Technology Brief
(Issue 3, 2005)
Safeguarding Your Computer
Tim
Lawrence
the IT Guy, AutomationDirect
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In this day and age it seems most of us spend
more time cleaning the little spies and pests off our computers
than truly using them for productive work or play. One thing
you can count on in technology is that you won't really miss
it until it's gone, and if you're not careful your data could
be gone…forever. Imagine losing all your hard work or
your digital family pictures because you forgot to, or didn't
know how to, backup and protect your data. There are many contributing
factors to how or why we lose data and there are many ways to
safeguard your computer and gain some sanity in our often too
crazy lives.
First things first; every computer should have a good virus
protection program. There are many to choose from, but the most
well-known are MacAfee® and Norton AntiVirus™. The
best part about choosing well-known or reputable software vendors
is that they are dedicated to keeping up with all the new viruses
that continually appear. Once you install the virus protection
program, make sure to keep your virus definition files up-to-date.
This is done by going into the virus program and scheduling
the program to download updates automatically. These updated
files will keep your computer informed about new viruses. This
is very effective, but make sure you schedule the updates for
a time you usually have the computer up and running. You could
also choose to update manually.
Next, make sure you scan your computer. This is usually done
in the virus scanner program under the virus scan console. The
virus program can actively protect you against known viruses,
but what about the ones that might already be on your machine?
I try to scan my computer once a month. And while we are talking
about viruses, always be sure you know the person from whom
you are opening email attachments; too many viruses are propagated
via email by unsuspecting individuals. One astounding virus
fact: at its peak infection rate, 1 in 12 emails on the internet
were infected with the MyDoom virus. So a good virus protection
program is a wise investment.
Now let's talk about Adware and Spyware. Adware usually results
from downloading shareware or freeware programs or by clicking
that common popup box that says "your computer may be too
slow, click here to speed it up," or something to that
effect. Adware is pretty harmless but excessively annoying,
and it has been known to slow computer speed to a crawl. If
you actually read the EULA (end user license agreement) the
next time you load a free program instead of just clicking "next,"
you will be amazed at what it tells you. It basically says you
are giving the licenser the right to load anything on your computer.
So you load a really cool program, and then switch to Google
to search for something, and 20 popup boxes begin streaming
on your screen. Spyware is installed similarly to Adware, but
is more malicious in its nature. Spyware can be used to log
keystrokes, remotely access your computer, or just cause grief
and headaches. Much like virus programs, there are several Spyware/Adware
programs; some are free and others are at a cost. Spybot Search
and Destroy 1.3 (http://www.safer-networking.org)
is a good free program for combating Spyware and Freeware. Lavasoft's
Ad-Aware (http://www.lavasoftusa.com)
is also a good free program to use.
One observation about free programs is that while one may find
pests and remove them, you can install another free program
and it will find pests the previous program couldn't. The key
to addressing that problem is to
use a purchased program. Purchased programs seem to find more
problems and clean more effectively. A program called PestPatrol®
(http://www.pestpatrol.com)
is a very good program that costs around $39.95 for the home
user. The key to remember with any program is to make sure you
keep all the programs up-to-date. All these programs will connect
to the Internet and download their latest updates; it's up to
you to make sure that happens.
Viruses and pests will prey on computers that don't keep security
holes in the operating system updated. Windows® XP machines
can benefit from the new Service Pack 2 Update, and it's free.
Service Pack 2 will give you an enhanced Internet Explorer with
a popup blocker built in, and it also has more personal firewall
features. Simply run Windows® Update on your computer and
find out what you are missing.
Another important defense tool is backing up your data. I can't
stress enough how important it is to keep your data in an easy-to-access
area of memory. My favorite place is in the My Documents folder.
I put all of my important documents, pictures, files, etc. in
"My Documents". This way I have one central easy backup
area for my data. I back my data up once a month—just
in case my computer crashes, and chances are it will crash one
day. We live in a digital age where most saved data is digital;
however, if my computer crashed and all saved files were lost
I would lose personal photos equivalent to losing all my pictures
in a fire or flood. We have the advantage of being able to avoid
loss by backing up our data to CDs or DVDs. Storage of these
backup files, which takes hardly any space at all, should be
in a fire-safe or a safety deposit box. So, use the backup utility
that comes with Windows®; it’s fairly intuitive and
it will save you lots of pain in the future.
Lastly, one very nice feature of Windows® XP and Windows®
Me is the System Restore feature. This feature will write a
restore point when new software or changes to your system occur.
This gives you the ability to roll back to a previous point
when your computer was working.
I hope this information assists you in taking control of your
computer. Nothing is more annoying and stressful than a zombie
computer that doesn't want to execute when you want and need
it to perform. So, go forth and take control of your computer,
and happy computing.
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