How to remove ConvertDocsOnline from Your PC

ConvertDocsOnline is a Browser Extension for Google Chrome developed by Mindspark Inc. This extension offers users a quick and easy way to convert documents without any additional applications installed on their computer, it also has quick access links to popular websites that the average user might find interesting. While all this may look appealing and nice, this extension injects itself into your browser.

While installed, ConvertDocsOnline will monitor your browsing activity and record visited websites, clicked links, downloads, and even viewed products. All this information is later used/sold to Mindsparks Ad network to better serve user-targeted ads.

Browsing the internet with this extension installed will result in ad placement throughout your browsing sessions. These ads might appear as normal links (sponsored content), ad links, or even pop-up ads.

ConvertDocsOnline has been marked as a Browser Hijacker by several Anti-Virus scanners and is therefore recommended for optional removal from your PC.

About Browser Hijackers

Browser hijackers (sometimes referred to as hijackware) are a type of malware that changes web browser settings without the user’s knowledge or permission. These types of hijacks are increasing at an alarming rate around the globe, and they can be truly nefarious and sometimes dangerous too. There are plenty of reasons why you may have a browser hijack; however commercial, marketing, and advertising are definitely the primary reasons for their creation. In most cases, browser hijacking is used for earning advertising revenue that comes from forced ad mouse clicks and site visits. It might appear naive, but the majority of these sites are not legitimate and may pose a significant threat to your online safety. In a much worst case, your internet browser could be hijacked to download malicious software that can do a lot of damage to your PC.

Symptoms of browser hijacker malware

Symptoms that a web browser is a hi-jacked include:
1. the browser’s homepage is modified
2. your internet browser is constantly being redirected to adult websites
3. the default online search engine and/or the default browser settings are altered
4. you see many toolbars in your internet browser
5. you might find endless pop-up adverts on your computer screen
6. your web browser gets slow, buggy crashes very often
7. you can’t navigate to certain web pages, such as computer security software-related websites.

How they infect computer systems

Browser hijackers can enter a PC in some way or other, for example via downloads, file sharing, and e-mail also. Many browser hijackings come from add-on software, i.e., toolbars, browser helper objects (BHO), or plug-ins added to browsers to give them extra functionality. Browser hijackers sneak to your computer in addition to free software downloads also that you unwittingly install alongside the original. Examples of popular browser hijackers are Fireball, CoolWebSearch. GoSave, Ask Toolbar, RocketTab, and Babylon Toolbar.

The existence of any browser hijacker on your computer could drastically diminish the web browsing experience, record your internet activities that lead to critical privacy issues, degrade overall computer efficiency, and result in application instability also.

Removing browser hijackers

Certain hijackers could be removed by simply uninstalling the related freeware or add-ons from the Add or Remove Programs in the Windows control panel. But, many hijacking codes are certainly not very easy to get rid of manually, since they go deeper into your operating system. Beginner PC users should not try for the manual form of removal methods, as it calls for thorough system knowledge to perform fixes on the system registry and HOSTS file.

Browser hijackers can be effectively removed by installing and running anti-malware software on the affected PC. To get rid of any browser hijacker from your laptop or computer, you should download this particular certified malware removal application – SafeBytes Anti-Malware. Along with the antivirus tool, a system optimizer, like SafeBytes’s Total System Care, will help you in getting rid of all related files and modifications in the computer registry automatically.

Virus Blocking Access To Safebytes Website And Preventing Anti-Malware Downloads - What You Should Do?

All malware is bad and the level of the damage will vary greatly in accordance with the type of infection. Some malware types modify browser settings by including a proxy server or modify the PC’s DNS configuration settings. In such cases, you’ll be unable to visit some or all of the websites, and thus unable to download or install the necessary security software to remove the malware. If you are reading this now, you may have probably realized that a malware infection is the cause of your blocked net traffic. So how to proceed when you want to install antivirus software such as Safebytes? Do as instructed below to remove malware through alternate ways.

Get rid of viruses in Safe Mode

The Windows operating system includes a special mode known as “Safe Mode” where just the bare minimum required programs and services are loaded. If the malicious software is set to load immediately when PC boots, switching into this particular mode can prevent it from doing so. In order to enter into Safe Mode or Safe Mode with Networking, press the F8 key while the PC is starting up or run MSConfig and look for the “Safe Boot” options under the “Boot” tab. Once you are in safe mode, you can try to download and install your antivirus software application without the hindrance of the malware. Now, you can actually run the antivirus scan to eliminate computer viruses and malware without hindrance from another malicious application.

