promoting computer literacy and …cccgc.info/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/decbytes13.pdfhave a very...

The President’s Platform by Harold Nixon, President CCCGC

See us on the Web www.cccgc.net

December 2013 Char lotte Bytes

Nov. Computer Drawing 2

50/50 Winner 2

Door Prize Winners 2

New Members 3

Nov. Program Highlights 3

Slate of Candidates 4

Classes & Events Calendar 5

Nasty Cryptolocker 6

Officers & Board Directors 7

Editors Comments 7

Cryptolocker Continued 8

Need To Know Windows 8.1 9

Windows 8.1 Continued 10

Wireless Networking 11

Wireless Networking Cont. 12

Extended Warranties? 13

Warranties? Conclu. 14

Inside this issue:

Official Publication of the Charlotte County Computer Group Corp.

PROMOTING COMPUTER LITERACY AND EDUCATION IN CHARLOTTE COUNTY

The Next General

Meeting of CCCGC

will be Decem-

ber 3, 2013

VOL. XXV

No. XII

The last few weeks of the year are a frenetic time. There’s so much to do and so little time left! End-of-the-year chores, guest speakers, budgets, the list of tasks and responsibilities that compete for family time can be daunting. Understandably, this can leave us feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, and even incompetent.

The end of the year is an especially critical time for us to celebrate our accom-

plishments since that’s an important part of setting goals and reenergizing for next

year.

Our December meeting will be our Annual Election of our Board of Directors.

The slate of candidates for 2014 is outstanding.

It has been an honor to serve you as President for the past 2 1/2 years. We are

who we are because of you, our members. Thank you for your support over the

years.

Please support your new President and Board of Directors as we celebrate 30

years of serving you our Members and our Community.

Have a very Merry Christmas and a safe Happy New Year.

Harold

Charlotte County Computer Group

2280 Aaron Street Port Charlotte, FL 33952

Phone: 941-295-7672

941-625-4175 x244

E-mail: [email protected]

Computer Drawing

50/50 Winner

Char lotte Bytes

Richard driscoll was pleased with the money he won. Thanks to all who pur-chased tickets.

Door Prize Winners

Left to Right

Palma Tar

Carol Arsenault

Don Niosi

Elizabeth Tkacik

Gail Coney

Paul Specht won the computer. He had the

winning ticket CS002. Paul was pleased to

take it home with him.

Thanks to all who purchased tickets.

Program High-Lights

The Executive Board and Members of CCCGC welcome each of you to the group. We’re Here To Help. Mem-bership Has Its Privileges. If you have any questions, concerns or need computer help, please contact us at the office. We will endeavor to help you any way we can.

WELCOME New Members

Susan Cadenhead Barbara Ireland Gladys Canetti Craig Daniell Jo Digirolamo Michelle Foley William Foley LuAnn Reagan William Reese Edith Subasic Sara Vega-Vinent Fred Wagner Norbert Bacon Beverly Bacon Bonnie Rodgers Lorraine Walker Ronald DeLongchamp George Howarth Shirley DeLongchamp Dolores Cush Eva L. Muniz Don Brick

The next and very important part is back up. EaseUSToDo Backup

creates an image of your operating system. A couple of Cloud Back-

ups by other programs like Mosey and Idrive are good to run in be-

tween image creations. It is extremely important to have an image

backup of your entire system. You should run a back up at least once

a month.

Lydia

There were ninety members at November’s meeting. Dick Evans covered the meeting teaching us how to keep our comput-

ers clean and running smoothly.

Microsoft Security Essentials can be

used on Windows XP thru Windows

7. Windows Defender comes with 8

or 8.1, or you can use AVG or Avira Free. After the virus protection, there are other programs that

are needed like CCleaner. Dick gave us a hands on experience,

and explained how the CCleaner works. Under the tools section

of CCleaner, you can uninstall hard to remove programs like Nor-

ton. You can get the download from Filehippo.com Dick ran

Malware bytes and recommends we do a full scan the first time and then do quick scans in the future. The next program he talked

about was Superantispyware.

You need to remember RTFS which means "read the friendly screen." You should read your download programs closely to

avoid getting toolbars and other junk you don't want.

The next program discussed was Glary Utilities and it is very easy

to run, you could run it every day.

