Today, more and more people are using their computers for everything
from communication to online banking and investing to shopping. As we
do these things on a more regular basis, we open ourselves up to
potential hackers, attackers and crackers. While some may be looking
to phish your personal information and identity for resale, others
simply just want to use your computer as a platform from which to
attack other unknowing targets. Below are a few easy, cost-effective
steps you can take to make your computer more secure.
Always make backups of important information and store in a safe place
separate from your computer. Important file back ups are to be kept in
a steel box.
Update and patch your operating system, web browser and software
frequently. If you have a Windows operating system, start by going to
www.windowsupdate.microsoft.com and running the update wizard. This
program will help you find the latest patches for your Windows
computer. Also go to www.officeupdate.microsoft.com to locate
possible patches for your Office programs.
Install a firewall. Without a good firewall, viruses, worms, Trojans,
malware and adware can all easily access your computer from the
Internet. Consideration should be given to the benefits and
differences between hardware and software based firewall programs.
Review your browser and email settings for optimum security. Why
should you do this? Active-X and JavaScript are often used by hackers
to plant malicious programs into your computers. While cookies are
relatively harmless in terms of security concerns, they do still track
your movements on the Internet to build a profile of you. At a
minimum set your security setting for the "internet zone" to High, and
your "trusted sites zone" to Medium Low.
Install antivirus software and set for automatic updates so that you
receive the most current versions.
Do not open unknown email attachments. It is simply not enough that
you may recognize the address from which it originates because many
viruses can spread from a familiar address.
Do not run programs from unknown origins. Also, do not send these
types of programs to friends and coworkers because they contain funny
or amusing stories or jokes. They may contain a Trojans horse waiting
to infect a computer.
Disable hidden filename extensions. By default, the Windows operating
system is set to "hide file extensions for known file types". Disable
this option so that file extensions display in Windows. Some file
extensions will, by default, continue to remain hidden, but you are
more likely to see any unusual file extensions that do not belong.
Turn off your computer and disconnect from the network when not using
the computer. A hacker cannot attack your computer when you are
disconnected from the network or the computer is off.
Consider making a boot disk on a floppy disk in case your computer is
How TO MAKE UR COMPUTeR RUN FAST
Simple tasks like startup or opening new
programs taking forever? Here are 7 quick
ways to make your computer run a little
faster...
1. Startup as slow as a snail? Download a
program like Autoruns to disable certain
programs during startup. Don't want to
download another program? Use
Windows' built in tool, MSConfig. Click the
Start Menu, go to Search or Run, type
"msconfig" Choose the "Startup" tab, and
uncheck the boxes of the programs you don't
want to run on startup. Don't recognize the
program? Leave it.
2. Delete applications you no longer need
or use. Click the "Start". Open "Control
Panel." Under Programs click "Uninstall a
program." Choose the program you would like
to delete and click "Uninstall."
3. Run less programs at once. I am guilty of
having literally every program on my
computer running. Photoshop bogs it down
enough by itself, let alone all of them running
together. So, close programs that you aren't
working in. Your computer will thank you.
4. Clean up your hard drive. This will
remove any unneeded system files, empty the
Recycle Bin and also deletes temporary files.
Click the "Start" menu. Search for "Disk
Cleanup", and then choose "Disk Cleanup."
Run the utility, click "OK" and then click
"Delete Files." Then, revel in how much disk
space you have freed up.
5. Check for updates. Software updates can
keep your computer safe and running healthy.
Do you have your computer set to get
automatic updates from Microsoft?
6. You should always be running Antivirus
software to ensure you computer is kept
safe. A few that we like are Malwarebytes --
This is free software. It does not do live
scanning, so it should be ran once a week.
More is better. Glary Utilities -- This is a
great tool that has a lot of quick built in
options. It will do all of the things above.
7. Last, but certainly not least, Defrag.
Defragging scans all the files on your
computer and then reorganizes them. Saving
space on your hard drive.
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