Switch to an alternate internet browser

Some malware only targets certain internet browsers. If this is your situation, make use of another internet browser as it can circumvent the malware. If you’re not able to download the anti-virus program using Internet Explorer, this means the virus could be targeting IE’s vulnerabilities. Here, you need to switch to a different internet browser like Firefox or Chrome to download the Safebytes Anti-malware program.

Install antivirus on a USB drive

Another option would be to make a portable anti-malware program on your USB stick. Adopt these measures to run the anti-malware on the infected PC.
1) On a clean PC, download and install Safebytes Anti-Malware.
2) Plug the pen drive into the clean PC.
3) Double click on the downloaded file to open the installation wizard.
4) When asked, choose the location of the pen drive as the place where you would like to store the software files. Follow the instructions on the computer screen to finish up the installation process.
5) Now, transfer the thumb drive to the infected PC.
6) Double-click the anti-malware program EXE file on the pen drive.
7) Run Full System Scan to detect and clean-up up all kinds of malware.

Review of SafeBytes Anti-Malware

If you are planning to purchase anti-malware for your desktop, there are plenty of brands and utilities for you to consider. Some are good ones, some are decent, while some are simply just bogus anti-malware applications that can ruin your personal computer themselves! You have to pick a tool that has got a good reputation and detects not only computer viruses but other sorts of malware also. When thinking about trustworthy programs, Safebytes Anti-Malware is certainly the strongly recommended one.

Safebytes is one of the well-established PC solutions companies, which provide this all-inclusive anti-malware software. Using its cutting-edge technology, this application will assist you to get rid of multiples types of malware including computer viruses, trojans, PUPs, worms, ransomware, adware, and browser hijackers.

SafeBytes anti-malware takes computer protection to a whole new level with its advanced features. These are some of the highlighted features included in the tool.

Real-time Active Protection: SafeBytes gives real-time active monitoring and protection against all known viruses and malware. It’ll monitor your PC for suspicious activity continuously and safeguards your PC from illegal access.

Robust, Anti-malware Protection: Built upon a highly acclaimed anti-virus engine, this malware removal tool has the capacity to find and get rid of several stubborn malware threats such as browser hijackers, PUPs, and ransomware that other typical antivirus applications will miss.

Extremely Speed Scanning: SafeBytes Anti-Malware has got a multi-thread scan algorithm that works up to 5 times faster than any other anti-malware software.

Web Protection: Through its unique safety score, SafeBytes informs you whether a site is safe or not to access it. This will make sure that you’re always certain of your safety when browsing the world wide web.

Light-weight: SafeBytes is really a lightweight tool. It uses up an extremely small amount of processing power as it operates in the background so you’re free to use your Windows-based PC the way you want.

24/7 Assistance: Support service is available 24 x 7 x 365 days through chat and email to answer your concerns.

SafeBytes can keep your personal computer protected from most advanced malware threats automatically, thus keeping your online experience secure and safe. Malware issues will become a thing of the past once you put this software program to use. You’ll get the best all-around protection for the money you spend on SafeBytes AntiMalware subscription, there is no doubt about it.

Technical Details and Manual Removal (Advanced Users)

To eliminate ConvertDocsOnline manually, go to the Add/Remove programs list in the Control Panel and choose the program you want to get rid of. For internet browser extensions, go to your web browser’s Addon/Extension manager and select the add-on you intend to remove or disable. You might also want to reset your home page and search engine providers, as well as delete browsing history, temporary files, and internet cookies.

In order to ensure the complete removal, manually check your hard drive and Windows registry for all of the following and remove or reset the values as needed. But bear in mind, this can be a tricky task and only computer professionals could carry it out safely. Furthermore, certain malicious programs are capable to defend against its removal. It is advised that you carry out the removal process in Safe Mode.

Files:
%LOCALAPPDATA%\ConvertDocsOnlineTooltab
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Local Extension Settings\pebplbnpogfdllkijjlabbjbbngdadjl
%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Local Extension Settings\pebplbnpogfdllkijjlabbjbbngdadjl
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Extensions\pebplbnpogfdllkijjlabbjbbngdadjl
%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Extensions\pebplbnpogfdllkijjlabbjbbngdadjl

Registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Google\Chrome\PreferenceMACs\Default\extensions.settings, value: pebplbnpogfdllkijjlabbjbbngdadjl
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\DOMStorage\convertdocsonline.dl.myway.com
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\DOMStorage\convertdocsonline.dl.tb.ask.com
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\ConvertDocsOnline
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\ConvertDocsOnline
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\[APPLICATION]\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall..Uninstaller
ConvertDocsOnlineTooltab Uninstall Internet Explorer

Do You Need Help with Your Device?

