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What can Bitcoin teach us about privacy?

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By now you’ve probably heard a little about Bitcoin or one of the other virtual currencies. You’ve probably heard about the price fluctuations, maybe about the connections with illegal activities, or maybe even new companies starting to accept them as payments. These are all great ways to start learning about Bitcoin, but what interests me the most is the potential positive impact on privacy.

Bitcoin has been around for over five years now and many are still trying to really get a good grasp on what it is. The best way to describe Bitcoin is that it is a protocol, similar to what powers your email or phone number, which uses a public ledger to record every transaction. So when I purchase a new computer with Bitcoin or even just give some to a friend, anybody in the world can see it happen in near real time if they are looking at the ledger. This makes the world a much more public place, but still gives us more privacy by the pseudo-anonymous addresses and decentralized system.

 

Pseudo-Anonymity

The biggest case for privacy in Bitcoin is the pseudo-anonymous transactions. When looking at the public ledger we can see transactions occurring every second, the exact amount in each address, any notes attached to transactions, and what address each transaction is going to. While everything is very public in the ledger, the addresses themselves are all random strings of letters and numbers to allow the owner of each address to remain private.

One way to understand how these random strings allow for us to be anonymous, if we wish, is by making sure nobody knows what your address is. These addresses are something you can generate yourself without any need to connect with an email address or real name. You can then make payments or send Bitcoin to other people without ever having to give over personal information.

Some people may wish to publicize one of their Bitcoin addresses to allow others to send Bitcoin their way. This might be posted on a website, in an email, or even on social media so that others can see. For this reason it’s easy to generate multiple addresses that don’t need to be tied together in any matter so that you can remain pseudo-anonymous while still providing some public information.

 

Decentralized System

One of the most common themes seen in today’s technology news is breaches or hacks around credit cards.  Most of the time there is a central company or website that has a collection of credit cards, names and addresses associated with them, and sometimes even the pins to the cards. This presents hackers with a treasure chest of information to attempt to get their hands on. Using Bitcoin, all of the information remains in your hands, and any attempts to alter the transaction records and forge payments is instantly broadcast and seen by everybody.

There are many “wallets” for Bitcoin online, which allow users to quickly setup addresses and start using Bitcoin, but it’s important to make sure you utilize all of Bitcoin’s security and privacy settings by keeping things in your own hands. With any amount of Bitcoin it would be smart to send to an “offline wallet” or addresses that only you have access to the private key, similar to pins for debit cards. With an offline wallet it’s important to keep a backup of the private key and if stored on a computer encrypt so not anybody can access. The recommendation however is to print and save in a secure location like a bank or safe offline.

 

Bitcoin may be interesting to watch because of the investment opportunity and hearing about those that have become rich off of it but the protocol itself opens up a lot of doors for privacy and security in the payment industry. By being able to anonymously send Bitcoin to anybody in the world, audit the entire system at any time, and keep the keys in your own hands people should be able to feel more trust in a world full of breaches and hacks.

AVG

Why There’s Room for RealPad

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In my last blog, I discussed the current disconnect —or lag—with some seniors, especially older ones, when it comes to smartphone adoption.

As research by Pew and others has suggested, the reasons many older people have lagged in adoption of smartphones seems rooted in the footprint of the device, i.e. size of the user interface and thus ease of reading, viewing and manipulation.  This is evident in the rapid adoption of larger devices  like tablets and e-readers – by this demographic.

In recognition of the stumbling blocks for some seniors, earlier this month AARP launched its new RealPad tablet. The $189 device, produced in partnership with Intel, includes larger text and icons. But it also smartly packages all-hour tech support and video tutorials – tools designed expressly for seniors. And it comes preloaded with an AARP app, eBook reader, email (Gmail), photo sharing, video chat, games, tools and other features like a retirement and health calculators. Additional apps will be available on Google Play.

It’s basically a tablet—about the size of an iPad mini—that runs Google Android 4.4 with a custom app launcher featuring large icons.  AARP says the tablet is designed for anyone who is apprehensive about using tablets and embracing technology and going digital.

