it has to offer, from Webcasts, White Papers, Training Videos, and more....

Brian Burgess Jun 7th, 2010

Beginner Geek: Scan Files for Viruses Before Using Them

To help avoid getting your computer infected by malicious software, it’s a good idea to scan files before executing them. Today we take a look at a couple of options that will let you scan files easily from your desktop....

Brian Burgess Jun 7th, 2010

How to Browse Without a Trace with an Ubuntu Live CD

No matter how diligently you clear your cache and erase your history, web browsing leaves traces on your computer. If you need keep your browsing private, then an Ubuntu Live CD is the answer.

Trevor Bekolay Jun 1st, 2010

Control Sysinternals Suite & NirSoft Utilities with a Single Interface

Sysinternals and NirSoft both provide helpful utilities for your Windows system but may not be very convenient to access. Using the Windows System Control Center you can easily access everything through a single UI front end....

Akemi Iwaya May 26th, 2010

Scan Your Thumb Drive for Viruses from the AutoPlay Dialog

It’s always a good idea to scan someone’s flash drive for viruses when you use it on your PC. Today we look at how to use Microsoft Security Essentials to scan thumb drives via the AutoPlay dialog....

Brian Burgess May 25th, 2010

Wipe, Delete, and Securely Destroy Your Hard Drive’s Data the Easy Way

Giving a computer to somebody else? Maybe you’re putting it out on Craigslist to sell to a stranger—either way, you’ll want to make sure that your drive is completely wiped, scrubbed, and clean of any personal d...

Lowell Heddings Apr 29th, 2010

Make Browsing Safer for Children in Google Chrome

If you are worried about the websites that your children could accidentally visit while browsing, then you may want to have a look at the Kid Safe – LinkExtend extension for Google Chrome.

Akemi Iwaya Apr 26th, 2010

Use an Ubuntu Live CD to Securely Wipe Your PC’s Hard Drive

Have you ever given or sold a PC to somebody else, but really wanted to completely wipe the hard drive first? Today we’ll show you how to use an Ubuntu Live CD to get your personal information off your PC....

Trevor Bekolay Apr 19th, 2010

Scan a Windows PC for Viruses from a Ubuntu Live CD

Getting a virus is bad. Getting a virus that causes your computer to crash when you reboot is even worse. We’ll show you how to clean viruses from your computer even if you can’t boot into Windows by using a virus scanner...

Trevor Bekolay Apr 6th, 2010

Setup Remote Access in Windows Home Server

One of the many awesome features of Windows Home Server, is the ability to access your server and other computers on your network remotely. Today we show you the steps to enable Remote Access to your home server from anywhere...

Brian Burgess Apr 5th, 2010