Even though it is similar to CCleaner, it can find items that were

missed on the previous Glarys run. You can download these pro-

grams from www.ninite.com.

After you use the programs a few times, you will become familiar

with them and feel more confident about cleaning your computer.

Defraggler is a free program that will check the health of your hard

drive and is offered by www.piriform.com the same company that

offers CCleaner. Recuva is another great free program that can

recover files that you deleted as long as they haven't been over-written yet. Speccy is also offered by Piriform and it will give you

all the specs on your computer but Belarc gives you a more in

depth report.

The slate of candidates for Officers and Directors for the 2014 business year will be

announced by Harold Nixon, Nominating Chairman, at the General Meeting and will be

posted on the Website. Any member interested in joining the slate of candidates, please

contact Harold.

President Ron Wallis

Vice President Yvette Pilch

Secretary Ron Muschong

Treasurer Larry Hurley

Director Frank Messina

Director John Hegard

Director Lydia Rist

Director Grover Mudd

Director Mava Graves

Charlotte County Computer Group

Information: (941) 295-7672

(941) 625-4175 x244

Official publication of the Charlotte County

Computer Group Corporation

2280 Aaron Street

Port Charlotte, FL 33952

www.cccgc.info

www.cccgc.net

Charlotte Bytes

2014 Nominess

Classes & Events Calendar

For more information go to www.cccgc.info

View/download Bytes

Please be sure to

register online for classes

1 2 3 General Meeting 4 5 Back To Basics 6 77:15 PM 2 to 4 PMClasses Dick Evans5:00PM6:00 PM

8 9 Libre Office 10 11 Maintenance 12 Back To Basics 13 142 to 4 PM 2 to 4 PM 2 to 4 PM

John Palmer Ron Wallis Dick Evans

15 16 Easeus Backup 17 Windows 8.1 18 19 Back To Basics 20 212 to 4 PM 2 to 4 PM 2 to 4 PM

Yvette Pilch Ron Wallis Dick Evans

22 23 Windows 8.1 24 Office Closed 25 Office Closed 26 Back To Basics 27 282 to 4 PM Merry 2 to 4 PM

Yvette Pilch Christmas Dick Evans

29 30 Libre Office 31 Maintenance2 to 4 PM 2 to 4 PM

John Palmer Ron Wallis

NOTICE Notes:

OFFICE HOURS: 10:00 AM-2:00 PMAll Non Meeting Night Classes will be held in MONDAY -FRIDAY

Our New CCCGC Office. Please sign up for classes ONLINE:http://www.cccgc.info

December 2013 CCCGC Events CalendarSunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

Charlotte Bytes

CryptoLocker Is The Nas est Malware Ever & Here’s

What You Can Do

Ransomware is an especially odious type of malware. The way it works is sim-ple. Your computer will be infected with some malicious software. That soft-ware then renders your computer entirely unusable, sometimes purporting to be from local law enforcement and accusing you of committing a computer crime or viewing explicit pictures of children. It then demands monetary pay-ment, either in the form of a ransom or a ‘fine’ before access to your computer is returned.

Horrible, isn’t it? Well, get ready to meet CryptoLocker; the evil patriarch of the Ransomware family.

What Is CryptoLocker

CryptoLocker is a piece of malware targeting comput-ers running the Microsoft Windows operating system. It is typically spread as an email attachment, often pur-porting to be from a legitimate source (including Intuit and Companies House). Some say it is also being spread through the ZeuS botnet.

Once installed on your computer, it systematically en-crypts all documents that are stored on your local computer, as well as ones that are stored on mapped network drives and mounted removable storage.

The encryption used is strong, 2048 bit RSA, with the decryption key for your files being stored on a remote server. The odds of you being able to break this en-cryption is almost nonexistent. If you want to get your files back, CryptoLocker asks for you to fork over some cash; either two bitcoins (At the time of writing, worth almost USD $380) or $300 in either MonkeyPak or Ukash prepaid cards. If you don’t pay within three days, the decryption key is deleted and you lose access

to your files forever.

I spoke to popular security expert and blogger Javvad Malik; this is what he had to say about CryptoLocker.