AARP specifically targets 70-million 50+-age group, who haven’t adopted tablet technology. But I think the sweet spot for this product really isn’t most Boomers, but older seniors – the generation born before 1946. As we’ve discussed before, many Boomers are plenty tech savvy – and I also would be remiss if I didn’t mention that some seniors I’ve come across are plenty tech savvy…but not all.

OK, so why should you consider it for or recommend it to the seniors in your life? I like the design concept and larger icons and readability, but more than that, I like the addition of its one-click RealQuick Fix troubleshooting feature and 24/7-tech support. (Amazon’s Kindle Fire HDX also offers 24/7 support).

In terms of security, AARP has also made a smart move: It allows, among other free downloads, “Protecting Yourself Online for Dummies.” As it says, “Don’t let news about Internet risks deter you from taking full advantage of its benefits.”

My previous post had some of our own safety suggestions for seniors. I’m not clear on AARP’s entire security offering. We at AVG offer strong security apps on the Android platform, check out our Google Play page.

Is the RealPad the right choice for everyone over the age of 50? Probably not. But it was designed with an older adult in mind who needs a little extra care – and I applaud that.

I agree with AARP, there’s just too much value in the digital world for seniors to be shut off.  Tablets and larger format smartphones can really enrich their lives. In addition to providing grandparents with a digital photo album of their grandkids and a social platform to stay connected with family and friends, it’s a ready-made platform and market for important things like health monitoring and management apps. RealPad is a great step in the right direction to address that need.

We should all be interested in addressing the needs of this market. After all, we are all likely to be seniors someday.

AVG

AVG CloudCare scoops award in independent tests

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AVG CloudCare’s AntiVirus 2014 component has just received an award following its first ever participation in one of the industry’s top security comparison tests.  The latest Virus Bulletin  gave us a score of 91.2 out of a possible 100 in both Reactive and Proactive tests.

In an age where security breaches are common and a company trades more than ever on its reputation, small businesses simply cannot afford to take any chances when it comes to protecting their confidential or customer data.

In fact a recent eMarketer study shows that undetected malware and cloud-based security are still among the top security concerns for small businesses.

SMB Threats
That’s why I’m delighted that the Virus Bulletin test singled out AVG CloudCare for its scanning and detection performance. It is a strong indicator that we design our product wholly with users in mind and are addressing their very real concerns.

 

Here’s what Virus Bulletin had to say:

“Scanning was very fast indeed, even in the initial runs, and overheads were pretty light, barely detectable once files had been checked for the first time. Our set of activities ran through in good time, and resource use was low. Detection was very strong indeed with excellent scores throughout our sets, and with no issues to report in the WildList or clean sets, a VB100 award is well deserved, adding another good result to that strong score.”

 

Our customers are echoing this sentiment:

Thomas Keats of Rainbow Computers, a small business and AVG IT partner told us   “I love so much about AVG CloudCare, it’s increasing the bottom line, increasing interaction with the customer on more than one level, keeping me and my shop more in their mind each step of the way.”

If you are a small business looking for a way to stay ahead of the security curve why not ask a local IT contractor about AVG CloudCare? Your company’s security would be one less thing to worry about!

Learn more about AVG CloudCare at: www.avg.com/cloudcare

Learn more about the Virus Bulletin 100 test at: https://www.virusbtn.com/virusbulletin/archive/2014/06/vb201406-comparative

AVG

Seniors are going mobile

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More than three quarters (77%) of Americans aged 65 and older are now using cellphones. While they lag the general population (91%+), it is a significant increase over two years ago, according to recently released studies conducted by the Pew Research Center.  But a much smaller group (only 18%) of this demographic has made the leap to a smartphone. The older the person, the research suggests, the less likely they have been to make the move to a smartphone.

In support of the findings, many of the seniors that I know tend to own older model cellphones that are either a) turned off, or b) not carried at all or used only under special circumstances (for travel and at insistence of family on special occasions), and c) are not used for more than actual phone calls.

But this is changing fast.