Our Team of Experts May Help
Troubleshoot.Tech Experts are There for You!
Replace damaged files
Restore performance
Free disk space
Remove Malware
Protects WEB browser
Remove Viruses
Stop PC freezing
GET HELP
Troubleshoot.Tech experts work with all versions of Microsoft Windows including Windows 11, with Android, Mac, and more.

Share this article:

You might also like

Override default Regional settings in Windows
As you probably know, Windows 10 does not offer lots of choices for its Regional settings depending on where you are and what locale you work with or belong to. The standard region settings for Windows 10 allow users to select one set of formats for the calendar and more. However, this has somewhat changed in the Windows 10 v1809. If you don’t want such a change, you can just override the default regional format settings in the Windows 10 Improved local experience. So in this post, you will be guided on how you can do such a thing. Follow the given instructions below to override the default Regional Format settings in Windows 10. Step 1: Go to Settings > Time and Language > Region. Step 2: From there, the default region is what Windows and apps might use to provide you with local content. However, this won’t be much of use if you work for a different locale and need to have different format settings like Calendar, Dates, Times, Currency, and First day of the week, all of which you can modify under the Regional format. Step 3: You need not reboot your Windows 10 computer after changing. On the other hand, some of the apps will have to close and launch again in order to apply the new format. Thus, if you need to use apps that are of different locales, you will only see the changes after you re-launch the app. Note: You can also select a different language that makes more sense to you. In other words, if you prefer more common words to standard words for your Windows 10 computer, then this is definitely the way to do it. This local format will be used for messages, menus, navigation, settings, and other topics. Step 4: Look for a link that says “Add a Windows display language with local experience packs” under Languages. In case you don’t know, Local Experience Packs are Microsoft Store apps that deliver Windows display language quality improvements. So once you click the link, it will download the packs from the Microsoft Store. In addition, Windows has already begun using AI or Artificial Intelligence as well as neural network-based Machine Learning for Windows localization. And as the number increase, the Machine language improvements and feedback from users will help in making the translations a lot better and make them available to even more languages. All in all, it’s pretty much an interesting and a good move for Microsoft as the demands for topics and machines to be available in local languages have been increasing for the past couple of years.
Read More
How to send your PDF file to amazon Kindle
Kindle is, without doubt, a great piece of hardware, perhaps it is the closest thing to a book within the domain of digital devices. With its low price and usability, it has found itself in many homes and within the grasp of many readers in the world. You can buy digital books in the Amazon store for fraction of a regular price if it digital Kindle edition. You keep your library in the cloud and download just books you want to read on your device. In this article, we will explore how you can send your existing PDF or any other supported file that you already have to your kindle device so you can read it on it.

Before we begin, you should make sure the file you're trying to convert is compatible with the Kindle:

HTML RTF JPEG GIF PNG BMP or PDF The compatible file types cover most formats you're likely using, but if you find the document you want on your Kindle isn't compatible, there are a few ways to convert it. In the program it typically opens into, like Microsoft Word for .doc files or an image editing apps for .PNG ones, select 'Save As', and in the drop-down menu, see if any of the compatible options are available. If not, you could try a PDF converter tool. There are plenty of great paid options and a few good free ones too.