Ransomware such as CryptoLocker is not something very new – variations of Ransomware have been around for years. When you look at CryptoLocker, it predominantly comes in via phishing emails (from what I’ve seen). The best way to protect against it is for users to be vigilant against clicking on links within emails. Currently, it looks like there’s not much that can be done once infected and I wouldn’t advice anyone to pay the ransom. It goes back to having backups and data management in place.

Conclusion on page 8

See us on the Web

www.cccgc.net


The Charlotte County

Computer Group Corp.

Is a non-profit 501(c)3 organiza-

tion as classified by the Internal

Revenue Service.

Donations, gifts, bequests, lega-

cies, devices and transfers are deductible under federal laws.

Officers and Board of

Directors for 2013

President: Harold Nixon

Vice President: Lydia Rist

Secretary: A. Yvette Pilch

Treasurer: James Bridges

Director: John Hegard

Director: Larry Hurley

Director: Jonas Louis

Director: Frank Messina

Director: Ron Wallis

We’re on the Web www.cccgc.net

As Editor of the Charlotte Bytes for more than three years, I look forward to the coming year and the celebration of the 30 years our computer group has been in existence.

I plan to continue on with Bytes, and hope that you find it informative and interesting.

The dedication of our Officers and Directors, volunteers and members to fulfil our quest to “Promoting Computer Literacy and Education In Charlotte County” has always been out-standing. Thank You.

I personally wish to thank Harold Nixon for the difficult task of assuming the role of Presi-dent after Larry VanOsdol’s passing. He spent countless hours reorganizing duties and re-sponsibilities so that each of the Officers would be able to assume another’s duties in an emergency. Harold reorganized our website so it would be easier to read. There are so many other “behind the scenes” tasks that he did, that it would take up at least 2 pages to list. Harold was also responsible for establishing our close and remarkable partnership with The Cultural Center. It has been a pleasure working with you.

All of our information, history, and records have been digitized by Lydia Rist and backed up to our server for the seamless continuity of this Club. Lydia has also spearheaded the recy-cle program which has netted us over $4,000 this year. Lydia has worked hard for the Club for well over 10 years.

Jim Bridges as Treasurer has kept detailed records of income and expenses which will make the incoming duties easier for the new treasurer. Jim has also been a major contributor to the recycle program. His specialty is locating copper wiring which brings in hefty dollars. Jim also places orders for the Microsoft OS systems that go into refurbished computers.

Larry Hurley, Director, has been in charge of our scholarship program. Each year he con-tacts each of the three high schools. Together they determine which student would be a candidate to receive a scholarship. The Board relies on Larry’s insight to determine which student should receive the scholarship.

Ron Wallis as Director has been working the back room for many years. Ron along with his trusty volunteers, he ensures that the refurbished computers are completed along with the paperwork ready to go out the door. Ron also provides maintenance classes for the mem-bership. Ron, Harold, Lydia and myself also help members cleaning out malware and viruses and other such nasties in their problem computers. It gives us a great deal of satisfaction to help out.

John Palmer spends at least 2 hours at each meeting giving basic instruction to members starting at 5:00 P.M. Although he struggles with his health problems he is always cheerfully ready and willing to answer questions. John has been volunteering for well over 10 years,

Our thanks to Scott Baty, JellyBean Computer, for his continued support for the many meetings in the Advanced Forum class providing us with his knowledge of “everything com-puter.”

And certainly we thank Dick Evans who as a former college professor provides our mem-bers with such fun and information on his regular “Thursday Classes”. You really should attend his classes! cccgctraining.blogspot.com.

Merry Christmas to all, have a healthy and safe New Year.

Yve e

Cryptolocker: What You Can Do

Mitigating Against It

Reports suggest that some security programs have had a hard time of preventing CryptoLocker from getting its claws onto your system before it’s too late. Fortunately, American security expert Nick Shaw has created a handy piece of software called Crypto-Prevent (free). http://www.foolishit.com/vb6-projects/cryptoprevent/ This applies a number of settings to your installation of Windows that prevents CryptoLocker from ever executing and has been proven to work in Windows XP and Windows 7 envi-ronments.

It’s also worth making sure that you check emails to see if they’re suspect before you open up any email attachments. Do they have an email address that matches up with the purported sender? Were you expecting any correspondence from them? Is the spelling and grammar consistent with what you’d expect from the genuine sender? These are all reasons to be suspicious of an email and to think twice about poking in any attachments.