Seniors are showing a larger appetite for and are finding more value in larger format devices like tablets and e-readers. The Pew survey found 27% of seniors now own a tablet, e-reader or both (and that’s more than the public average).

Smartphone adoption should continue among seniors as new devices like the new Samsung Galaxy, Amazon Fire and Apple iPhone 6 continue to get larger and become easier to read and manipulate. In fact, the researchers at Deloitte predict that people 55+  (that would include Boomers through seniors) will experience the fastest growth in smartphone adoption in 2014, with 45-50% predicted to own a smartphone by the end of 2014.

Financial considerations for many seniors (especially those on fixed incomes) and confusion about career plans have no doubt led to a lag in smartphone adoption. But needing assistance to learn how to use the new devices and associated apps is one of the largest concerns by seniors (77%) in adopting smartphone technology, according to Pew.

This should be a concern to us in the technology industry. Shouldn’t we be making technology that is inherently simple to adopt? Shouldn’t we be designing apps for that –and, more specifically, with seniors in mind?

AARP thinks so. The organization just introduced a new tablet the RealPad aimed at this market. (I’ll cover this in more detail in my next column.)

During the recent national AARP event in San Diego, where AVG participated, we were concerned to learn that about one-third of the seniors we spoke to admitted that they use no security software on their smartphone or tablet devices. That suggests there is a lot of work to be done to help educate this audience on how to stay safe online.

Security of data is a primary issue when dealing with a smartphone or any smart connected devices – whether it involves sharing photos on social media, emailing or banking. Once online, Pew and others have found that the senior demographic is rapidly embracing social media (46%). In the brief survey of those who stopped by our booth on technology usage (we’ll share more details on this later), email was the most popular online application for the group, followed by banking.

Here are some simple tips for smartphone users to make data safer – applicable to everyone:

  • Screen lock the phone. Setting your smartphone to require a PIN code or password for access after an inactive period is a relatively easy way to keep your data safe.
  • Apply operating system updates. Often when our device prompts us to install an update, many of us simply ignore it. We shouldn’t. Many updates carry security-related improvements so update whenever you can.
  • Think twice before connecting your smartphone to a public Wi-Fi hotspot, because just as with a PC, this kind of shared, unsecured connection can leave activity and data vulnerable to eavesdropping and theft.
  • Beware of text message spam. Just like a web page or an email, text messages can be used for mischief. Especially if your device doesn’t have security software, links hidden in text messages can lead to malicious sites, unwanted apps and sometimes even expensive phone bills.
  • Which brings us back to security software!  Use it! Malware writers see the vast mobile market as a great opportunity to make some quick profit. In a world where your smartphones probably carries more of your sensitive personal information that your home PC, it’s a good idea to use some basic protection.

I am very excited that more seniors are embracing smartphones and tablets.  They are great tools to keep connected with family and friends, be active and engaged.  Now, we in the tech industry must catch up with them and provide the tools to make it more useful and enjoyable!

AVG

Amazon announce Fire Phone UK launch

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The Amazon Fire Phone, which launched in the US in July was launched in the UK this week.

The Fire Phone, which has a unique Dynamic Perspective feature which alters the display to offer the user a 3D screen from any angle. It achieves this via four front facing cameras which track the user’s face and allow gesture input.

The AVG team took full advantage of the unique head movement gesture control and built into the AVG Alarm Clock Extreme app so that users get can get the full Fire phone experience. This means that users who download the AVG app can nod or shake their head to ‘snooze’ or turn off their alarm and other physical gestures will provide a richer, more impactful experience.

We have developed two new apps, AVG AntiVirus PRO for Fire phone and AVG Alarm Clock Xtreme Free for Fire phone, both available to download from the Amazon store for FREE and are designed to take advantage of all the exiting new functionality built into the Amazon Fire phone.

Just as Amazon has done with the device, we wanted to provide users with a great experience that is engaging and exciting.

Download AntiVirus PRO for Fire phone

Download Alarm Clock Xtreme Free for Fire phone

AVG

What if smart devices could be hacked with just a voice?

