How to see what web sites your computer is secretly connecting to

Lori Kaufman is a technology expert with 25 years of experience. She’s been a senior technical writer, worked as a programmer, and has even run her own multi-location business. Read more.

Your PC makes lots of Internet connections in a day’s business, and not all of them are necessarily sites you’re aware connections are happening with. While some of these connections are harmless, there is always a chance that you have some malware, spyware, or adware using your Internet connection in the background without your knowledge. Here’s how to see what’s going on under the hood.

We’re going to cover three ways you can view your PC’s active connections. The first uses the good old netstat command from PowerShell or the Command Prompt. Then, we’ll show you two free tools—TCPView and CurrPorts—that also get the job done and may be more convenient.

Option One: Check Active Connections with PowerShell (or Command Prompt)

This option uses the netstat command to generate a list of everything that has made an Internet connection in a specified amount of time. You can do this on any PC running Windows, from Windows XP Service Pack 2 all the way up to Windows 10. And, you can do it using either PowerShell or Command Prompt. The command works the same in both.

If you’re using Windows 8 or 10, fire up PowerShell as an administrator by hitting Windows+X, and then selecting “PowerShell (Admin)” from the Power User menu. If you’re using the Command Prompt instead, you’d also have to run that as an administrator. If you’re using Windows 7, you’ll need to hit Start, type “PowerShell” in the search box, right-click the result, and then choose “Run as administrator” instead. And if you’re using a version of Windows before Windows 7, you’ll need to run the Command Prompt as administrator.

At the prompt, type the following command, and then press Enter.

We’re using four modifiers on the netstat command. The –a option tells it to show all connections and listening ports. The –b option adds what application is making the connection to the results. The –f option displays the full DNS name for each connection option, so that you can more easily understand where the connections are being made. The 5 option causes the command to poll every five seconds for connections (to make it more easy to track what is going on). We’re then using the piping symbol “>” to save the results to a text file named “activity.txt.”

After issuing the command, wait a couple of minutes, and then press Ctrl+C to stop the recording of data.

When you’ve stopped recording data, you’ll need to open the activity.txt file to see the results. You can open the file in Notepad immediately from the PowerShell prompt by just typing “activity.txt” and then hitting Enter.

The text file is stored in the \Windows\System32 folder if you want to find it later or open it in a different editor.

The activity.txt file lists all processes on your computer (browsers, IM clients, email programs, etc.) that have made an Internet connection in the time during which you left the command running. This includes both established connections and open ports on which apps or services are listening for traffic. The file also lists which processes connected to which websites.

If you see process names or website addresses with which you are not familiar, you can search for “what is (name of unknown process)” in Google and see what it is. It’s possible we’ve even covered it ourselves as part of our ongoing series explaining various processes found in Task Manager. However, if it seems like a bad site, you can use Google again to find out how to get rid of it.

Option Two: Check Active Connections By Using TCPView

The excellent TCPView utility that comes in the SysInternals toolkit lets you quickly see exactly what processes are connecting to what resources on the Internet, and even lets you end the process, close the connection, or do a quick Whois lookup to get more information. It’s definitely our first choice when it comes to diagnosing problems or just trying to get more information about your computer.

Note: When you first load TCPView, you might see a ton of connections from [System Process] to all sorts of Internet addresses, but this usually isn’t a problem. If all of the connections are in the TIME_WAIT state, that means that the connection is being closed, and there isn’t a process to assign the connection to, so they should up as assigned to PID 0 since there’s no PID to assign it to.

This usually happens when you load up TCPView after having connected to a bunch of things, but it should go away after all the connections close and you keep TCPView open.

Option Three: Check Active Connections By Using CurrPorts

You can also use a free tool named CurrPorts to display a list of all currently opened TCP/IP and UDP ports on your local computer. It’s a bit more focused tool than TCPView.

For each port, CurrPorts lists information about the process that opened the port. You can close connections, copy a port’s information to the clipboard, or save that information to various file formats. You can reorder the columns displayed on the CurrPorts main window and in the files you save. To sort the list by a specific column, just click on the header of that column.

CurrPorts runs on everything from Windows NT up through Windows 10. Just note that there is a separate download of CurrPorts for 64-bit versions of Windows. You can find more information about CurrPorts and how to use it on their website.

There are many components in different apps on your computer that need to connect to the Internet always or at regular intervals to work properly. Likewise, when you open a website in a browser, some of its extensions may automatically connect to the Internet. Also, the browser may connect to other sites to check for updates, etc. Thankfully, it is easy to know which websites and online services your computer is secretly connecting to. You can check them out and terminate unwanted processes so that you can save some resources like battery, memory, and CPU.

Which websites & online services is your computer secretly connecting to?

Depending on the apps on your computer, it can connect to different websites and online services even if the browser is closed. This article tells you how to find out which websites and online services your Windows computer is connecting to.

1] NETSTAT command

You can use the Netstat command to check out which websites and online services your computing are connecting to.

Open the command prompt in the administrator mode. That is, type COMMAND PROMPT in the Cortana search box. When the list shows COMMAND PROMPT, right-click on it and click on RUN AS ADMINISTRATOR.

In the command prompt, type the following:

And press Enter key.

Your screen now shows what all ports are open and connecting to the internet. If you wish to save the output to some file for analyzing it later, type

This would cause Windows to direct the output to a new text file named activity.txt placed in the current folder (normally you reach System32 when you run Command Prompt as an Administrator). If you would prefer a printed copy instead, use the following command:

The command will keep on displaying, writing, printing (as the case may be) until you press Control and C simultaneously to interrupt it. The Netstat -b command shows what all ports are connecting to the Internet. It may be easier for computer geeks to understand.

For normal people, it would be easier if the output also showed the process name so that you can go and check in the Task Manager. If the process is unwanted, you can simply terminate it to save resources. To be able to see the process name in the output, replace -b with -a in the Netstat command. That will be something like this:

To direct the output to any file, append >filename.txt and to direct it to the default printer, append >PRN to the command

Instead of the NETSTAT Command, you can also use the Resource Manager to check out which websites and online services your computing is connecting to.

2] Resource Monitor

Press Windows key + R to bring up the Run window. Type RESMON.EXE in the Run dialog box. This brings up the Resource Monitor in Windows 10. Click on the Network tab to see what all components are connecting to the Internet. It will show you processes with network activity, and instead of just listing the IP address or port number, it will show you the process names showing which websites and online services your computer is connecting to.

3] TCPView

If you do not understand the output in the first two cases mentioned above, you can download TCPView from the Microsoft website. It shows you a detailed listing of all TCP and UPD connections. It also shows the state of connections: whether a connection is already established, if a component is waiting for connection etc. information.

When you download TCPView, it will be a ZIP file. Extract all files and then click on TCPView.exe to bring forth the window of TCPView. This will give you a clearer idea of what all processes on your computer are connecting to the Internet.

4] CurrPorts

Visit nirsoft.net to know about the CurrPorts freeware. It is a network monitoring software that tells you what all websites and online services your computer is connecting to.

If you find useless connections, CurrPort allows you to terminate that connection thus saving your computer resources.

Life challenges of a software programmer and website developer

How to See What Web Sites Your Computer is Secretly Connecting To

How to See What Web Sites Your Computer is Secretly Connecting To

So far this topic has peaked my curiosity and for some, it could be the answer we are looking for for pc slowing down especially if we just connected to the internet.