Transfering PDF

To get a PDF on a Kindle, you're going to need to know your Kindle's email address. You'll need to head over to the Amazon website and sign in first. Select 'Your devices and content', click 'Manage Devices'. You should see a list of the books you have assigned to your Kindle account, above this list, in a toolbar should be some options - you'll currently be on 'Content', which should be followed by 'Devices', 'Preferences' and 'Privacy Settings'. Click on 'Devices', and in the next menu, select the option for the Kindle you want the document on. You'll be brought to a Device Summary page which tells you your Kindle email as well as the type of device it is. You now need to approve your personal email, so that when the Kindle receives your PDF, it knows to download this. Make sure the email you approve is the one you're planning to send documents to your Kindle from otherwise it won't work. To approve your email address follow the steps for finding your Kindle email address but instead of selecting 'Devices' in the top bar, click 'Preferences'. Scroll down this list until you find Personal Document Settings, and select this option so it expands into more options. From here, scroll down until you find 'Approved Personal Document E-mail List'. This list will show people who can email stuff to your Kindle, Below the emails is an option to 'Add a new approved e-mail address', which you should select. Enter your email address and click 'Add address' to get yourself approved. Head over to your email client of choice, attach the file to an email, and send the email to your Kindle email address. You're able to send multiple documents at once, so if you have loads of files you want on your Kindle, you don't need to send separate emails. If you're sending over a PDF file, you can ask Amazon to automatically convert the file into a Kindle one, which lets you annotate the sections and change the font size. Simply put the word 'convert' as the subject line and the rest will be handled for you. 'Sync Your Kindle'.
Read More
See if your Data is safe in Facebook breach
It is no secret that a few days ago Facebook has been breach and tons of user accounts have been compromised. These kinds of things are very unpleasant experiences for both users and the company itself. User trust lowers significantly in the company and it can greatly increase the chances of users migrating to another platform. This just shows how much a hacker or security breach can produce damage to the business. Sadly we can not offer you guidance or assistance in recovering your stolen data nor can we provide you with removing your data from the hands of the attacker. What we can do is to provide you with information has your data been stolen. Threat actor released the personal information for 533,313,128 Facebook users on a hacking forum, including mobile numbers, name, gender, location, relationship status, occupation, date of birth, and email addresses. This data was originally sold in private sales after being collected in 2019 using a bug in the 'Add Friend' feature on Facebook. Facebook had closed this vulnerability soon after it was discovered, but threat actors continued to circulate the data until it was finally released practically for free. Since then, Troy Hunt has added the leaked data to his Have I Been Pwned data breach notification service to help users determine if a Facebook member's data was exposed in the leak. Go to the site and enter your email address to check and see if your data has been compromised.
Read More
How to Fix ISDone.dll Error in Windows
As you know, games with good graphics and fast play are definitely resource-intensive and can consume a lot of storage space on your computer. Because of that, they have to be compressed before it gets downloaded to your computer and then unpacked to the hard drive before it gets installed. However, if an error occurs in your computer’s RAM during the installation process or if your hard disk does not have enough memory to handle the process, then you might encounter the isDone.dll error which states:
“An error occurred when unpacking, Unarc.dll returned error code -1, ERROR: archive data corrupted (decompression fails).”
If you encounter the isDone.dll error message on your Windows 10 computer, then read on as this post will show you how you can fix it. This error has something to do with the incomplete installation of PC games or files of larger size. The ISDone.dll error appears due to faulty Unarc.dll file residing in the System32 folder on 32-bit operating systems and the SysWOW64 folder on 64-bit systems. So, if you see this error message, then, it means your computer was not able to read installation archive files.

What is Unarc.dll file?

Unarc.dll is a dynamic link library for Windows. Some applications or games require this file to function properly. So, if it goes missing or, an error occurs when you start a game or an application, you may get various kinds of errors. ISDone.dll error while playing games on PC

Option 1 – Try to reinstall the game

The isDone.dll error could also be caused by the installation of an unknown application. Or it could also be caused by an outdated or corrupted application. In other words, if the game you are trying to install is broken or corrupted, then it’s no wonder why you’re getting the isDone.dll error. To fix this, make sure that you download the latest updated version of the game and then try to install it again and see if the problem is resolved or not.

Option 2 – Try to re-register the .dll file using the Regsvr32 tool

  • The first thing you have to do is to locate the DLL file named dll on your computer and rename it to Unarc-bak.dll.
  • Next, copy the Unarc.dll file from another well-functioning computer and save it on your desktop.
  • After that, move the DLL file you just copied to the System32 folder if you are using a 32-bit operating system, or the SysWOW64 folder if you are using a 64-bit operating system.
  • Now you have to register the new DLL file and you can do that using Windows PowerShell.
  • Open Windows PowerShell and then execute this command if you have placed the DLL file in the System32 folder: regsvr32 %systemroot%System32unarc.dll
  • On the other hand, if you have placed the DLL file in the SysWOW64 folder, then execute this command: regsvr32 %systemroot%SysWOW64unarc.dll
  • Once you’re done, a message will be displayed saying that the DLL file was registered.
  • Restart your computer and check if the problem is now fixed.

Option 3 – Troubleshoot the isDone.dll error in a Clean Boot State

You can also troubleshoot the isDone.dll error in a Clean Boot state. It could be that there are some third-party applications in your computer that're preventing the application from getting installed and to isolate this possibility, you need to boot your computer in a Clean Boot State and then try installing the program again. Putting your computer in this state can help you identify which program is the culprit and thus isolates the problem. In a Clean Boot state, your computer will start using only the pre-selected minimal set of drivers and startup programs. Note that you have to disable and enable one process at a time.
  • Log onto your PC as an administrator.
  • Type in MSConfig in the Start Search to open the System Configuration utility.
  • From there, go to the General tab and click “Selective startup”.
  • Clear the “Load Startup items” check box and make sure that the “Load System Services” and “Use Original boot configuration” options are checked.
  • Next, click the Services tab and select the “Hide All Microsoft Services” check box.
  • Click Disable all.
  • Click on Apply/OK and restart your PC. (This will put your PC into a Clean Boot State. And configure Windows to use the usual startup, just simply undo the changes.)
  • After you’ve set your computer into a Clean Boot State, make sure that you’re signed in as administrator and then try to install the application again.