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Smartphones and wearable devices have introduced a brave new world in the way that humans and computers interact. While on the PC we used the keyboard and mouse, touch-based devices and wearables have removed the need for peripherals and we can now interact with them using nothing more than our hands or even our voices.

This has prompted the arrival of the voice activated “personal assistant”. Activated by nothing more than our voices, these promise to help us with some basic tasks in a hands-free way. Both Apple and Google added voice recognition technologies to their smart devices. Siri and Google Now are indeed personal assistants for our modern life.

Both Siri and Google Now can record our voice, translate it into text and execute commands on our device – from calling to texting to sending emails and many more.

However, these voice recognition technologies – that are so necessary on smart devices – are perhaps not as secure as we give them credit for. After all, they are not configured to our individual voices. Anyone can ask your Google Now to make a call or send a text message and it will dutifully oblige – even if it’s not your voice asking.

What if your device is vulnerable to voice commands from someone else? What if it could call a premium number, send a text message abroad, or write an email from your account without your knowledge. Over–the-air-attacks on voice recognition technologies are real, and they are not limited just to smartphones. Voice activation technologies are also coming to smart connected devices at home, like your smart TV.

As I demonstrate in this short video, the smart devices in my home do respond to my voice, however they also respond to ANY voice command, even one synthesized by another device in my home.

 

 

The convenience of being able to control the temperature of your home, unlock the front door and make purchases online all via voice command is an exciting and very real prospect. However, we need to make progress with the authentication of the voice source. For example, will children be able to access inappropriate content if devices can’t tell if it is a child speaking or a parent?

Being able to issue commands to my television might not be the most dangerous thing in the world but new smart devices, connected to the Internet of Things are being introduced every day. It may not be an issue to change the station on my television, but being able to issue commands to connected home security systems, smart home assistance, vehicles and connected work spaces is not far away.

Utilizing voice activation technology in the Internet of Things without authenticating the source of the voice is like leaving your computer without a password – everyone can use it and send commands.

 

 

There is no question that voice activation technology is exciting, but it also needs to be secure. That means, making sure that the commands are provided from a trusted source. Otherwise, even playing a voice from a speaker or an outside source can lead to unauthorized actions by a device that is simply designed to help.

 

An Emerging Threat

While we haven’t discovered any samples of malware taking advantage of this exploit in the wild yet, it is certainly an area for concern that device manufacturers and operating system developers should take into account when building for the future. As is so often the case with technology, convenience can come at a risk to privacy or security and it seems that voice activation is no different.

AVG

Shellshock vulnerability: should we be concerned?

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We are continually hearing about bugs and vulnerabilities that could potentially be serious. The latest one named ShellShock can potentially be used to remotely take control of almost any system that is using a software component called Bash. This sounds devastating and it course of could be, but don’t start running for the hills or deciding to unplug from the Internet quite yet though.

Bash is a software component that exists on many Linux systems including Apple’s Mac OSX. As Linux is the operating system used on a large number of the web servers, a bug like this could mean cybercriminals have the potential to exploit the vulnerability and cause harm to users of the web server or indeed to the company whose web server it is. They do this by inserting malware on the server that could potentially collect data, cracks passwords or do something particularly malicious.

At the time of writing this blog there is already a large number of patches available that address this vulnerability for servers and reputable companies have teams in place that watch for these alerts and update their servers to protect them and the users of the services they offer. A good example is our own security team here at AVG who immediately ran an audit to see if we had any servers that may have this vulnerability, and they have already confirmed that our servers are safe.

 

If you are a Mac user should you be concerned and what do you need to do?

Apple has, as expected, reacted quickly and is releasing an automatic update to OSX that users will be prompted to install. They have also made it clear that the issue does not affect the majority and is an issue for power users that take advantage of the advanced UNIX services within OSX. If the previous sentence has baffled you then you are in the group that Apple say are not at risk.

Even as a power user at home you are likely to be sitting behind a firewall that would detect someone trying to execute commands on your machine and they would be blocked. However bad guys may well try and trick users to into installing files that could leave them more vulnerable to attack, a good rule is to not click something that you don’t recognize and remember the update will only come directly from Apple. When you see the update appear through on your Mac, install it immediately so that you stay safe.