It’s a helpful tip that i tried myself. The link of the source is indicated below. But for those who want to get the ball rolling, at the command prompt using administrator powers, type the following command and press Enter.

netstat -abf 5 > d:/activity.txt

The –a option shows you all of the connections and listening ports, the –b option shows you what application is making the connection, and the –f option displays the full DNS name for each connection option for easier understanding of where the connections are being made to. You can also use the –n option if you wish to only display the IP address. The 5 option at the end will poll every 5 seconds for connections to make it more easy to track what is going on, and the results are then piped into the activity.txt file.

I waited for about five minutes and then press Ctrl + C to stop the recording of data.

Once you’ve finished recording data, you can simply open the activity.txt file in your favorite editor to see the results, or you can type activity.txt at the command line to open it in Notepad.

The resulting file will list all processes on your computer (browsers, IM clients, email programs, etc.) that have made an internet connection in the last two minutes, or however long you waited before pressing Ctrl + C. It also lists which processes connected to which websites.

If you see process names or website addresses with which you are not familiar, you can search for “what is (name of unknown process)” in Google and see what it is. It may be a system function you don’t know about or a function of one of your running programs. However, if it seems like a bad site, you can use Google again to find out how to get rid of it.

Your computer may have an internet connection with other servers that are malware or spyware. These programs and services would be communicating secretly with the internet. It may affect your connection and make it slower. Hence, you would need to know about such programs. The following are some easy methods to check out the programs that are accessing your computer’s internet connection.

Table of Contents

1. By Resource Monitor

We would like you to tell the easiest way first. It is by opening the built-in Resource Monitor. Go to the Start Menu and type Resource Monitor in the search box. It will locate the respective program then, open it. A separate window will appear. There will be some tabs above, click on the last tab named Network. Here, in the first section of Processes with Network Activity, you can view the list of processes that have a connection with your computer.

2. By Netstat Command

Another easy method to know the connections is, by using the netstat command . It will generate a list of programs as well as the other related information.
If you have Windows 8; Place your cursor over Start button and right-click it. From the popup menu, click on the option Command Prompt (Admin).
If you have Windows 7, follow these steps;
Go to the Start menu and in the search box, type cmd. It will locate the cmd program. Right-click the program, a drop-down menu appears. Click on the Run as Administrator option. A command prompt opens.

• Type “netstat -b 5 > active_connections.txt” and press Enter.
• After approx. a minute, press Ctrl+C to stop the capture. It will capture all the data about network connections and put them in the .txt file.
• Now, open the file (active_aconnections.txt) in any text editor to view the information log. Alternatively, at the command line, type active_connections.txt to open the file in the text editor.

It views a list of all the processes that connected to your computer through the internet and also, which process is having a connection to which website in a particular time span (before pressing Ctrl+C).

3. By Other Applications

Other than these, you can also install other applications. There are many applications designed for this purpose, i.e., to monitor the hidden connections of your computer. For example CurrPorts or GlassWire. It helps you to get useful information about the connections.

Free Windows network monitor applications

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Clicking on a Web browser icon and not having the program launch, despite having a healthy Internet connection, indicates a problem with the Web browser itself. Web browsers aren’t contingent on Internet access to work: They can also be used offline. The browser might not show up, even if the taskbar icon says the program is running, because the program is caught in an error, has bad data files on the computer or is infected by a virus.

Window is Outside the Display Area

The Web browser could be functioning correctly, and yet, the program window is being displayed outside of the monitor’s visible area. The Windows desktop can expand beyond what you can see on the screen. Windows can run more than one monitor at a time If you add and remove monitors regularly or turn off monitors that aren’t in use, programs can end up stuck on a display the computer thinks is there, but actually isn’t. Mouse over the Web browser’s icon on the taskbar and check if a preview window displays. If it does, you can use Windows Snap to bring the window back to the working monitor by clicking the window and pressing “Windows Key+Arrow Left” or “Windows Key+Arrow Right” several times, until it displays on the screen.

Browser Task is Hanging

Programs aren’t always perfect. The Web browser could be encountering an error when loading and is unable to complete the launch process. If the program is hung-up, you can try restarting the computer to clear up the issue or use the Windows Task Manager to try and force close the browser process. Press “Ctrl+Shift+Esc” to launch the Task Manger, look for the browser under “Apps” on the processes tab, right-click on the browser process and select “End task.” Try opening the program again.

Problem With the Browser Installation

The browser may refuse to start because its installation files have are incorrectly configured or have been corrupted. File corruption occurs when a file is incorrectly altered by system error or write process interruption. You can try reinstalling the browser and likely keep your user settings intact; however, if the reinstall process doesn’t work try uninstalling the browser from the computer and installing a fresh copy. If the browser still won’t work, try installing a different browser.

Malware has Infected the Browser

Viruses can’t damage computer hardware, but they can damage computer software to the point where the program stops working. The Web browser’s files may be carrying a malware infection or could be altered by malware. Try running full system anti-virus and malware scans to remove any infections and restore browser functionality.

“Malware” is short for malicious software and used as a single term to refer to virus, spy ware, worm etc. Malware is designed to cause damage to a stand-alone computer or a networked pc. So wherever a malware term is used it means a program which is designed to damage your computer it may be a virus, worm or Trojan.

Virus is a program written to enter to your computer and damage/alter your files/data. A virus might corrupt or delete data on your computer. Viruses can also replicate themselves. A computer Virus is more dangerous than a computer worm as it makes changes or deletes your files while worms only replicates itself with out making changes to your files/data.

Examples of virus are:

W32.Sfc!mod
ABAP.Rivpas.A
Accept.3773

Viruses can enter to your computer as an attachment of images, greeting, or audio / video files. Viruses also enters through downloads on the Internet. They can be hidden in a free/trial softwares or other files that you download.

So before you download anything from the internet, be sure about it first. Almost all viruses are attached to an executable file, which means the virus may exist on your computer but it actually cannot infect your computer unless you run or open the malicious program. It is important to note that a virus cannot be spread without a human action, such as running an infected program to keep it going.

Why Symantec SSL/TLS?

Defining Them

Spyware is a type of program that is installed with or without your permission on your personal computers to collect information about users, their computer or browsing habits tracks each and everything that you do without your knowledge and send it to remote user. It also can download other malicious programs from internet and install it on the computer.Spyware works like adware but is usually a separate program that is installed unknowingly when you install another freeware type program or application.

A Trojan horse is not a virus. It is a destructive program that looks as a genuine application. Unlike viruses, Trojan horses do not replicate themselves but they can be just as destructive. Trojans also open a backdoor entry to your computer which gives malicious users/programs access to your system, allowing confidential and personal information to be theft.

Trojan horses are broken down in classification based on how they infect the systems and the damage caused by them. The seven main types of Trojan horses are:

• Remote Access Trojans
• Data Sending Trojans
• Destructive Trojans
• Proxy Trojans
• FTP Trojans
• Security software disabler Trojans
• Denial-of-service attack Trojans

Worms are malicious programs that make copies of themselves again and again on the local drive, network shares, etc. The only purpose of the worm is to reproduce itself again and again. It doesn’t harm any data/file on the computer. Unlike a virus, it does not need to attach itself to an existing program. Worms spread by exploiting vulnerabilities in operating systems

Examples of worm are:

W32.SillyFDC.BBY
Packed.Generic.236
W32.Troresba

Due to its replication nature it takes a lot of space in the hard drive and consumes more CPU uses which in turn makes the pc too slow also consumes more network bandwidth.

Following are different type of VirusFile Virus:This type of virus normally infects program files such as .exe, .com, .bat. Once this virus stays in memory it tries to infect all programs that load on to memory.

Macro Virus: These type of virus infects word, excel, PowerPoint, access and other data files. Once infected repairing of these files is very much difficult.