Having Proper Backup

In these circumstances, I’d encourage everyone to make regular backups that are isolated from your computer. Using a net-worked backup solution will be utterly ineffective, as CryptoLocker has been known to encrypt data stored on these volumes.

If you use a cloud backup service like Carbonite, you can take comfort in knowing the odds are good that your files are versioned. That means if you back up an encrypted copy of a file you care about, you can revert to an earlier version. An employee of Carbonite posted this advice on Reddit.

I work for Carbonite on the operations team, and I can confirm this for most cases – I will also offer these two pieces of

advice:

1) If you are affected by the virus, you should disable or uninstall Carbonite as soon as possible. If you stop backing up the files, it’s more likely that Carbonite will not have overwritten a “last known good” backup set. There is a high risk of some recent data loss (you’re effective-ly going back in time, so if we have no record of the file existing at a previous time, you won’t get it back) with this method, but it’s far, far better than losing all of your files.

2) When you call customer support, which you should do as soon as possible, specifically mention that you are infected with cryptolocker. It was mentioned in the post above, but I just wanted to put emphasis on it because it’ll get you through the queue faster.

Edit: also, just to state the obvious, make doubly sure the infection is off your machine before you call sup-port, please.

Should You Pay The Ransom?

What if your computer gets compromised? It goes without saying that brute forcing a file encrypted with 2048 bit encryption is almost impossible. Noted computer security firm Sophos has looked at a number of files that have been encrypted by this particu-lar malware and has failed to notice any obvious means in which they can be decrypted without forking over a ransom.

With that in mind, the only way to get your data back is by paying the ransom. However, this poses a major ethical dilemma. By paying the ransom, you make this type of chicanery profitable and therefore perpetuate it. However, if you don’t pay the ransom, you forever lose access to everything you’ve been working on which is stored on your computer.

What further complicates things is that it is impossible to ascertain who would be the recipient of any money paid. It may some-thing so simple as a single person working from his bedroom looking to get rich at the expense at others, or it might be some-thing much more sinister.

Char lotte Bytes

What You Need to Know About Windows 8.1 Windows 8.1 is available to everyone starting October 18. The latest version of Windows improves on Windows 8 in every way. It’s a big upgrade, wheth-er you use the desktop or new touch-optimized interface. The latest version of Windows has been dubbed “an apology” by some — it’s definitely more at home on a desktop PC than Windows 8 was. However, it also offers a more fleshed out and mature tablet experience.

How to Get Windows 8.1 For Windows 8 users, Windows 8.1 is completely free. It will be available as a download from the Windows Store — that’s the “Store” app in the Modern, tiled interface. Assuming upgrading to the final version will be just like upgrading to the preview version, you’ll likely see a “Get Windows 8.1″ pop-up that will take you to the Windows Store and guide you through the download process.

You’ll also be able to download ISO images of Windows 8.1, so you can perform a clean install to upgrade. On any new comput-er, you can just install Windows 8.1 without going through Windows 8. New computers will start to ship with Windows 8.1 and boxed copies of Windows 8 will be replaced by boxed copies of Windows 8.1. If you’re using Windows 7 or a previous version of Windows, the update won’t be free. Getting Windows 8.1 will cost you the same amount as a full copy of Windows 8 — $120 for the standard version. If you’re an average Windows 7 user, you’re likely better off waiting until you buy a new PC with Windows 8.1 included rather than spend this amount of money to upgrade.

Improvements for Desktop Users Some have dubbed Windows 8.1 “an apology” from Microsoft, although you certainly won’t see Microsoft referring to it this way. Either way, Steven Sinofsky, who presided over Windows 8′ s development, left the company shortly after Windows 8 was released. Coincidentally, Windows 8.1 contains many features that Steven Sinofsky and Microsoft refused to implement the first time.

Windows 8.1 offers the following big improvements for desktop users

Boot to Desktop: You can now log in directly to the desktop, skipping the tiled interface entirely. Disable Top-Left and Top-Right Hot Corners: The app switcher and charms bar won’t appear when you move your mouse to the top-left or top-right corners of the screen if you enable this option. No more intrusions into the desktop. The Start Button Returns: Windows 8.1 brings back an always-present Start button on the desktop taskbar, dramatically improving discoverability for new Windows 8 users and providing a bigger mouse target for remote desktops and virtual machines. Crucially, the Start menu isn’t back — clicking this button will open the full-screen Modern interface. Start menu replacements http://www.howtogeek.com/127699/6-start-menu-replacements-for-windows-8/ will continue to function on Windows 8.1, offering more traditional Start menus.