There are also other devices in our homes that run Linux. Many of the routers and broadband modems we use to connect to the Internet also utilize Linux as an operating system and because of this we recommend you watch for updates from those vendors and take the action to install them. If your router is provided by your ISP then they should push the update to the router automatically.

It is good practice to allow the automatic updates on your devices so that they are maintained by the manufacturer of the device to protect you from issues like this. Having up to date anti-virus software installed and active is also of paramount importance in today’s environment where more of our data than ever before is held by us on our devices. The protection provided will detect and block an exploit such as this where cybercriminals attempt to install malware on your machine. AVG’s Free Antivirus is available for Mac and PC users and can be downloaded from www.avg.com

AVG

Who Dares Wins in The Pitch, UK

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On Thursday 18th September more than 40 intrepid small business entrepreneurs  – including one  17 year-old – from around the UK assembled in Manchester for the Northern semi-final of The Pitch 2014, the small business competition that this year has AVG as its lead sponsor.   As with the first semi-final in London the event took the form of a Boot Camp during which the competition’s main sponsors provided a series of mentoring workshops designed to help the contestants hone their pitches as they bid to land a coveted place in the Live Final taking place in Bristol on 23rd October.

The AVG workshop – appropriately held in a room called ‘dare’ – centred on overcoming sales objections.  Adapted from the classic objection-rebuttal cycle training that AVG provides to IT partners our workshop was based on the premise that entrepreneurs are great at dreaming up ideas for new products and services but are less confident when it comes to dealing with negative responses to their sales proposition.

Led by Mike Byrne, the workshop taught one or two simple techniques for overcoming common sales objections. People were then split into pairs for a role-playing exercise where they had the chance to practice what they’d learnt.  This format seemed to work very well, never failing to break the ice and fully engage the participants.  This was reflected in the numerous pieces of positive feedback that we received – a good example being this tweet from RecruitPacks.

Then it was time for the main event.  Everyone was given just 90 seconds to step up in front of a room full of judges and rivals, pitch their business idea and make the case why they should be selected to go through to the live final. There was a hugely diverse range of start-ups to choose from.

As lead sponsor and one of the judges AVG has the very difficult task choosing between such a high calibre of entries. Of course, AVG is always interested in eye-catching new ideas – especially in tech -Very occasionally, we take more than a passing interest as the recent acquisition of mobile monetization start-up Location Labs demonstrates.  If you would like to read more on this why not check out Mike Foreman’s recent interview with BusinessZone, published this week, where he talks more about what companies like AVG look for when weighing up prospective acquisitions and what entrepreneurs can expect.

The Boot Camp had a whole spectrum of businesses: everything from e-book stores and games for teaching numeracy; radon detectives and crime scene cleaners ; Twitter-driven advertising concepts and nano technology; and many more besides.  However in one thing Manchester was united. They all shared the same courage and determination. A willingness to push themselves well beyond their personal comfort zones in pursuit of making their business dreams come true.

For some the experience was plainly quite traumatic.  But in conquering their nerves they won the sympathy and support of the whole room.  A place in the live final awaits 30 of the top semi-finalists and a chance to present their pitch to a live audience, a panel of judges that will include Judy Bitterli, as well as investors and supporters.

One final word on Manchester to end on.  There cannot be many other business contests where people who are technically in fierce competition do so much bonding with their peers and provide so much emotional support for each other.  As Dan Martin editor of BusinessZone put it, “There was a lot of love in the room!”

AVG

What does iOS 8 mean for privacy?

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Apple just released the next version of its mobile operating system, iOS 8, to the world for all devices from the iPhone 4S and newer. iOS 8 introduces many new bells and whistles including mobile payments on the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, health data, and many other features. While it will take a little while to get used to and notice everything new, we wanted to let you know of the improvements in privacy and security being made in this new mobile OS.

With a big push into wearable computing and health information on your devices, the need for improved privacy and security may be at an all-time high. The three main areas of concern we look at to see how well Apple is keeping up their privacy and security standards would be Apple Pay, device settings, and general data protection.
 