Master boot record files: MBR viruses are memory-resident viruses and copy itself to the first sector of a storage device which is used for partition tables or OS loading programs .A MBR virus will infect this particular area of Storage device instead of normal files. The easiest way to remove a MBR virus is to clean the MBR area,

Boot sector virus: Boot sector virus infects the boot sector of a HDD or FDD. These are also memory resident in nature. As soon as the computer starts it gets infected from the boot sector. Cleaning this type of virus is very difficult.

Multipartite virus: A hybrid of Boot and Program/file viruses. They infect program files and when the infected program is executed, these viruses infect the boot record. When you boot the computer next time the virus from the boot record loads in memory and then start infecting other program files on disk

Polymorphic viruses: A virus that can encrypt its code in different ways so that it appears differently in each infection. These viruses are more difficult to detect.

Stealth viruses: These types of viruses use different kind of techniques to avoid detection. They either redirect the disk head to read another sector instead of the one in which they reside or they may alter the reading of the infected file’s size shown in the directory listing. For example, the Whale virus adds 9216 bytes to an infected file; then the virus subtracts the same number of bytes (9216) from the size given in the directory.

Generically adware is a software application in which advertising banners are displayed while any program is running. Adware can automatically get downloaded to your system while browsing any website and can be viewed through pop-up windows or through a bar that appears on a computer screen automatically. Adwares are used by companies for marketing purpose.

Tracking cookies

A cookie is a plain text file that is stored on your computer in a cookies folder and it stores data about your browsing session. Cookies are used by many websites to track visitor information A tracking cookie is a cookie which keeps tracks of all your browsing information and this is used by hackers and companies to know all your personal details like bank account details, your credit card information etc. which is dangerous.

Spamming is a method of flooding the Internet with copies of the same message. Most spams are commercial advertisements which are sent as an unwanted email to users. Spams are also known as Electronic junk mails or junk newsgroup postings. These spam mails are very annoying as it keeps coming every day and keeps your mailbox full.

Misleading applications

Misleading applications misguide you about the security status of your computer and shows you that your computer is infected by some malware and you have to download the tool to remove the threat. As you download the tool it shows some threats in your computer and to remove it you have to buy the product for which it asks some personal information like credit card information etc. which is dangerous.

If you’re concerned about the security of your home Wi-Fi network—and all the personal data on it—then you need to make sure access to your wireless network is locked down. Network security can feel intimidating if you’re not a technophile, but it’s easier to secure your internet connection than you might think.

How Can I Secure My Internet Connection?

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What is Network security?

Network security keeps unauthorized users and hackers from accessing your Wi-Fi network and the devices that use it. There are a number of common-sense practices that will help you have a secure network connection, and a few extras that can ramp up your security level to top-secret.

Image: Ivan Samkov, Pexels

How to Secure Wi-Fi: Common Sense Practices for Every Home Network

Below are some of the easiest ways to get a secure connection for your Wi-Fi network. These steps don’t require any special technical knowledge or extra purchases beyond a wireless router.

1. Rename Routers and Networks

All wireless routers come with a generic username, and many also include a generic password. When you set up the router for the first time, you’ll need to use this generic admin information, but after it’s up and running you should change both. The generic usernames and passwords that come with routers are public record, which makes a hacker’s job easy—especially if you skip changing the router’s factory settings.

After changing the username and password for your wireless router, you should change the name of your home Wi-Fi network. This is called the SSID (service set identifier), and it’s the name that people will see if they are scanning for nearby networks. Default network names often include the brand and model number of the router being used to create the network, which gives hackers valuable information about your Wi-Fi setup.

Avoid tipping off hackers (and keep neighbors from accessing your Wi-Fi) by renaming the network. Be warned that any devices currently connected to your Wi-Fi network will be kicked off after the name change, including smartphones, computers, game systems, smart home devices, etc. You’ll have to update and reconnect all of those devices when you rename the network.

“All wireless routers have a setting that allows you to hide the wireless network SSID from being broadcast. If a hacker cannot see it to even know that it exists, they won’t try to hack into it. Your devices can connect to it, and you can add new devices to it because you know the SSID – they do not.”

2. Use Strong Passwords

You’ve likely heard more about strong passwords than you ever wanted to, but they keep coming up because they’re still one of the best lines of defense against data leaks and hackers. When it comes to setting up a strong network password that will keep out online miscreants, use the guidelines below.

• Make it long—at least 16 characters is recommended.
• Use a mixture of upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters.
• Don’t use common phrases or personal information.
• Test the strength of your password. You can use a password manager or an online password checker to find out how secure the password is in real time.
• Make sure it’s unique—don’t reuse a password you’ve already used.
• Use a password manager. They help you keep track of your passwords, and some even generate random passwords that are hard for both humans and computers to crack.

In addition to using long, complex passwords on network devices like routers and repeaters, you can exclude other computers from connecting to yours.

“You can enter in the IP address of the computer you access and configure your router from and exclude all others. That way, even if someone were able to “see” your router, they would automatically be rejected from connecting to it by the device since the IP that is trying to log in is not specifically allowed.”

Pete Canavan, IT Security and Personal Safety Expert

3. Keep Everything Updated

Routers need to be updated on a regular basis. Router manufacturers update the firmware on routers whenever a vulnerability is detected, just like the operating system on your phone or PC. Set a reminder to check your router settings every month to see if there have been any updates.

4. Turn On Encryption

These days every router on the market includes encryption, and it’s one of the simplest ways to secure your internet connection.

1. Go to your router’s settings and find the security options.
2. Look for the WPA2 Personal setting. If you don’t see that, select WPA Personal (but this could be a sign that your router is outdated and more vulnerable).
3. Set the encryption type to AES.
4. Enter a password or network key. This password is different from the one you used for your router and will be used to connect all devices to your Wi-Fi network. Use the strong password guidelines above to create a secure password.

What most of us think of as the Internet is really just the pretty face of the operation—browser windows, websites, URLs, and search bars. But the real Internet, the brain behind the information superhighway, is an intricate set of protocols and rules that someone had to develop before we could get to the World Wide Web. Computer scientists Vinton Cerf and Bob Kahn are credited with inventing the Internet communication protocols we use today and the system referred to as the Internet.

Before the current iteration of the Internet, long-distance networking between computers was first accomplished in a 1969 experiment by two research teams at UCLA and Stanford. Though the system crashed during the initial attempt to log in to the neighboring computer, the researchers, led by Leonard Kleinrock, succeeded in creating the first two-node network. The experiment was also the first test of “packet switching,” a method of transferring data between two computer systems. Packet switching separates information into smaller “packets” of data that are then transported across multiple different channels and reassembled at their destination. The packet-switching method is still the basis of data transfer today. When you send an email to someone, instead of needing to establish a connection with the recipient before you send, the email is broken up into packets and can be read once all of the packets have been reassembled and received.

Cerf and Kahn developed a set of guidelines for data transfer using packet switching in 1980, calling those guidelines TCP/IP, or Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol. The TCP part of the protocol is in charge of packing the data before it moves across the network and unpacking it once it has arrived. The IP component acts as the trip coordinator and maps the movement of information from its start point to its end point. While Kleinrock’s experiment proved that a single network between two computer systems was possible, Cerf and Kahn’s TCP/IP provided the backbone for an efficient and large web of interconnected networks—thus the name “Internet.” Though other protocols were developed and used before TCP/IP, such as the file transfer protocol (FTP) and network control protocol (NCP), the Internet as we know it today is built on the basis of Cerf and Kahn’s “network of networks.”