Option 4 – Try updating or reinstalling your Graphics drivers

Updating or reinstalling the Graphics drivers in your computer can also help in resolving compatibility issues between the operating system and the driver that might have caused the isDone.dll error.
  • First, boot your computer into Safe Mode.
  • After that, tap the Win + R keys to launch Run.
  • Type in devmgmt.msc into the box and tap Enter or click OK to open the Device Manager.
  • After that, a list of device drivers will be displayed. From there, look for the Display Adapters and click on them.
  • After that, right-click on each entry under the Display Adapters and select the “Uninstall Device” option from the menu.
  • Now restart your computer.
  • After restarting your computer, go to the Settings app and Check for Updates in the Windows Update section.
Note: You also have the option to go directly to the website of your graphics card manufacturers like NVIDIA, Intel, or AMD and go to the section called Drivers then check if there’s a new available update – if there is, download and install it.

Option 5 – Try scanning your computer using Windows Defender

The isDone.dll error might also be infected with malware or virus and to eliminate it, you have to scan your computer using security programs like Windows Defender.
  • Tap the Win + I keys to open Update & Security.
  • Then click on the Windows Security option and open Windows Defender Security Center.
  • Next, click on Virus & threat protection > Run a new advanced scan.
  • Now make sure that Full Scan is selected from the menu and then click the Scan Now button to get started.
Read More
Disabling Auto Update in Chrome & Firefox
As you know, all the web browsers come with the support of auto-updates which include both Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. However, with these updates, the browser comes with the support of a new web APIs and better rendering. Although there could be a lot of problems that may arise due to these updates. These problems consist of depreciation of features, incompatibility with some websites, to name a few. It includes incompatibility with some websites, depreciation of features, and more. This might push someone to stop the auto-updates of these web browsers. So, in this guide, we will be checking out how to stop auto-update in Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox on Windows 10. Thus, if you want to be rid of these issues, then you can disable the Chrome & Firefox auto-update and you can do that by either using the Windows Services Manager and the System Configuration utility.

Option 1 – Disable Chrome & Firefox auto-update via Windows Services Manager

The first thing you can do to disable the Chrome auto-update is through the Windows Services Manager. To do so, follow these steps:
  • First, tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
  • Next, type “services.msc” in the field and hit Enter to open the Windows Services Manager.
  • After that, you will see a list of services and from there, look for the Google Update Services (gupdate) and Google Update Service (gupdatem).
  • Once you find these services, right-click on each one of them and select Properties and then make sure that the Service Status is set to be Stopped.
  • You should also select the Startup Type to Disabled and click on the Apply and OK buttons.
  • Now restart your computer. This should stop the automatic update of the Chrome browser.

Option 2 – Disable Chrome & Firefox auto-update via System Configuration utility or MSConfig

  • Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run utility and type “msconfig” in the field and tap Enter to open the System Configuration.
  • After that, go to the Services tab and uncheck the two entries, namely Google Update Service (gupdate) and Google Update Service (gupdatem).
  • Next, click on the Apply and OK buttons to save the changes made.
  • Restart your computer.
Note: Now that you’ve stopped the auto-update in Firefox, it’s time for you to stop the auto-update in Mozilla Firefox. To get started, follow the steps below.
  • Open the Mozilla Firefox browser and click on the hamburger menu located on the top-right portion of the screen.
  • After that, select Options and under the General panel and then go to the Firefox Updates section.
  • Next, click on the radio button for updates but select the option to let you install them.
  • You also have to uncheck the options named “Use a background service to install updates” and “Automatically update search engines”.
  • Once done, restart the Firefox browser. This should stop the automatic update.
Read More
Error Code 0xc00000e9
If Error Code 0xc00000e9 appears on your screen, there is no cause to panic yet as there are different ways to fix this. Here, I will list down different methods to get your computer back on track:
  1. Check peripheral connections
  2. Check your SATA cables
  3. Check your hard drive
  4. Check your BIOS settings

Quick Fix 1. Check Peripheral Connections

  1. Turn off your computer.
  2. After the computer has been shut down, take off all the peripherals or the USB cables that are connected to your USB ports. This includes even the keyboard and the mouse. We just need to have only the monitor plugged in for this one.
  3. Turn on your computer and see if it starts as it normally does.
  4. If it does, try connecting back your external devices or peripherals one by one until you find the one that causes the error.
  5. Once you trace the device that’s causing the error, you will have to change its USB cable and update its driver to support your operating system.