Apple Pay

Apple Pay may be the biggest news outside of the Apple Watch to be released in quite a while for Apple. Not only are they now enabling every new smart phone user to pay at over 220,000 brick and mortar stores with their phone, but they hope to do so in a much more secure manner

With Apple Pay, you are enabling your phone to act as a payment service that connects to your credit card or bank account. Apple Pay actually takes this a step further and never stores your credit card information on the devices or servers, but rather generates one-time tokens that connect to your account each time you pay. This means that you’re never actually providing your real credit card details at the point of purchase, helping protect you from fraud.

 

Device Settings

Device settings have been mostly minor updates from one version of iOS to the next, and although the changes may seem small they can help put the privacy control back in consumer’s hands. In iOS 8, there are three updates that users should be aware of in the settings: default search engine, location data, and your contact list.

Apple is introducing a new option for default searches to satisfy the privacy conscious crowd, using DuckDuckGo. DuckDuckGo is a privacy oriented search engine that doesn’t collect information on your search terms or build a profile to target advertisements at you. In fact, the search engine doesn’t even keep track of what websites you visit through your searches. This enables the DuckDuckGo to provide the most private search in a consumer friendly manner. The one downside to DuckDuckGo is that your searches will not be tailored to you; so finding what you want may take a little bit longer.

Location data has always been one of two options prior to iOS 8, either always on or always off. With the introduction of iOS 8 however, there is now a new option to allow apps to only access your location while the app is running. This could prevent rogue apps from collecting and storing data about your location at any time of the day. This setting is configurable through the Location tab in the Privacy section of the settings app, although it does require apps to accept this as an option.

Finally, your contact list contains some of the most personal and private data you might have on your phone. There have been many examples of apps uploading and saving your contacts to their servers, and this was in part due to an all-or-nothing model for accessing contacts.

Contact information is necessary for sharing with friends, finding people to connect with, and other useful tools on your device, but it’s definitely not always needed in its entirety. For this reason Apple is now introducing better developer controls so that apps can request only certain parts of your contact list, such as just email addresses, or even search and get a single contact at a time. This benefits the user as they won’t need to hand over all of their data to every app, but rather only give away the information that is needed.
 

Data Protection

iOS 8 brings a large push towards health data and wearable computing to your devices. While these are great new tools, they also generate a lot of sensitive, personal information about you. To help keep this data safe, Apple is creating a protected, centralized location that requires specific access before apps can read the data. This allows you to control who you share it with.

Outside of data that devices are tracking on us, Apple also taken steps to prevent third parties from tracking you based on your device. One of the most common ways companies would put together a profile on users was to associate behaviors, such as apps used or websites visited, to a MAC address which is a unique string that each device has. This address acted as the key that put all the pieces of data together. Starting in iOS 8, your MAC address will become randomized whenever you are connecting to new Wi-Fi spots or apps are requesting your information. This should help make sure you stay more anonymous in the online ad tracking world.

Apple has made a great start protecting your data from hackers, trackers, and government agencies, but we need to remember that much of the control is in our own hands. It is highly recommended to set a unique password for each service you use, enable 2-factor authentication when you can, and pick obscure and hard to discover security questions to back up your account. One of the biggest vulnerabilities to our privacy is ourselves.

 

Check out our twitter account at @AVGFree or follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/AVG to stay up to date with all the latest privacy and security news around Apple and other popular companies. If there is anything in particular you want to see more of, leave us a comment below or at one of our social media accounts.

