Dennis Faas

Infopackets Reader Steve T. writes: " Dear Dennis, I own a Seagate 4 Bay NAS (network attached storage) and I forgot my admin password. The admin user allows me to create and delete network shares, plus a lot of other options - which, as I recall, ... are currently missing from the NAS control panel. I've tried resetting my password from the NAS web control panel, which then takes me to the Seagate website, but this hasn't restored full admin access to my account. I don't know what to do! I need access to this part of the control panel so I can make some configuration changes. Can you help? " My ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Samuel D. writes: " Dear Dennis, Recently my Galaxy s6 phone notified me via the Google Play store icon that an update was available for BlueMail (which I use for emails). I updated BlueMail, but the Google Play icon still has a ... badge stating that there is one update available for BlueMail. It seems that the Google Play store badge won't go away . I've tried updating the app again but there is only the option to 'launch app' and no updates. I've tried rebooting the phone and yet the Google Play store icon is still showing updates . I've searched Google for ' Google Play ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Shelby C. writes: " Dear Dennis, I am in a huge hurry to upgrade my machine to Windows 10 because there won't be any more security updates for Windows 7 in January 2020, when Windows 7 reaches its end of life. I have tried to ... upgrade using the Upgrade Assistant and Windows 10 media, but I keep getting ' SAFE_OS phase error during Replicate_OC operation ' error, whatever that means. Windows 10 simply won't install on my machine! I have looked at articles all over the Internet including one from the Windows Club and none of them work. I really need your help! Can you please ... (view more)

Dear Infopackets Readers, For the past 5+ years I've been writing articles about fake tech support scammers based in India. In fact, I just published an article about "Expert4Help" scam last week. Here's how the scam works: While browsing the ... Internet, you may suddenly receive a full screen "virus warning". The warnings appear even when browsing legitimate websites (Amazon.com, for example). The warnings are often accompanied by a computer-generated voice, which says that the computer is infected and that you must call "Microsoft support" to "fix" the "problem". These warnings are meant to be ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Tricia B. writes: " Dear Dennis, I stumbled across your article on PC / Web Network Experts after researching Expert4help.com scam . A few weeks ago I was using my PC when suddenly I received a popup virus alert stating that my PC ... was infected. I called 1-833-257-8555 and spoke to a man with a thick Indian accent . They then connected to my PC remotely and installed some antivirus software to 'fix' the 'problems'. They then wanted me to sign a 3 year contract with them for $898 . I told them 'No,' and that I would pay $350 for a 1 year contract. They kept insisting that I ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Steve T. writes: " Dear Dennis, I am running Centos 6 32-bit (i386) on a virtual machine and recently I started having 'PYCURL ERROR 22' every time I use 'yum list updates' or 'yum -y update' to list and download updates. The ... error message says ' [Errno 14] PYCURL ERROR 22 - The requested URL returned error: 404 Not Found '. I have gone to the wiki.centos.org/yum-errors as the error message suggests, but have not been able to find a solution to this problem. Can you help? " My response: I asked Steve if he would like me to connect to his virtual machine using my remote ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Neil W. writes: " Dear Dennis, Thanks for your interesting article on whether a VPN is safe for online banking . However, one question I can't seem to find the answer to is: do I need VPN on a public network? Do I need a VPN on a ... private network? What about a VPN on a shared network? An example might include a student doing banking at a university shared network. What do you think? " My response: Short answer: A VPN, or virtual private network is useful in a few cases - for example: hiding your tracks online (to some extent, but with major limitations) or accessing geo- ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Jeanie G. writes: " Dear Dennis, I believe I have been scammed by Quick PC Experts ( quickpcexpert.com ). I was using my web browser and suddenly a virus warning appeared on my screen, stating that I needed to call Microsoft ... certified support at 1-855-724-2570 . There was no way for me to close the virus alert window. I was very frightened and so I called the 1-800 number. The person I spoke to had a very thick Indian accent . Quick PC Expert then confirmed that my computer was infected, and that's when I let them remotely connect to my PC. They installed a firewall and ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Sue P. writes: " Dear Dennis, I stumbled upon your website and read your article about GoDaddy email not syncing with Outlook. I have been dealing with a similar issue - GoDaddy emails are slow to send, and GoDaddy emails are slow ... to deliver. In fact, just about everything with GoDaddy is slow - yet, I'm paying over $300 a year to host my site at GoDaddy. They initially got me to sign up on $5.99 a month promise, but with all the extras I've agreed to, the costs add up quickly! Surely their must be a better choice. I was wondering can you give me a rough idea as to how do I ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Jamil S. writes: " Dear Dennis, Lately I have been inundated with Microsoft virus alerts in my web browser claiming that my PC is infected and to call a 1-800 number to fix the problem. There is no way to dismiss the window. The ... Microsoft virus alerts appear suddenly and without warning, even if I'm on Amazon.com (for example). Sometimes the alerts have a very loud verbal pronouncement of a virus and insist that I call the number on the screen. Does Microsoft send virus alerts? Or is this fake? I have scanned my PC and it says no viruses. What gives? " My response: Does ... (view more)