Quick Fix 2. Check your SATA cables

It is possible that what causes a barrier between your operating system and your hard drive from communicating is the SATA cable used. For example, if you’re using an older SATA with a SATA III port, there might not be adequate support for the transfer of data from one another. Or, the problem might be a loose SATA cable which would still require you to buy a new one to replace your loose or damaged cable. To check if your SATA cables are causing the error, simply follow these steps:
  1. Turn off your computer.
  2. Carefully open its case.
  3. Check the hard drive and the SATA port where it’s connected.
  4. Try to use a newer cable and connect it to your SATA port. (If you used a SATA II cable, you can see if a SATA III cable is more compatible.)
  5. Replace your SATA cable with a newer one if Step 4 proves to be successful.

Quick Fix 3. Check your hard drive.

  1. Try to use a different hard drive and see if error code 0xc00000e9 still appears.
  2. If it works out just fine, then the problem might be physical damage to your hard drive and would need to be repaired depending on the case. Just simply take it to a technician and let him know about the issue.

Quick Fix 4. Check your BIOS settings

  1. Restart your computer.
  2. Once your computer starts, press and hold the ESC, F2, F12, or DEL key to go to BIOS settings.
  3. You will then be redirected to the BIOS Setup Utility screen. From here, go to Boot options.
  4. In the Boot Options, see if your first boot device is your hard drive. If it isn’t, press the arrow key to select the hard drive and move it to the top of the boot device list.
  5. Save the settings.
  6. Reboot your computer.
Note: If all the methods above do not work, the problem might be on your drivers and you might need to update them. You can update your driver in two ways: Manual driver update and Automatic driver update. You can find procedures online in updating your drivers.
Read More
What Is Phishing And How Can You Protect Yourself From It?

Ever gotten an e-mail offer that seemed just a little bit too good to be true? Might’ve been a phishing attempt! These are everywhere and can come in many different forms. 

So what’s phishing exactly, how can you detect it and how can you keep safe?

What is phishing?

Phishing (pronounced like fishing) is a type of cyberattack that tricks the user into trusting the source and revealing sensitive information. Fishing being the perfect analogy, the bait is a legitimate-looking site, e-mail or file and when you take a bite, your identity, banking information and much more can be revealed and stolen.

Phishing Illustration
Credit: Anne Nygård on Unsplash

Some phishing attempts are incredibly obvious, others are super elaborate. Like with most types of malware, cybercriminals have become extremely well-versed in phishing and anyone can fall for it. To help you recognize and avoid it, we’ll take you through a couple of phishing types and give you tips on what to do if faced with them.

Phishing techniques

E-mail phishing

This is actually the most common type of phishing. A cybercriminal creates an e-mail containing stuff like attractive offers, legitimate-looking attachments or links and makes it appear as though it’s coming from a trusted source.

Illustration of Email Phishing
Credit: Justin Morgan on Unsplash

For example, it looks like it’s coming from your bank or your favorite retailer. The logo looks legit and the structure of the e-mail seems familiar, so you might get tricked into clicking on whatever clickable content is in it.

Unfortunately this exposes your device to malware that hands your data off to the hacker, who can decide what to do with it further.

SMS and social media phishing

Like the above example, you could be approached with lucrative offers or links via text messages or social media messages. Typically, the messages seem relevant to the user as they will be made to look like they’re related to apps or services you’re using.

Voice phishing

Voice phishing attacks are schemes that appear as though they’re coming from a credible number. Normally, you’ll get a call about something related to credit cards or taxes to get you into a state of worry, leading you to disclose personal information on the phone.

Spear phishing, whaling and BEC

Spear phishing normally targets specific individuals within a company who are likely to have access to sensitive data. Spear phishers spend time collecting information they can use to reach out to the individual looking as trustworthy as possible. They’ll typically lead with something relevant, for example mentioning an upcoming company event, and make a seemingly legitimate request.

Whaling is a more elaborate form of spear phishing, which targets people in even stronger positions such as executives or high-value individuals. The ultimate goal is to get them to transfer financial or other sensitive information that can be used to compromise the entire business.

Spear Phishing Illustration
Credit: Azamat E on Unsplash

BEC, or Business e-mail compromise, is a specific spear phishing technique carried out via e-mail. While there are many ways this is done, most commonly you’ll see instances where the phisher poses as a CEO or similar executive, or as a lower-level employee in specific positions (e.g. sales managers or financial controllers).