Show All Apps By Default: Luckily, you can hide the Start screen and its tiles almost entirely. Windows 8.1 can be configured to show a full-screen list of all your installed apps when you click the Start button, with desktop apps prioritized. The only real difference is that the Start menu is now a full-screen interface. Shut Down or Restart From Start Button: You can now right-click the Start button to access Shut down, Restart, and other power options in just as many clicks as you could on Windows 7. (See Next Page)

Charlotte Bytes

Charlotte Bytes

What you Need To Know About Windows 8.1 (Conclusion from page 9)

Shared Start Screen and Desktop Backgrounds; Windows 8 limited you to just a few Steven Sinofsky-approved back-ground images for your Start screen, but Windows 8.1 allows you to use your desktop background on the Start screen. This can make the transition between the Start screen and desktop much less jarring. The tiles or shortcuts appear to be floating above the desktop rather than off in their own separate universe. Unified Search: Unified search is back, so you can start typing and search your programs, settings, and files all at once — no more awkwardly clicking between different categories when trying to open a Control Panel screen or search for a file.

These all add up to a big improvement when using Windows 8.1 on the desktop. Microsoft is being much more flexible — the Start menu is full screen, but Microsoft has relented on so many other things and you’d never have to see a tile if you didn’t want to. For more information, read our guide to optimizing Windows 8.1 for a desktop PC. These are just the improvements specifically for desktop users. Windows 8.1 includes other useful features for everyone, such as deep SkyDrive integration that allows you to store your files in the cloud without installing any additional sync programs.

Improvements for Touch Users If you have a Windows 8 or Windows RT tablet or another touch-based device that you use the interface formerly known as Metro on, you’ll see many other noticeable improvements. Windows 8′ s new interface was half-baked when it launched, but it’s now much more capable and mature. App Updates: Windows 8’s included apps were extremely limited in many cases. For example, Internet Explorer 10 could only display ten tabs at a time and the Mail app was a barren experience devoid of features. In Windows 8.1, some apps — like Xbox Music — have been redesigned from scratch. Internet Explorer allows you to display a tab bar on-screen all the time, while apps like Mail have accumulated quite a few useful features. The Windows Store app has been entirely redesigned and is less awkward to browse. Snap Improvements: Windows 8’s Snap feature was a toy, allowing you to snap one app to a small sidebar at one side of your screen while another app consumed most of your screen. Windows 8.1 allows you to snap two apps side-by-side, seeing each app’s full interface at once. On larger displays, you can even snap three or four apps at once. Windows 8′ s ability to use multi-ple apps at once on a tablet is compelling and unmatched by iPads and Android tablets. You can also snap two of the same apps side-by-side — to view two web pages at once, for example.

More Comprehensive PC Settings: Windows 8.1 offers a more comprehensive PC settings app, allowing you to change most system settings in a touch-optimized interface. You shouldn’t have to use the desktop Control Panel on a tablet anymore — or at least not as often. Touch-Optimized File Browsing: Microsoft’s SkyDrive app allows you to browse files on your local PC, finally offering a built-in, touch-optimized way to manage files without using the desktop. Help & Tips: Windows 8.1 includes a Help+Tips app that will help guide new users through its new interface, something Mi-crosoft stubbornly refused to add during development.

There’s still no “Modern” version of Microsoft Office apps (aside from OneNote), so you’ll still have to head to the desktop to use Office apps on tablets. It’s not perfect, but the Modern interface doesn’t feel anywhere near as immature anymore. Read our in-depth look at the ways Microsoft’s Modern interface, formerly known as Metro, is improved in Windows 8.1 for more infor-mation. In summary, Windows 8.1 is what Windows 8 should have been. All of these improvements are on top of the many great desk-top features, security improvements, and all-around battery life and performance optimizations that appeared in Windows 8. If you’re still using Windows 7 and are happy with it, there’s probably no reason to race out and buy a copy of Windows 8.1 at the rather high price of $120. But, if you’re using Windows 8, it’s a big upgrade no matter what you’re doing. If you buy a new PC and it comes with Windows 8.1, you’re getting a much more flexible and comfortable experience. If you’re holding off on buying a new computer because you don’t want Windows 8, give Windows 8.1 a try — yes, it’s different, but Mi-crosoft has compromised on the desktop while making a lot of improvements to the new interface. You just might find that Win-dows 8.1 is now a worthwhile upgrade, even if you only want to use the desktop.