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• How To Know if You Have Malware
• How Malware Gets on Your Device
• How To Remove Malware
• How To Avoid Malware
• Report Malware

How To Know if You Have Malware

Look for unusual behavior from your phone, tablet, or computer. Your device might have been infected with malware if it

• suddenly slows down, crashes, or displays repeated error messages
• won’t shut down or restart
• won’t let you remove software
• serves up lots of pop-ups, inappropriate ads, or ads that interfere with page content
• shows ads in places you typically wouldn’t see them, like government websites
• shows new and unexpected toolbars or icons in your browser or on your desktop
• uses a new default search engine, or displays new tabs or websites you didn’t open
• keeps changing your computer’s internet home page
• sends emails you didn’t write
• runs out of battery life more quickly than it should

How Malware Gets on Your Device

Criminals work to get malware on your devices so they can steal personal information, like your usernames and passwords, bank account numbers, or Social Security number. They use this information to commit identity theft. If you think someone may have stolen your information or identity, visit IdentityTheft.gov.

Malware can get onto your device when you open or download attachments or files, or visit a scammy website. Your device might get infected with malware through:

• downloading free stuff like illegal downloads of popular movies, TV shows, or games
• downloading content available on file-sharing sites
• downloading files on removable storage like external hard drives or thumb drives
• clicking links in fake security pop-ups sent to your computer by tech support scammers
• clicking on ads placed by scammers on websites you visit
• phishing emails that trick you into clicking on a link or opening an attachment

How To Remove Malware

Do-It-Yourself

1. Stop shopping, banking, and doing otherthingsonline that involve usernames, passwords, or other sensitive information — until you get your device cleared of any malware.
2. Check to see if you have security software on your device — if not, download it. Find recommendations from independent review sites by doing a search online. Also ask friends and family for recommendations. Some software that claims to be security software to protect you from malware is malware, so it’s important to do your research.
3. Make sure your software is up to date. Check that all software — the operating system, security software, apps, and more — is up to date. Consider turning on automatic updates so your software always stays up to date.
4. Scan your device for malware. Run a malware or security Delete anything it identifies as a problem. You may have to restart your device for the changes to take effect. Run your scan again to make sure everything is clear. If the scan shows there are no more issues, you’ve likely removed the malware.

If you’re not able to fix your device with steps 1-4, steps 5 and 6 may resolve the issue. When using either of these options, you risk losing data. If you’ve backed up your data regularly, you’ll minimize what you lose.

1. Recover your operating system. To find out how to recover your operating system (like Windows or Mac OS), visit your device manufacturer’s website. Recovering your system typically means you’ll get back a lot of the data stored on the device, so it’s a good alternative to reinstalling your operating system (step 6). That is, if it clears the malware problem. After recovering your operating system, you’ll want to go back to steps 2, 3 and 4 to ensure that you’ve removed the malware.
2. Reinstall your operating system. To find out how to reinstall your operating system (like Windows or Mac OS), visit your device manufacturer’s website. Reinstalling your system is the safest way to clean an infected device, but you’ll lose all of the data stored on the device that you haven’t backed up.

Getting help

Contact the manufacturer of your device. If it’s covered by a warranty, you may be able to get free tech support — otherwise you may need to pay to get help. Before seeking help, write down the model and serial number of your device, and the name of any software you’ve installed.

When reaching out for help, remember to look out for tech support scammers. Here are two things to know to avoid a tech support scammer:

1. Legitimate tech companies won’t contact you by phone, email or text message to tell you there’s a problem with your computer.
2. Security pop-up warnings from real tech companies will never ask you to call a phone number.

If you spot either of those things, you know it’s a scam.

How To Avoid Malware

Scammers try to trick people into clicking on links that will download viruses, spyware, and other unwanted software — often by bundling it with free downloads. Here are ways to avoid malware: · Install and update security software, and use a firewall. Set your security software, internet browser, and operating system to update automatically. · Don’t weaken your browser’s security settings. You can minimize “drive-by” or bundled downloads if you keep your browser’s default security settings.

• Read each screen when you install new software. If you don’t recognize a program, or are prompted to install bundled software, decline the additional program or exit the installation process.
• Get well-known software directly from the source. Sites offering lots of different browsers, PDF readers, and other popular software for free are more likely to include malware.
• Pay attention to your browser’s security warnings. Many browsers come with built-in security scanners that warn you before you visit an infected webpage or download a malicious file.
• Instead of clicking on a link in an email or text message, type the URL of a trusted site directly into your browser. Criminals send phishing emails that trick you into clicking on a link or opening an attachment that could download malware.
• Don’t click onpop-upsor ads about your computer’s performance. Scammers insert unwanted software into pop-up messages or ads that warn that your computer’s security or performance is Avoid clicking on these ads if you don’t know the source.
• Scan USB drives and other external devices before using them. These devices can be infected with malware, especially if you use them in high traffic places, like photo printing stations or public computers.

Report Malware

If you think your computer has malware, report it to

While surfing the Internet, do you find yourself going to get a cup of coffee, grab a magazine or retile your bathroom between page loads? If so, chances are you’re using a dial-up connection, and a sneaking suspicion may be growing on you: Is your connection actually getting slower?

It is and it isn’t. As always, the connection speed of dial-up is limited by the bandwidth of phone lines; but at the same time, the average file size for Web content is getting larger and larger. More people are using broadband connections that can handle a bigger load, so Web sites feel more comfortable bulking up their pages. It takes a lot time to squeeze all of that data through a dial-up connection.

New technology offers a solution to the slow-down that doesn’t necessitate broadband. Services like NetZero and EarthLink are now offering “high-speed dial-up.” According to ads for these services, you can get connection speeds that are five times faster than traditional dial-up service.

When you think of dial-up Internet service, the first thing that probably comes to mind is the strange sort of “R2-D2 in a blender” type chirping that the modem makes as it connects. This song is called the handshake protocol, and it is the first thing that bogs down the speed of dial-up Internet.

The handshake protocol, as the name implies, begins the conversation that allows data to be sent to and from your computer using the Internet. There are actually two separate handshakes that occur in this process. The first half is the modem initializing the Internet connection. We’ll call that the modem handshake. The second part is the software handshake. That deals with authenticating the user’s access to the ISP (Internet Service Provider). When your computer is chirping away, it is introducing itself to your ISP. High-speed dial-up providers can’t do anything about the modem handshake, but they can speed up the software handshake.

On the next page learn about the standard software handshake and how it can be accelerated.­

High-speed Dial-up: Acceleration Servers

The standard software handshake goes something like this:

Your machine: Hello, my name is Sparky.

ISP Server: Hello, Sparky.

Your machine: I am John’s computer.

ISP Server: John who?

Your machine: John Smith.

ISP Server: I know 32,422 John Smiths.

Your machine: He is one of your customers.

ISP Server: Does he have an account number?

Your machine: Yes.

ISP Server: What is that number?

Your machine: 5546743897

ISP Server: Ah, yes. OK, go ahead, 5546743897. You have access.

This is a simplified explanation, of course, but you can get the idea of the back-and-forths that need to occur in the handshake protocol before information can be sent or received. High-speed dial-up providers have cut down on this back-and-forth by creating a system that allows the conversing machines to remember responses to questions. This makes for a much shorter conversation:

Your machine: Hello, my name is Sparky.

ISP Server: Ah, hello, Sparky. Aren’t you John Smith’s machine.

Your machine: Yes, his account number is 5546743897.

ISP Server: Go ahead, 5546743897. You have access.

This shorter handshake equals much faster connection times. The increase in speed varies by machine, but in some cases it can reduce the handshake by up to 50 percent. What might take 45 seconds with a “normal” dial-up service becomes maybe a 30-second process with a high-speed service.

