Author: Rick

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Small Multifunction Printers

At Tech DC, we regularly set up printers for individuals and businesses. One of our favorite workhorse printers is the multi-function laser printer by Brother called the MFC-7440N, available for $230.

Laser Printers versus Ink Jet

Most customers purchase ink jet printers because their initial cost is low. Manufacturers make their money on the back-end, through inflated prices on the ink. Therefore any volume of printing quickly makes ink jets more expensive. Ink jets typically break more easily and have problems with printer heads drying out. They also do not have as fine of print as laser printers.

The one advantage of ink jets is in printing photos. But it is usually far cheaper to print photos at a Target, Sams, Costco, or drug store.

Brother MFC-7440N

The MFC-7440N is a recent update by Brother from the MFC-7820N. Yes, it’s an upgrade even though the model number went down.

As a multi-function printer, the MFC-7440N prints, faxes, scans, and makes copies. It is very small (15.6 D x 16.9 W x 12 H inches) and can be sufficient for small offices with occasional printing needs. The 250 sheet paper tray makes it less practical for larger volumes.

Networking

The printer includes an ethernet jack and works easily over a network. If you need wireless, consider the Brother MFC-7840W which adds wireless connectivity.

These network printers work with PCs and Macs.

Other Options

Brother also makes larger multifunction printers that add duplex print (double sided printing) options.

Brother laser printers have usually proven to be the most cost effective for our computer support clients. Samsung also makes good printers, but we have found their small mutifunction printers to be somewhat cheaper, both in price and quality. Our experience is that HP’s small multifunction printers are more expensive and provide no greater quality.

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Antivirus XP 2008 Is Bogus

A recent Sterling, Virginia customer got hit by a fake warning that her computer had been infected by a virus. But it was just a pop-up browser window that, when clicked, actually installed malware on her computer. To add insult to injury, the malware installed is called Antivirus XP 2008. So you think it’s there to help you when in fact it IS the infection.

Antivirus XP 2008 shows a list of files that it claims are infected on your computer. See that the icons used are the same as those used by Windows. If you register the “anti-virus” software in an attempt to fix your computer, the bad guys will have your credit card information.

On other computers, I have seen Antivirus XP 2008 installed on the Windows Desktop background so that your wallpaper background always gave you a warning.

This has become a common computer problem. It is an easy scam to fall for because it looks very close to a real Windows warning.

This is an effective social engineering scam because people are scared of viruses and have grown accustomed to following any computer-generated prompts to remove them.

For this particular computer, I booted into Windows Safe mode and ran Malwarebyte’s Anti-malware program which is free for a couple of weeks use. Luckily the infection could be removed. In some cases, the malware can actually take over all administrator rights to the computer and rewrite the operating system to the extent that the only real alternative is to save your personal files and reinstall Windows.

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Wiping or Destroying Your Hard Drive On Purpose

In Washington D.C., there are many organizations that need to wipe or destroy their data. Personal users should also be sure to thoroughly erase a hard drive before donating it. It’s common for scammers to search old computer drives for credit card and bank information.

I earlier noted Darik’s Boot and Nuke which is the best solution for PC users. Mac users should see my post on erasing using Apple’s Disk Utility.

The following video from Systm walks your though using Darik’s Boot and Nuke. And for the truly paranoid, they also show you how to physically destroy a disk.

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Add More Recording Time To Your Tivo

With a 1TB or 1.5TB drive you can record hundreds of hours of TV in a TiVo. You first need to decide between two approaches.

Option 1: Order a pre-made TiVo Drive

This is the simplest method. You can buy a hard drive already setup for your TiVo from weaKees (TiVo Upgrade Kit section). I have also had good experience buying from dvr_dude on eBay.

Purchasing a new drive is your only option if your original drive failed and you don’t have a backup (obtained possibly through the Linux option described below). Replacing a failed drive can also save you from losing your lifetime or multi-year subscription contract with TiVo.

The cons to this approach are:

  1. Buying hard drives with TiVo software already loaded can add over $100 to the cost of buying a blank drive.
  2. This method will give you a new blank TiVo. It does not keep any of your programs, to do list, recording preferences, channel lineup, or CableCard pairing (for TiVo 3 or HD users who use CableCard to tune digital channels). This isn’t a con if it’s a new TiVo.

Option 2: Build Your Own Drive

This method takes much longer. You remove the drive and put it and the new drive in a computer that boots off of a Linux Live CD. In Linux, you run a command to copy the old drive to the new one bit by bit.

TiVo HD users should follow our TiVo HD instructions. TiVo 3 users should follow the bumwine instructions. TiVo Series 1 and Series 2 should follow the hinsdale instructions.

Building your own drive can take hours but it is the cheapest upgrade method and it saves all your shows, preferences, etc.

My Experience

Since my first Philips TiVo Series 1 with 20-hour recording capacity, I have been upgrading or adding drives to TiVos for myself and D.C. area clients. It can change the way you use your TiVo. If you have hundreds of hours of recording capacity, the TiVo feels closer to a TV and movie archive. Give it a try if you find yourself running out of space or if you want more TiVo suggestions.