Image courtesy of iosmedya.com

AVG

Five Hidden Features to Boost Windows Performance

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So, you think you know Windows 7 and 8 inside and out? Think again! In this week’s blog post, I am going to show you five little known features in Windows you may have never even heard of…

 

Power efficiency report

Here at AVG, we love our laptops to last as long as possible which is why this Windows feature is one of our favorites. Microsoft developed an in-depth method for checking power deficiencies in Windows 7 and 8, which is originally meant to be for the IT pro but can still be useful for everyone. The “Energy Efficiency Report” provides detailed information on processes, devices, and Windows settings that increase power levels and, thus, drain your battery quickly. So how can you access this feature? The process can be a bit tricky for less experienced users, but if you follow these instructions, you should have no problems. First, open the Start menu or the Start screen (in Windows 8) and type in “cmd”. Right-click on the “cmd” entry and select “Run as Administrator”:
2014-09-22_17-09-16

 

Once you’re in the command prompt, type in “powercfg /energy” and wait for the 60-second energy check to complete. When done, go to the location given by the powercfg command, such as displayed in the following image:

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Note: Depending on your User Account Control settings, this report might also be stored in your user directory. To determine this, just look at the last line that tells you its exact location. Once you’ve opened the report in your browser, you will see several power errors and solutions. Not all errors found in that report will make sense, but you will see quickly when drivers or programs are the cause for poor battery life, such as:

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System health report

PCs lose performance and stability over time—this is a fact of computing life. The causes usually vary from too many third-party tools and junk to an old or faulty device driver, to malware and unfixed Windows bugs. You can check overall system stability by using another hidden tool called “System Diagnostics Report”.
To access this tool, begin by pressing the “WINDOWS” and “R” keys at the same time. Doing so will open the “Run” window. Type in “perfmon.msc” and hit “OK”. On Windows 8 and 8.1, you have to click on “ReportsSystemSystem Diagnostics” and then double-click on the report for your PC. Yet again, your system will be observed for 60 seconds. Once completed, the “Diagnostics Results” should provide some ideas about what’s happening with your system. For example, it shows overall system utilization and Device Manager error codes. Going through each of these sections will help you figure out what’s wrong with your PC.

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Record your problems

This is a great tool for Windows experts who are tired of hour-long support calls to their family and friends, helping them with their computer issues. Instead of having them describe what’s wrong with their PC, you can let them record each step that leads to the problem using “Problem Steps Recorder”. With this neat feature, Windows logs each step using text and screenshots and puts it into an easily readable HTML file for you to analyze! It’s also a good way to guide less experienced users through complicated steps—simply record each step for them, and send it over. This approach is much easier than writing massive guides via e-mail or spending another hour on the phone.
Here’s how you can launch Problem Steps Recorder: First, open up your Start menu or Start screen and type “Recorder” into the search box. Then, click on “Record steps to reproduce a problem” (Windows 7) or “Steps Recorder” (Windows 8). It’s that simple!

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Once you’re ready to record your problem or step-by-step instructions, just hit the record button and you’re good to go. When finished, hit “Stop record” and enter a name to save the session. Problem Steps Recorder automatically packs all the recorded images and HTML files into one nice and neat ZIP package that you can share! To look at the problem report before you send it, extract the ZIP file and double-click on the MHTML file, such as:

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If the steps are clearly visible and understandable, feel free to send the ZIP file to your friends or family so they can help you with your problem (or ask them to send the report to you if you’re trying to troubleshoot for them).

Repair system files

Does your Windows report missing or damaged files? Does your system crash for no reason or some applications fail to install or start? There’s something you can do to fix this. It entails letting Windows check on the integrity of important system files and replace them with the original (working) ones. To do this, consider the “System File Checker” as your little helper. Begin by opening up a command prompt with administrative privileges (see instructions in feature #1) and type in “sfc /scannow”. With this, Windows checks critical system files, informs you about any errors and tries to fix them—that’s it!

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Calibrate your screen

Are the colors of your desktop or photos not quite as brilliant as they should be? Do your images appear to be washed out? Windows can help you fix these issues and optimize your screen by using a built-in calibration feature to adjust brightness, contrast, sharpness, and color levels appropriately. To launch this feature, open up your Start menu or Start screen (in Windows 8) and type in “dccw” and hit the “Enter” key.

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The wizard pictured above will guide you through all the necessary steps to optimize screen levels.

These were just five features, but there are dozens of more (very hidden) gems in Windows 7 and 8. What’s your favorite feature that you discovered by accident or have just heard of? Share it with us in the comments section.