When you search for a Web page on the Internet, your request is routed though your ISP to the Web. After making a series of stops along the way at machines that help find the page you’re looking for, your machine is connected to the computer that serves the Web page you requested. Once this connection is established, data can flow freely from the Web server to your computer. Once the information leaves the Web server and hits your dial-up connection, that’s where the bottleneck begins in the typical Internet transaction.

But high-speed dial-up providers have come up with some pretty clever ways to open up that bottleneck. By loading special software into a server, they turn it into what they call an acceleration server. And by sandwiching the acceleration server into the chain between your dial-up connection and the Web, they can speed up the process considerably.

When you search for a Web page using high-speed dial-up, your request is sent from the dial-up modem in your computer to the ISP’s acceleration server. Now the acceleration server is requesting and serving pages on your behalf. The acceleration server uses a broadband connection to quickly search the Internet for the server that hosts the page you’re looking for. Once it finds that server, the two machines start talking and exchanging the information you need. Your ISP’s acceleration server takes that information and sends it to your machine.

When you visit your website (or any website), data from that site is stored on your computer. This is called “cache” and it helps speed up the transfer of the website data to your computer’s browser the next time you visit. Normally this is what you want, but occasionally you may want to force the website to send you new data. This is important if you want to see changes to your website as soon as they are made.

‘I can’t see the changes that you have made to my website!’ If this has happened to you, don ‘t worry it happens all time. I often hear this when we have made an update to a website for a client and they check the site they can’t see the update they requested, even though we have done it.

How to refresh your browser

To force your browser to refresh take the following steps:

Refresh your page only

⇧ Shift-click the Refresh button. While pressing the Refresh button on your browser’s address bar will only do a standard refresh, you can force a refresh from the server by pressing ⇧ Shift and clicking it instead.
Internet Explorer users should hold ^ Ctrl and click the Refresh button.

Find the refresh button …

If you still can’t see the changes try to following steps…

Delete Cache and Refresh your page

Windows

Press Ctrl+F5. In most browsers, pressing Ctrl+F5 will force the browser to retrieve the webpage from the server instead of loading it from the cache. Firefox, Chrome, Opera, and Internet Explorer all send a “Cache-Control: no-cache” command to the server. This forces the server to send the complete web page back to your browser.

Mac

For Safari users on OS X, press Option+⌘ Command+E to empty your cache, and then ⌘ Command+R to refresh the page. Since the cache has been deleted, the page will be retrieved from the server.

You can also force delete the cache in your browser settings. Mobile users will need to do this as there is no option to do this at browser level yet.

Fully clear cache

In some instances, you will need to enter the browser settings a manually clear the cache.

Chrome

In Chrome click on the 3 vertical dots, this is your Chrome menu. Hover over “More Tools” and then in that drop down menu click on “Clear Browsing Data”

You will be taken to a new screen with a dialogue titled “Clear browsing data”.

Select the options as seen below and then click the button titled “Clear browsing data”. Be careful not to select other options as they can inconvenience you by clearing saved password etc.

Firefox

Select History from the menu bar and navigate down to “Clear Recent History”.

You will be taken to a new screen with a dialogue titled “Clear All History”.

Select the options as seen below and then click the button titled “Clear Now”. Be careful not to select other options as they can inconvenience you by clearing saved password etc.

Safari

Select History from the menu bar and navigate down to “Clear History”.

A dialogue will appear with a drop-down menu. Select “all history” and then click “Clear History”.

The Belarc Advisor displays a detailed profile of your installed software, hardware and security vulnerabilities in your Web browser. The Belarc Advisor is licensed for personal use only and is not permitted to be used for any commercial or government purposes.

Belarc Advisor features

The Belarc Advisor builds a detailed profile of your installed software and hardware, network inventory, any missing Microsoft hotfixes, anti-virus status, security benchmarks, and displays the results in your Web browser.

All of your PC profile information is kept private on your PC and is not sent to any web server.

System Requirements

If you wish to run the Belarc Advisor on your corporate network, Belarc provides commercial products that are used for software license management, hardware upgrade planning, cyber security status, information assurance audits, IT asset management, configuration monitoring, and more.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will the Belarc Advisor send my PC profile information up to a web server?

No. The Belarc Advisor creates a local Web page, keeping your PC profile on your PC and does not send it to a web server, including Belarc’s server.

Belarc is able to personalize a web page to show you details of your computer without a web server by using technologies included in the Belarc Advisor.

Please let us know if you have any questions or how you feel about this issue by contacting our team.

Must any previously installed Belarc Advisor be removed before installing a newer version?

No. The installer will automatically remove any previous Belarc Advisor version.

When checking for new security definitions the Advisor gets an error. What can I do?

This is usually caused by a software firewall installed on your computer. Check the settings of your firewall for options that block or permit applications to connect to the Internet. If your firewall needs to allow specific programs access to the Internet, allowing the BelarcAdvisor.exe program should work. You’ll find BelarcAdvisor.exe in the C:\Program Files\Belarc\Advisor directory on your computer.

The Advisor has installed and finished a discovery of my PC’s hardware and software, but I do not see any results.

This usually happens when the Windows file association, for the HTML file extension, is misconfigured on your computer. Most often, this is caused by trying out a new browser and then uninstalling it from your computer.

Here’s how you can fix that:

On Windows 10, 8 or 7: Open Windows file explorer to the c:\Program Files (x86)\Belarc\BelarcAdvisor\System\tmp directory, or for 32-bit windows c:\Program Files\Belarc\BelarcAdvisor\System\tmp . Then right click on the file named .html , where COMPUTER_NAME is the name of your PC. In the pop-up menu click Open with and then click Choose another app or Choose default program… in the Open with submenu. In the Open with dialog choose your preferred browser and check the Always use this app to open .html files or Use this app for all .html files checkbox. When you next run the Belarc Advisor the results will show in your browser.

On Windows Vista: Open Windows explorer to the c:\Program Files\Belarc\BelarcAdvisor\System\tmp directory, or for 64-bit windows c:\Program Files (x86)\Belarc\BelarcAdvisor\System\tmp . Then right click on the file named .html , where COMPUTER_NAME is the name of your PC. In the pop-up menu click Properties. In the Properties dialog click the Change button next to Opens with:, then choose your preferred browser and click OK. When you next run the Belarc Advisor the results will show in your browser.

On Windows XP: Open the Folder Options windows control panel, and on the File Types tab select the HTML Document file type. Then click the Change… button, choose your preferred web browser, and click OK. When you next run the Belarc Advisor the results will show in your browser.

If that doesn’t work for you, open the c:\Program Files\Belarc\BelarcAdvisor\System\tmp\ .html file (where COMPUTER_NAME is the name of your PC) using the File Open… menu command in your web browser. In Internet Explorer and Firefox the menu is hidden until you click your keyboard’s alt key. In most browsers, you can also type Control + O to open a file.

Can I purchase a license to run the Belarc Advisor on my corporate network, or my customer’s network?

We do not permit use of the Belarc Advisor for commercial purposes, however we suggest that you take a look at BelManage.

We offer some charitable organizations a license to use the Belarc Advisor at no cost, under certain conditions. Please send us some information about your charity, a URL and the number of PCs and servers.

On the simplest level, the Web physically consists of the following components −

Your personal computer − This is the PC at which you sit to see the web.

A Web browser − A software installed on your PC which helps you to browse the Web.

An internet connection − This is provided by an ISP and connects you to the internet to reach to any Website.

A Web server − This is the computer on which a website is hosted.

Routers & Switches − They are the combination of software and hardware who take your request and pass to appropriate Web server.

The Web is known as a client-server system. Your computer is the client and the remote computers that store electronic files are the servers.

