Computer problems. Everyone has them at some point, but most of them can be avoided or fixed with simple know-how. Most people don't want to be bothered to learn anything about their own computer, they just want to turn the thing on and make it work. This is how it should be, but that’s not how it works. If you are using Microsoft Windows you need to know the basics. This includes computer security. Now 90% of the basics you need to know are in the manuals that all computer OEM's put in the box with the computer. The other 10% computer security is something you have to research your self.
Now I will spare you the time and effort to research this topic because most sites you go to are going to make you buy their security suit. This is not necessary. Most of these security suits have a firewall, anti-virus software, junk mail filters, and bunch of other stuff that in some case do good but a lot of times they just slow your computer down and you still end up with malware viruses. There are alot of free anti-viruses out there you can download like AVG free, or Microsoft security essentials. Now you might be asking, “What about a firewall?” Well, if you are using Windows XP or Vista you already have a firewall and by default it should be on so that it is taken care of for you. Also, if you have a router, there is a firewall on that as well. Now your anti-virus is your second line of defense, while your first line is you. There are things you can do to stop spyware from getting in, like running as a limited user rather then a administrator, which means you don't have access to core files. Anytime your computer needs to make changes in the C drive, it needs to ask you for your admin password. The other thing you can do is not open e-mail attachments from people you don't know. This includes the chain e-mails that have the funny photo of Lol Catz because you may know it came from Joe and Joe got it from Jon, Jon got it from Mary, and so on and so forth. Wait, do you know Mary? You may not, so how do you know were she got it from or whoever she got the photo from. That photo may look cute but it could be installing spyware on you computer as we speak! Another tip for people who do online banking or shopping, make sure you are on the site you think you are when buying or logging in to your bank. This can be easily done if you are using Internet Explorer 8. Look closely at the URL field and if it has https:// and the field is green, then it is the page you wanted to be on for your purchases or sign on for your banking. In Firefox just look for that https:// and look for the locked paid lock at the bottom of the browser. There is one big thing you can do to make sure that your computer is safe. Every second Tuesday of every month Microsoft updates Windows, so just mark that on your calendar.
Those are some basic ways you can stay safe online. The tips above can keep your computer running quite well for a wile. It seems like a lot but think of a computer like a car. You can't just use your car indefendent, at some point you have to do some maintenance and do things to make sure a big problem dose not happen later on. Now if you do get a virus, (I don't care what anyone tells you) you can not remove a virus with software. It just does not work that way anymore, you have to reinstall Windows. This is because modern viruses just latch on to your computer and really dig deep in your computer. They are infecting files that Windows needs in order to work, witch anti-virus software will not touch. Reinstalling windows formats the hard drive and puts the clean files back. Reformatting the drive erases everything on the drive: your documents, Photos, Movies, and more. What you should do is have an external hard drive that connects to your computer through USB and you can just drag and drop what you wanted backed up on to it. You can also use a service like Carbonite that you pay for, and it just sits in the background and waits for you to not be using it and will just start backing it all up for you. When you need to restore, you just go to the Carbonite web site log in and start downloading everything back to your computer. I have not talked about Mac's because Mac's are a minority and most hackers do not want to hack a Mac. Most businesses run Windows and that is what the hacker wants. Though Mac's are getting popular and soon the Mac people will need to know all this as well, so if you are running a Mac you need to be careful as well.
There is one more tip I would like to pass along and that is the best way to keep your computer running smoothly and securely, just use your common sense. Most of computer problems can be avoided if people just use their heads and use logic. That is really all. If you have questions e-mail me at themegatechblog@live.com or go to megatechblog.blogspot.com.
-Mike
(Edited by Erick A)
