June 25, 2004                                                                                                                                  

BEWARE OF THE “GOOD DEAL”

During the last several months, we have seen a huge increase in several problem areas.  First, the cheap software deals.  I receive on average about 10 emails per day advertising software that is way below market price.  This is one area that everyone needs to be aware of and know how to tell when you are being scammed.

These advertisers are generally not located in the U.S.  They are operating out of the country but making it appear that they are a legitimate U.S. company.  I have personally seen what you get when you buy this garbage; blatantly copied software claiming to be OEM.  One customer showed me a disk he received for Windows 2000 Pro.  It was a photocopied CD sleeve with an Imation CD-R disk.  They didn’t even attempt to duplicate the hologram that normally comes on a Microsoft CD.   He paid $50 for this plus freight.  He said the packaging didn’t even have a return address.

The last thing you want to have is the SBA “nazi’s” breathing down your neck.  Don’t get sucked into these deals.  It could ultimately cost you a lot more than buying legitimate software.  It could potentially cost you your freedom.  At the very least, it could cost you customers if you try to sell this stuff to them.  If they report you to the SBA or Microsoft, it could be a lot worse.

If you would like to know more about buying legitimate software or how to identify counterfeit software, visit the Microsoft Piracy site at http://www.microsoft.com/piracy/

The other problems we have seen an increase in is spyware and virus’.  The virus problem has been increasing at a steady pace and I’m sure you have all been very busy with it.  The spyware problem is increasing at an alarming rate.  The majority of our tech support calls are now spyware related.  We suggest the following spyware removal tools:

Adaware – This can be downloaded from the developer, Lavasoft, or by doing a search for “spyware” on Download.com. 

Spybot – This is also easily obtained from Download.com

Both of these utilities are free.  There are more robust versions that can be purchased.  However, the free versions have worked very well.

Spyware used to just sit on your computer without you knowing it.  It is now causing some very severe problems.  There have been a few instances where the only cure for the problem was to format and reload.  This is rare but when the user lets the spyware increase to several thousand instances on their computer, it can become hopeless.  Good luck!

S&K