How the Web Works

When you enter something like Google.com the request goes to one of many special computers on the Internet known as Domain Name Servers (DNS). All these requests are routed through various routers and switches. The domain name servers keep tables of machine names and their IP addresses, so when you type in Google.com it gets translated into a number, which identifies the computers that serve the Google Website to you.

When you want to view any page on the Web, you must initiate the activity by requesting a page using your browser. The browser asks a domain name server to translate the domain name you requested into an IP address. The browser then sends a request to that server for the page you want, using a standard called Hypertext Transfer Protocol or HTTP.

The server should constantly be connected to the Internet, ready to serve pages to visitors. When it receives a request, it looks for the requested document and returns it to the Web browser. When a request is made, the server usually logs the client’s IP address, the document requested, and the date and time it was requested. This information varies server to server.

An average Web page actually requires the Web browser to request more than one file from the Web server and not just the HTML / XHTML page, but also any images, style sheets, and other resources used in the web page. Each of these files including the main page needs a URL to identify each item. Then each item is sent by the Web server to the Web browser and Web browser collects all this information and displays them in the form of Web page.

In Short

We have seen how a Web client – server interaction happens. We can summarize these steps as follows −

A user enters a URL into a browser (for example, Google.com. This request is passed to a domain name server.

The domain name server returns an IP address for the server that hosts the Website (for example, 68.178.157.132).

The browser requests the page from the Web server using the IP address specified by the domain name server.

The Web server returns the page to the IP address specified by the browser requesting the page. The page may also contain links to other files on the same server, such as images, which the browser will also request.

The browser collects all the information and displays to your computer in the form of Web page.

Yes, your ISP (Internet Service Provider) is likely spying on your web browsing, and yes, DuckDuckGo can help you significantly cut down on their ability to spy on you. Your ISP is the company that gets you onto the Internet – your home Internet or mobile data provider. If your ISP is spying on you, it means they can use or sell your browsing history to others for things like creepy ads that follow you around the Internet or to junk mail providers.

Whenever you connect to a website or other place on the Internet, you can be using either an encrypted (secure) connection, or an unencrypted (unsecure) connection. In a web browser, you can check on whether you are using an encrypted connection by looking for a padlock or similar icon in the address bar. If you see that icon, you should also see an “ at the beginning of the website address, rather than “

If a website is using an encrypted connection (i.e., HTTPS, like ):

• ISPs cannot see which specific pages within that website you visit (everything after the ‘/’).
• ISPs cannot seewhat you search for or what you type into forms.
• ISPs can still seethe domain of the website you are visiting (everything up to the ‘/’).

When you do a search, you may have noticed that you can see your search terms in the address bar. That might make you think, even if the search engine is using an encrypted connection (i.e., starts with https), then your ISP can still see your search terms. But, actually that’s not correct — the ISP can only see the domain part — the rest (everything after that first slash) — is actually encrypted and the ISP cannot see it (see picture).

What all this means is that with your web surfing, you can block ISPs from spying on you to a great extent by using as many encrypted (secure) connections as possible. Unfortunately, that’s not something you can do entirely on your own – the website you want to visit has to offer an encrypted connection option, but more and more of them are doing just that.

How DuckDuckGo can help you use more encrypted connections

At DuckDuckGo, we offer a tool to help you more regularly use encrypted connections when browsing the Internet. If you’re unfamiliar with DuckDuckGo, we are an Internet privacy company that empowers you to seamlessly take control of your personal information online, without any tradeoffs. We operate a private search engine alternative to Google at and offer additional apps and extensions to protect you from Google, Facebook, Twitter and other tracker networks, no matter where you go on the Internet.

So, how do our apps and extensions help you use encrypted connections? They offer Smarter Encryption, which is a feature that automatically ensures that you use encrypted connections to websites whenever available. You don’t even have to think about it; this feature works in the background, silently redirecting you to secure website connections. We keep a list of millions of websites that offer encrypted connections, and make sure to encrypt your connections to those sites.

On desktop, you can get our Smarter Encryption by installing DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials for Firefox or Chrome. On mobile, you can get Smarter Encryption by using our DuckDuckGo Privacy Browser on iOS or Android. In addition to Smarter Encryption, our apps and browser extensions include other privacy essentials like tracker blocking and private search.

Unfortunately, some websites still do not offer encrypted versions. You can’t change that, and neither can we. But, if you want to take further steps to protect your privacy, you can use a Virtual Private Network (VPN). Doing so isn’t as seamless as our tool, and there are a lot of VPN options and considerations, so we have put together a guide for further information. You could also go one step further and use a technology called “Tor;” we have another guide with information on that option.

In any case, you should consider using our tool or another similar tool to make sure you are using more encrypted connections when surfing the Internet. Doing so will cut down significantly on the ability of your ISP from spying on your browsing history. And it’s not just your ISP that can do this. When you connect to a website unencrypted, many parties could spy on you (like the ISP of the website you are connecting to), or anyone snooping on your wifi. Using encrypted connections will help shut the blinds on all of them.

Ransomware is a type of malicious software, or malware, that prevents you from accessing your computer files, systems, or networks and demands you pay a ransom for their return. Ransomware attacks can cause costly disruptions to operations and the loss of critical information and data.

You can unknowingly download ransomware onto a computer by opening an email attachment, clicking an ad, following a link, or even visiting a website that’s embedded with malware.

Once the code is loaded on a computer, it will lock access to the computer itself or data and files stored there. More menacing versions can encrypt files and folders on local drives, attached drives, and even networked computers.

Most of the time, you don’t know your computer has been infected. You usually discover it when you can no longer access your data or you see computer messages letting you know about the attack and demanding ransom payments.

Tips for Avoiding Ransomware

The best way to avoid being exposed to ransomware—or any type of malware—is to be a cautious and conscientious computer user. Malware distributors have gotten increasingly savvy, and you need to be careful about what you download and click on.

• Keep operating systems, software, and applications current and up to date.
• Make sure anti-virus and anti-malware solutions are set to automatically update and run regular scans.
• Back up data regularly and double-check that those backups were completed.
• Secure your backups. Make sure they are not connected to the computers and networks they are backing up.
• Create a continuity plan in case your business or organization is the victim of a ransomware attack.

How to Respond and Report

The FBI does not support paying a ransom in response to a ransomware attack. Paying a ransom doesn’t guarantee you or your organization will get any data back. It also encourages perpetrators to target more victims and offers an incentive for others to get involved in this type of illegal activity.

If you are a victim of ransomware:

• Contact your local FBI field office to request assistance, or submit a tip online.
• File a report with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).

I’ve read that they can see what sites your viewing or even access your computer if you’re connected on the same WIFI connection but how exactly?

5 Answers 5

Some clarifications should be made. Firstly, an attacker can only trivially perform the following techniques if the public Wi-Fi is totally unencrypted (which is to say, does not require a password) or is implementing the weak WEP privacy protocol. To ensure greater security, wireless networks can use the WPA or WPA2 certifications. As pointed out by @BlueRaja in the comments on this post, WPA and WPA2 use tougher security protocols, called TKIP and CCMP. Both WPA and WPA2 support TKIP, but only WPA2 supports CCMP, which is much more secure. In an ideal world, WPA2 using CCMP would be in use in all places. (There is also a whole world of room to talk about WPA2-Personal versus WPA2-Enterprise, but that is another question.) For the purposes of this answer, we’ll assume that no password is present, and so the network is entirely unencrypted.

The answers by Spiff and diogo_rocha both point out packet sniffing, which is the simplest form of intrusion. A free program like tcpdump can be used to capture all of the data sent over the wireless connection, including both traffic to or from your computer. Thus, any unencrypted internet traffic to/from your computer can be transparently viewed, either at the time or later. In the simplest case, this includes every website you visit, but if the websites in question don’t use HTTPS (the green lock symbol in your browser bar), this can include passwords and usernames. This is BAD.