Wireless Networking Simplified: The Terms You Should Know

Do you know the difference between an “access point” and

an “ad hoc network? What is a “wireless repeater” and how

can it improve your home network? Is a “wireless router”

as simple as it sounds, or is there more to it? There are a

lot more wireless networking terms around that encompass

more than “WiFi” ever could, and it might turn out to be

beneficial for you if you knew what these terms meant.

Not only will these terms help you to be more knowledgea-ble on the networks at home, at school, or at work; they

may even prove useful when you need to troubleshoot issues. Nonetheless, wireless networking is a large component of modern technology, so there’s no downside to clarifying your familiarity with these terms.

Before the invention of wireless connections, net-works were comprised of long lines of interconnected cables. In order to tap into such a network, you would need to physically connect your device to the network. An access point is a device connected to such a net-work that allows other de-vices to tap in wirelessly. Access points can be either private or public. For exam-ple, a home network may have a private access point that’s encrypted and password-protected, allowing only household users to access the network. On the other hand, a café might have a public access point that allows anyone to use their network, otherwise known as a wireless hotspot. Don’t confuse the term access point with the term wireless router. There is some overlap between the two, but semanti-cally speaking, an access point is different from a wireless router. A wireless router is an access point, but an access point doesn’t have to be a wireless router.

Ad Hoc Network

Official Publication of the Charlotte County Computer Group Corp.


Char lotte Bytes

Wireless Networking Simplified: The Terms You Should Know Continued from page 11 A wireless ad hoc network is a type of wireless network that doesn’t rely on a preexisting network. The phrase “ad hoc” is used to describe something that’s created for a singular purpose; therefore, a wireless ad hoc network can be thought of as a spontaneous wireless connection between computers for a temporary purpose, such as a file transfer.

The important distinction is that an ad hoc network is decentralized. There is no particular device acting as the hub for wireless activity. In the case of an access point, the access point is the gateway through which all devices must connect into the network. In an ad hoc network, you can think of each participating device as an individual peer.

Wireless Router

A wireless router is a device that acts as both an access point and a network router. In other words, it acts as a wireless gateway into the network and routes incoming network data to multiple connections (e.g., desktops, laptops, tablets, phones, gaming consoles, etc.). Again, all wireless routers will have elements of an access point, but not all access points are wireless routers.

When looking to buy a new wireless router, you should first become familiar with the most important wireless router features to see which ones you would make use of. Then, check out this post on what you need to know when buying a wireless router. For those of you who are more advanced, you may want to look into using DD-WRT to supercharge your router. http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/ddwrt-router-superrouter/

Wireless Repeater Wireless Bridge

Remember that an access point is a device that connects to a wired network and allows other devices to wirelessly connect to said network. A wireless bridge works in a similar but opposite way. The bridge device first connects wirelessly to a network, then allows other devices to connect to it using wires. In essence, a bridge allows wired devices to join a wireless network. Most modern wireless routers offer a “bridge mode” that you can use to extend your home wireless network to far away wired devices (e.g., a gaming console on the other side of your house) without having to weave long lengths of cabling through multiple rooms. We even have a post detailing how to turn an old router into a wireless bridge.

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-turn-an-old-router-into-a-wireless-bridge/

Wireless Network Adapter

A wireless network adapter allows a device that normally doesn’t have wireless capability to join a wireless net-work. These adapters are built with the ability to both send and receive wireless signals. Most portable devices, such as laptops and tablets, are manufactured with a wireless network adapter already in place. Network adapters come in two main forms: the network card and the USB dongle. A network card is installed directly into the motherboard and provides wireless connectivity that way. A USB dongle requires little more than to be plugged into a free USB port, which makes it a more convenient option. In general, though, network cards tend to offer stronger connections and faster speeds than their USB counterparts.