In the first situation, the impersonator reaches out to employees requesting them to transfer certain files or pay invoices. In the second situation, the phisher takes control of the employee’s e-mail account and sends false instructions to other employees in order to obtain data and information from them.

What can you do?

There are many ways you can be aware and spot a phishing attempt. Here are some tips:

  • Always check the sender’s address in your e-mails, even when they seem to come from a familiar source.
  • In any instance where payment information is requested, be very, very careful.
  • If you are receiving attachments you never asked for and definitely didn’t expect, better not click on them. 
  • Beware of content that transmits a sense of urgency (sales deals, urgent updates to login credentials, etc.).
  • Bad spelling and grammar are usually a telltale sign of phishing.
  • Links that look shortened (e.g. Bit.ly) or just suspicious in general - if you have a bad feeling, do not click on them.
  • If you are receiving threats, you probably shouldn’t be clicking on anything in that message.
  • Always examine first-time senders in detail.
  • Block suspicious e-mail addresses, numbers and social media accounts.
  • If you are receiving a coupon for free stuff… You aren’t.
  • If you’re being asked to update your payment details by a service you use, such as Netflix, chances are it’s an impersonator.

Those are some of the ways to identify and prevent phishing attacks. However, sometimes phishers disguise themselves a little too well or a misclick happens and there you go - you’ve been exposed to malware.

Illustration of a Lock on Keyboard Keys
Credit: FLY:D on Unsplash

This won’t happen if you invest in powerful protection software from the get-go, though. A good antivirus program like Bitdefender will keep you safe from becoming a victim of phishing scams. In fact, it will protect you from malicious attacks overall.

Be it your household or your business you’re concerned about, there are a bunch of different packages and options available, providing different kinds of cybersecurity services. That’s the only way you can ever really be sure you aren’t at risk of a digital attack.

Summary

Have you ever been targeted by phishers and didn’t know that’s what it was until you read this article? Many can relate. Protect yourself before it’s too late!

Read More
MS releases ISO for Windows 10 build 21354
On April 7th Microsoft has released Windows build 21354 for their flagship OS and updates are rolling. Alongside the new update builds Microsoft has decided to create and release Windows 21354 build as an installable ISO image for anyone who wishes to do a clean installation of Windows without the need to update it after the installation. We have not seen this move by Microsoft in a long time and honestly, we are welcoming it, it is always great to have updated ISO Windows build than to install the old version and sit through an hour or more of updates. If you are interested in getting this ISO image and you are part of the insider program you can download it from here. If you would like to read more helpful articles and tips about various software and hardware visit errortools.com daily.
Read More
Fix Power surge on the USB port
USB ports, just like any other ports, also comes with a power rating. The default power output of a standard USB port is 0.5 amperes and if you notice, mobile phones charge slowly on USB ports which explains why. There are times when Windows may throw an error or warning that says, “Power surge on the USB port”. This kind of error occurs when a connected device tried to draw more power and the error comes as a part of that notification so when you select it, it will say,
“A USB device has malfunctioned and exceeded the power limits of its hub port. You should disconnect the device”.
To easily fix the problem, you can try to disconnect the device and click on Reset and if you click on Close, the port will not work until you unplug it and then restart your computer. On the other hand, if disconnecting the device did not resolve the problem, you can try running the Hardware & USB troubleshooter or use a USB hub. You can also try to reinstall, uninstall or roll back the USB drivers or run the OEM diagnostics. For more information, refer to each one of the potential fixes provided below.

Option 1 – Try to run the Hardware & USB troubleshooter

  • The first thing you need to do is click on Start and then on the gear-like icon to pull up the window for Settings.
  • After opening Settings, look for the Update and Security option and select it.
  • From there, go to the Troubleshoot option located on the left-hand side of the list.
  • Next, select Hardware and Devices from the list and open the Troubleshooter and run it. Once it is doing its job, wait for it to complete the process and then restart the system.
  • After the system restarts, check if the problem’s now fixed. If not, refer to the next option given below.
Note: You could also try to run the USB troubleshooter as it could also resolve the problem.

Option 2 – Try to use a USB hub

If you’ve encountered the error on a specific device, then it is possible that the device requires more voltage. To fix this error, you can try to use the same device on another computer and if you still got the same error, you might want to use a USB hub that comes with its power source. USB hubs come with high-speed charging ports that should be able to supply the power needed for the device.