Spiff mentioned weak intrusion points, either through VNC (or SSH on Unix-based machines) or known vulnerabilities. A tool like nmap can be used to quietly scan a machine for any services you may have left open, and can then be used to attempt to break into them. In particular, remote desktop and screen sharing allow for simple visual observation of all behaviour on your machine.

Unpatched exploits are worse. Using these, an attacker can run arbitrary code on your machine. Most commonly, this will involve installing some piece of spyware, such as a keylogger. Again, on an open wireless network, if you have such a vulnerability it can be quite simple to locate using nmap, and the Metasploit Framework provides free access to a huge number of known vulnerabilities. This is why security professionals and savvy computer users insist that you should always apply patches and updates ASAP, unless you have a very good reason not to. On a Windows machine, turn automatic updates on.

Additionally, mentioned by both @yosh m and @Scott Chamberlain, session hijacking became a major news item in the past few months, and this is also relatively simple to implement over open WiFi. For me to explain what this is, you need to understand that when you log-in to a site, your login is stored in a browser cookie, so that the website knows that each new connection is still you (this is an enormous oversimplification, but for space considerations I won’t elaborate: see the firesheep link in this paragraph for more info). Unfortunately, if HTTPS is not used (or a man-in-the-middle attack is used to set up a false HTTPS connection, see next paragraph), these cookies are sent in plaintext and broadcast to the entire wireless network. Thus, anyone who is listening for it can catch that cookie, and piggyback on your session. This was implemented in a Firefox plugin called Firesheep. A great discussion from the author of the plugin is here: , and you can find the plugin yourself with no real difficulty. The simplest way to protect yourself from this is to ensure that you are always using HTTPS to send your credentials and establish connections with authenticated services.

Finally, open wireless networks enable attacks known as Man-In-The-Middle attacks. These are when a machine intercepts your traffic intended for a third party, adjusts or records it, and then sends it on. This can be implemented when you believe you are using HTTPS, and as a result caution should be used on open wireless networks even when HTTPS would cause you to believe you are safe.

Although you didn’t directly ask it, I’ll quickly suggest the easiest way to avoid these problems: set up and use a VPN whenever you use an unsecured wireless network, and make sure you know how your firewall works. Both of these things can be investigated with a quick Google search, and should mitigate all of the problems I mentioned.

Aug 6, 2018 · 6 min read

The Internet, or World Wide Web, is a phenomenon which needs no introduction — it is the global network of computer that has enabled the widespread exchange of information and media, and has defined this very age. The Internet allows for transcontinental communication: a user in Russia to access content in Brazil. And through the Web, a news site can engage in mass communication to almost everyone with an internet connection.

All of these things are easil y available to the end user with a press of a few keystrokes. Armed with the URL of a website, one can quickly be served with the content of a website hosted on a server across the globe. This surprisingly simple procedure initiates a complex process that must be undertaken in order to provide a user a web page.

In this article, we’ll cover the high level process of how a web page is served, from when a user types in a URL, to how that URL is resolved into the actual address of the server that is hosting the website, to how the server parses and responds to the request for the website.

Domain Name Resolution

Universal Resource Locator (URL)

Let’s start from the client, or user’s side, and see how we get the website, . This is an example of a complete URL, or Universal Resource Locator, which contains the Domain Name, or name of the website, as well as the associated information necessary to retrieve the website. In this particular example, it’s important to note the https in the beginning. HTTPS stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure. The hypertext transfer protocol is the set of standards used to transfer webpage information, and this particular flavor is secure, specifically, precautions are taken to ensure that traffic is only decipherable between your computer and the server, and communication is ensured to be established between your computer, and the desired server, rather than a imposter posing to be that server.

Domain Name System (DNS)

Even though this URL contains lots of information, this is actually a human readable format for the address of the server. Computers actually find each other using unique IP addresses, Internet Protocol addressses. IP addresses are defined in the TCP/IP suite, the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and the Internet Protocol (IP). TCP/IP defines how data is transferred between networks and over the Internet. In the case of the IP address is 52.204.166.212 . The means through which your URL is converted into the appropriate IP address is called the Domain Name System, or DNS.

In the DNS resolution process, first the web browser will look in your system’s cache to see if it has the desired IP address. If you have visited before, your computer will have already saved the IP information. But if your system does not have that information, it will query the DNS server.

Resolver, Root, Top-level Domain, Name Servers

Your computer will then send the query to the DNS, or Resolver server, usually hosted at your Internet Service Provider. If this server does not have this information stored it the cache, then based on the URL provided, it will lookup the appropriate server to query to get the domain name. In this case, it will look at the last part of the URL, the .com , which is a top-level domain name. The resolver will then query a Root server which, if unable to find the domain name in cache will provide the location of the top-level domain server. The Resolver will then query the top-level domain name server which handles .com domain names.

Despite the finality of the name, the top-level domain name server isn’t the end point where it it provides the IP of the desired server. Rather is it the server that provides the location of the authoritative name server with the appropriate top level domains, again in this case, .com . The authoritative name server will either provide the direct IP address, or the address of another name server until the IP address of the desired server is finally determined.

This Domain Name System is the process that one can initialize in order to obtain the address of the desired server for a website. There are many more details to this process. If you want a more visual overview, I recommend this cute (free) web comic:

Server Side Processes

At this point, all that has been accomplished is that the computer now knows the IP address of the server to communicate with. There are lots of processes that are engaged when you query a server for a website.

Typically, a website is actually hosted by a group of servers, with many other supporting software applications. Here is high level overview of how a site like may handle the request for a website.

Load Balancing, Web Server, Firewall, and SSL Termination

Since is a popular website that is able to handle many requests, it most likely has a load balancer, a server that can direct traffic to multiple web servers, which are computers that can provide static content such as HTML and images. Since the load balancer often serves as the first point of entry for communication to the internet, this is often a location for firewalls and SSL termination to ensure the safety of the servers and communication. Firewalls prevent unwanted traffic, such as intrusions by hackers, by restricting communication to certain ports, such as the HTTP port for web communications. As we learned earlier from the URL, this website is being requested via the https secure protocol. HTTPS uses Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technologies to ensure the security of the communication. And it does this by the use of SSL certificates.

SSL certificates are issued to the server and the client. These certificates can be used to validate the provider to ensure that the server is the legitimate website that you initially requested rather than someone spoofing the server. Furthermore, the information transferred is encrypted through the use of the certificates can only be decrypted through the corresponding certificate, denying readability to a third-party listening into the traffic mid-stream. The location where the data is decrypted is described as the location of SSL termination.

is a website that a user can interact with. It has a login page that a user can enter credentials with and access content specific to that user. A webserver alone, since it was meant to serve static content, is not the best tool to handle this extra layer of functionality. To best provide these features, the site relies on application servers and databases.

Application servers handle logic and the dynamic parts of the website. They can take the data inputted in the website, such as the email and password, and then use that data to query the database, the collection of data, and the if they are able to retrieve the proper data, return the information to the web server, which then delivers finally delivers content to the user.

Affinity Technology Partners – Powering Growth Through Technology since 2002. Learn more about topics like apps, security and more on our blog.

The odds are high that if you have ever faced computer issues at home or work you have heard these words from a friend or IT support before:

Why Restarting Your Computer Actually Works

“Have you tried restarting it?”

While it might be easy to take this answer as a lazy (or rude) cop-out, there are valid reasons why restarting your computer can actually solve or prevent performance issues, especially when done routinely.