Char lotte Bytes

Explains: Should You Buy Extended Warran es?

Buy something at an electronics store and you’ll be confronted by a pushy salesperson who insists you need an extended warranty. You’ll also see extended warranties pushed hard when shopping online. But are they worth it?

There’s a reason stores push extended warranties so hard. They’re almost always pure profit for the store involved. An electronics store may live on razor-thin product margins and make big profits on extend-ed warranties and overpriced HDMI cables. http://www.howtogeek.com/112636/

You’re Already Getting Multiple Warranties

First, back up. The product you’re buying already includes a warranty. In fact, you’re probably getting several different types of warranties.

Store Return and Exchange: Most electronics stores allow you to return a malfunctioning product within the first 15 or 30 days and they’ll provide you with a new one. The exact period of time will vary from store to store. If you walk out of the store with a defective product and have to swap it for a new one within the first few weeks, this should be easy.

Manufacturer Warranty: A device’s manufacturer — whether the device is a laptop, a television, or a graphics card — of-fers their own warranty period. The manufacturer warranty covers you after the store refuses to take the product back and ex-change it. The length of this warranty depends on the type of product. For example, a cheap laptop may only offer a one-year manufacturer warranty, while a more expensive laptop may offer a two-year warranty.

Credit Card Warranty Extension: Many credit cards offer free extended warranties on products you buy with that credit card. Credit card companies will often give you an additional year of warranty. For example, if you buy a laptop with a two year warranty and it fails in the third year, you could then contact your credit card company and they’d cover the cost of fixing or replacing it. Check your credit card’s benefits and fine print for more information.

Why Extended Warranties Are Bad

You’re already getting a fairly long warranty period, especially if you have a credit card that offers you a free extended warranty — these are fairly common. If the product you get is a “lemon” and has a manufacturing error, it will likely fail pretty soon — well within your warranty period.

The extended warranty matters after all your other warranties are exhausted. In the case of a laptop with a two-year warranty that you purchase with a credit card giving you a one-year warranty extension, your extended warranty will kick in three years after you pur-chase the laptop.

In that many years, your current laptop will likely feel pretty old and laptops that are as good — or better — will likely be pretty cheap. If it’s a television, better television displays will be available at a lower price point. You’ll either want to upgrade to a newer model or you’ll be able to buy a new, just-as-good product for very cheap.

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Continued from page 13

You’ll only have to pay out-of-pocket if your device fails after the normal warranty period — in over two or three years for typi-cal laptops purchased with a decent credit card. Save the money you would have spent on the warranty and put it towards a fu-ture upgrade.

How Much Do Extended Warranties Cost?

Let’s look at an example from a typical pushy retail outlet, Best Buy. We went to Best Buy’s website and found a pretty standard $600 Samsung laptop. This laptop comes with a one-year warranty period. If purchased with a fairly common credit card, you can easily get a two-year warranty period on this laptop without spending an additional penny. (Yes, such credit cards are available with no yearly fees.)

During the check-out process, Best Buy tries to sell you a Geek Squad “Accidental Protection Plan.” To get an additional year of Best Buy’s ex-tended warranty, you’d have to pay $324.98 for a “3-Year Accidental Protection Plan”. You’d basically be paying more than half the price of your laptop for an additional year of warranty — remember, the standard warranties would cover you anyway for the first two years.

If this laptop did break sometime between two and three years from now, we wouldn’t be surprised if you could purchase a comparable laptop for about $325 anyway. And, if you don’t need to replace it, you’ve saved that money.

Best Buy would object that this isn’t a stand-ard extended warranty. It’s a supercharged warranty plan that will also provide coverage if you spill something on your laptop or drop it and break it.

You just have to ask yourself a question. What are the odds that you’ll drop your laptop or spill something on it? They’re probably pretty low if you’re a typical human being. Is it worth spending more than half the price of the laptop just in case you’ll make an uncommon mistake? Probably not.

There may be occasional exceptions to this — some Apple users swear by Apple’s AppleCare, for example — but you should generally avoid buying these things. There’s a reason stores are so pushy about extended warranties, and it’s not because they want to help protect you. It’s because they’re making lots of profit from these plans, and they’re making so much profit because they’re not a good deal for customers.

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