Option 3 – Update, rollback or reinstall the Universal Serial Bus Controller driver

If updating the drivers of the device did not fix the “The device is not ready” error, you can try to update, rollback, or reinstall the Universal Serial Bus Controller drivers instead of using the Device Manager. Refer to the following steps:
  • First, click the Start button and type “device manager”.
  • Then click on the “Device Manager” from the search results to open it.
  • From there, look for the “Universal Serial Bus controllers” option and then right-click on each one of the USB drivers and select the Update Driver from the menu.
Note: If it is a regular USB drive, then it will be listed as a USB Mass Storage Device but if you have a USB 3.0 device, then look for a USB 3.0 Extensible Host Controller.
  • Restart your PC and then click the “Search automatically for updated driver software” option.
Note: If updating the USB Controller drivers didn’t work, you can try to reinstall them instead.

Option 4 – Try running OEM Diagnostics if you have any

If the laptop or desktop computer you are using is a branded one, OEMs usually include software to diagnose issues in the computer like the USB port error. So if you have this software, try to run it for diagnosis and use any given suggestions to fix the error.
Read More
Making your own Minecraft server in Windows
Minecraft has taken the world like a storm and if you tried it, you could tell why, procedurally created worlds, various modifications available and fun gameplay are just some of the things this game offers and it is non wonder why kids and adults are enjoying it. Minecraft is even more fun when you play with your friends on dedicated servers, where you all can adventure and build together. Sadly as everything costs, so does the Minecraft servers as well. Lucky you can create your own Minecraft server on your computer so your friends can join and play with you free of charge with just a little time you need to spend reading this guide and building one for yourselves. Without further delay let's dive right into it.

1. Install the most recent Java version

In order to run your personal server, you will need to own and have Minecraft: JAVA edition, not Windows 10 one. If you have this version of the game and it is already running it means that you already have JAVA as well but we will need to check to see if it is the latest version of JAVA, to check this do the following:
  • Press Windows and type in configure java followed by ENTER
  • Under the update tab, click on the update now button
  • If you have the latest version you are all good, if not follow the onscreen instruction on how to update it.
If by any chance you do not have JAVA installed you can get it here.

2. Prepare a dedicated location for your Minecraft server files

You can use any folder you like for your Minecraft server folder but it is highly recommended to create a new folder whose sole purpose will be to hold and run Minecraft server files. this will be very beneficial in the future when server files need to be updated or configured. Having things in one isolated space is always a good idea and keeping things organized is also a good idea.

3. Download, install and start the Minecraft: Java Edition server file

It is now time to download server files, you can get them here. Download the server.jar file and place it inside your server folder. Once everything is downloaded and prepared do the following:
  • Run the server.jar file, the first time it runs, the file will create some configuration files.
  • After additional files appear, there should be a text document called eula.txt. Open it with a text editor then change eula=false to eula=true.

4. Enable port forwarding on your router

This sep is required if you want to have people to play with you that are outside your router network, for example, if you want them to connect to your server from their home. If you do not wish to do this and want only people on your serves from your router network you can skip this step. Unfortunately, to enable port forwarding, you’ll need to make your computer on your local network to be accessible by other computers over the internet via a router. This will effectively make your port to be an open portThis can make your system vulnerable to malicious attacks. Once you’ve enabled it, set the default server port to 25565. You’ll need the Server IP address, which you can get by opening Command Prompt or PowerShell and run ipconfig. Your IP address is usually listed as IPv4 or IPv6 Address.

5. Run the Minecraft server

Simply double-click the server.jar file to run the server. If you want to have more control over it, use the command line.
  • Navigate to your Minecraft server directory using file explorer.
  • We will be using PowerShell instead of Command Prompt to enter commands. Hit Shift + Right-click on the directory window and select “Open PowerShell window here.
  • Once you are in the right directory, write the following command:
java -Xms1024M -Xmx1024M -jar {server file name} nogui
  1. Replace the {server file name} with the full name of .jar file. The command above will make the server run with no Graphical User Interface (GUI) and use 1024MB of allocated RAM space.
  2. If you want to enable the GUI, remove the nogui command. Additionally, you can edit the memory allocation for the server by changing the Xms and Xmx value.
  3. After the server is up, invite your friends to play by sharing your local or public IP address, depending on whether you are using a local or public network. For a local network, you can give the IPv4 or IPv6 Address earlier. For public networks, go to Google and type “what is my ip” to get the address.
Read More
1 2 3 171
Logo
Copyright © 2023, ErrorTools. All Rights Reserved
Trademark: Microsoft Windows logos are registered trademarks of Microsoft. Disclaimer: ErrorTools.com is not affiliated with Microsoft, nor claims direct affiliation.
The information on this page is provided for information purposes only.
DMCA.com Protection Status