When should you restart your computer?

Here are some common instances when a restart may solve your problem and prevent the need to take time out of your day to work with a technician:

When your computer is running slowly

When your computer system unexpectedly freezes up

When Internet connection lags

When your computer has had a software update

When your computer experiences a driver or hardware error

When applications are not performing as you expect them to

Why Restarting Your Computer Works:

Think of restarting your computer like getting a good night’s sleep before a new day. It’s a way to reset and start from scratch. Here’s what that looks like in a computer:

1. A Restart Flushes the RAM

When you access different programs on your computer, they take up part of your computer’s Random Access Memory as they run in the background. This results in slow loading web pages.

Restarting your computer flushes out the random and unimportant data slowing down your computer memory and stops background tasks from happening.

2. Speeds Up Performance

Reboots keep computers running quickly. By flushing the RAM and clearing temporary files, your computer runs faster and more efficiently. It frees up the processor to complete other tasks, which speeds up the computer’s function.

3. Stops Memory Leaks

When a program doesn’t close correctly, it continues to use up computer memory. This “memory leak” can cause your computer to slow. Restarting your computer resets all programs that may not have closed correctly.

4. Fixes Internet Connection

Restarting your computer will restart the internet connection. It can also fix Bluetooth connection issues from your computer to another device. But, if restarting your computer doesn’t solve spotty connectivity on your computer, consider rebooting your internet router.

5. Fixes Bugs and Glitches

If your computer has not been rebooted for an extended period of time, programs may run at a slower pace or there may be system freeze-ups. Restarting your computer allows the systems’ processors time to recharge, ultimately correcting any bugs or glitches.

The Bottom Line? Restarting Saves Time!

Restarting your computer is a quick solution to connectivity issues and other minor errors. Most professionals recommend restarting your computer at least once a week to prevent minor issues from arising and to keep your computer running efficiently.

If restarting your computer doesn’t fix the issue, reach out to our Support Team for further help. But, in the meantime, save yourself some time by restarting your computer.

When’s the last time you “surfed the web” or “went online”? I haven’t really heard those phrases used unironically since the early 2000s, which makes sense. The internet isn’t a place we visit anymore—it’s where we all live.

I couldn’t help but think about this when I read a beautiful Atlantic article by Ian Bogost , which he wrote using a 30-year-old Macintosh SE. That computer sold for $3,900 in 1990, which is about $8,400 in today’s dollars, but people used it a lot less than we use computers today. From the article:

Nobody used [ their computer] every hour—many people wouldn’t boot them up for days at a time if the need didn’t arise. They were modest in power and application, clunking and grinding their way through family-budget spreadsheets, school papers, and games.

A computer was a tool for work, and diversion too, but it was not the best or only way to write a letter or to fritter away an hour. Computing was an accompaniment to life, rather than the sieve through which all ideas and activities must filter.

Bogost goes on to describe using the Macintosh SE to load Microsoft Word and write the article, and then doing something no one does anymore: turning the computer off. It’s striking how much the limitations of the computer forced him to focus on the task at hand. In 1990, the computer was a tool, and people used it like one. Distraction wasn’t an issue because hardly any distractions were available (and the ones that were available took forever to load).

I bring this up not to advocate for some lost golden age. Old computers weren’t great, and trying to use one for day-to-day tasks would be a nightmare. But there was value in the purpose-driven way we used computers back then, and the hardware limitations were part of what created that mentality. We’d turn the computer on for a specific purpose, complete that purpose, and move on.

It’s possible we can never go back to that mindset, but there’s no reason we shouldn’t think about our relationship with our computers. By remembering that a computer is a tool and implementing some strategies that put it to good use, we can get more done—and then log off.

Plan What You’re Going to Do

It’s really easy to sit down at your computer and lose a couple of hours doing nothing in particular. You might even feel tired afterward, despite not being sure what you did during that time.

This isn’t entirely your fault. The internet is optimized for “engagement,” which is a fancy word app developers use for taking up as much of your time as possible. Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix, once said that sleep is Netflix’s main competition, which really drives home the extent to which internet companies want to dominate your day. The apps you use aren’t neutral: they have their own priorities.

If you want to use your computer as a tool, however, you need to focus on your priorities, and that means being intentional about what you’re doing whenever you’re using a device. Time tracking apps are great for this. Most can display the task you’re currently working on right on the screen, which is a helpful reminder of what you intend to be doing. I use a time-tracking application for Mac called Timing, but time blocking apps could also do the job.

When I sit down at the computer, I enter the task I hope to accomplish, which then shows up on the menu bar of my Mac. This puts a reminder of my intention in a prominent place.

And you don’t need any software for a reminder like this. A sticky note can do the job.

Just write down what you intend to focus on, then put it somewhere you’ll see it. The specifics don’t matter. The important thing is that you use your computer with a specific purpose in mind, and that you remind yourself what that purpose is.

Go Offline, If You Can

Retro messaging applications like AIM and MSN sorted contacts according to who was and wasn’t online, and would even notify you when a buddy “logged on.” Modern messaging apps don’t do that, and that’s a good thing: we’d all be getting notifications constantly. These days, messaging apps sort people by your most recent conversations. The implicit idea: online and offline isn’t a meaningful distinction anymore. It’s assumed that everyone is online all the time and will respond to you immediately.

Which, of course, means you feel like you have to respond constantly, which makes it hard to treat your computer like a tool you’re using for a single purpose. Your attention is being pulled in all sorts of directions, by all sorts of people.

To be clear, chatting with friends and co-workers is nice, and quite often even essential for getting things done. I can’t imagine life without Slack. But Slack can also derail focus, as other people’s priorities for my day interrupt what I hope to accomplish.

My solution: disconnecting from the internet entirely when I need to focus. Turn off Wi-Fi. It’s crude, but it works, and it removes a wide variety of potential distractions, which helps me think of my computer as a tool for the job at hand.

People used computers before there was an internet, and they rarely ended up reading Wikipedia or scrolling through Twitter instead of getting things done. Solitaire was about the only distraction available, which was fine because Solitaire is boring (and isn’t even included with Windows anymore). You don’t need the internet to use your computer, and you might find your focus improves without it.

Not everyone can do their jobs without an internet connection. If that’s you, consider using apps that block distractions instead.

Full Screen Is Your Friend

Multitasking isn’t healthy for humans, but modern computers are very good at it. User interfaces go out of their way to show that off. There are windows and tabs, of course, but there’s also the Windows taskbar and the macOS dock. Both serve as a constant reminder that there are other applications you could be using. Often there are even little badges with numbers, further incentivizing you to click away from the task at hand.

Which is why I recommend that you switch your application over to fullscreen when focus is needed. Mac users have it easy: they can simply click the green button in the top-left corner.

Do this and the current application will take up the entire screen, hiding the dock, menu bar, and all other applications. It’s perfect for when you need to focus.

Windows users don’t have a system-wide option, though many applications offer a fullscreen mode. The keyboard shortcut Alt + Enter triggers fullscreen in many apps, and F11 works in others. If fullscreen isn’t offered, you could just hide the taskbar instead.

It’s About Your State of Mind

Ultimately this is about you. You need to approach your computer, and other devices, as a tool for accomplishing a specific job, then be intentional about using it for that job. It’s a skill, and learning it takes time.

Want more ideas for doing that? My friend Matt wrote about tweaking your software to be more productive, and I recommend you check that article out. Here are a few more things you can try:

Turn off the red dot in Slack. It’s just going to pull you away from what you’re working on.

Try out some Pomodoro timers. A 25-minute work session followed by a five-minute break makes focusing on one task a lot less overwhelming.

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