Month: February 2008

 

There are manly three major thinks which can badly affect PC’s performance or its health.

·        Electrical fluctuations (surges and power loss) pose a significant threat to your system and are often the cause of data loss and burned out components.

·        Viruses and Spy-ware can be pretty irritating. Disabling system functions, high memory usage, internet bandwidth stealing to name a few. Other times, it can be dangerous as well; stealing passwords or bank and credit card information.

·        Malicious Internet may steel your resources and Valuable information’s.

 You can protect yourself from such Issues very easily by following the steps bellow.

 Electrical:

 ·        Never plug your computer directly into a power outlet. Relatively inexpensive surge protectors go a long way to protect a several thousand dollar investment. Be sure your surge protector includes enough outlets for all your peripherals and the modem jack. Modems are extremely susceptible to power surges, and are often destroyed by surges coming through the phone lines instead of the power outlet.

·        Unplug your system during lightning storms, even if it is surge protected.

·        Obtain an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) which can provide several minutes worth of power (enough to save your work) in case of a failure. Most UPS units also function as a surge protector.

·        If you are living on campus, be sure to follow the guidelines provided by the Division of Housing in regards to extension cords and “power strips.” Never daisy chain surge protectors or UPS units – this practice easily overcomes the protection provided by these devices.

 Virus and Spy wares:

 The best way to avoid infecting your PC with these aliens is to block their source of entry into your PC. Usually, these aliens propagate through Pen Drives, Email, Illegal downloads, Torrents, and other means of data transfer such as CDs and DVDs.

 Basic security settings:

 ·        Use good anti-virus software, update it regularly and scan your system frequently. This does 25% of the work. Good anti-virus software with a real time scanning ability will detect most of the infection before it occurs, thereby saving you the trouble even before it erupts.

·        Update your Windows OS with all the security releases from Microsoft. This is pretty essential, but I haven’t seen many high-priority updates since SP2. So, if you have SP2, I guess that’s updated enough; but always update if you can.

·        Always watch the task manager. Be aware of the number of processes that your system usually runs. This could help you detect any unwanted processes running in the background.

·        Always scan any file that you download from the internet or your email inbox before executing it.

 
Internet:

 When using services on the Internet, you should always use common sense and keep in mind the following:

 ·        Never give information through an on-line form or “talk” session that you would not mind someone knowing. This includes WebPages linked to from emails. Many companies would like to know more about you; however you are not under any obligation to give them any information. The only exception to this rule is when you are making a purchase, and then the company will need information for the purchase and delivery of the product.

·        Only make purchases through known companies. If you want to make a purchase from an unknown company, take time to research the company. You can find out information from agencies that keep track of fraud and poor business practices. Many of these companies and agencies place information on-line. You can search the web for this information. Make small purchases from a company that you do not know before making a large purchase.

·        A mention about “cookies”. Cookies are files that contain information. This information is stored by the server (company) that you visit on the web. Cookies are necessary to use some web sites. Using cookies makes it possible for a server (company) to detect your web browsing habits. My suggestion for managing cookies is to set your browser to notify you before accepting a cookie. In this way, you can decide what cookies you will allow on your computer. Many web sites on the Internet use Java applets and JavaScript’s (small programs) to enhance the web browser presentation and user interaction. Special conditions have to exist for a Java applet or script to cause harm to your computer too.

·        Use a personal firewall to keep unwanted entities out of your computer.

·        Don’t open email attachment that you are not expecting to receive and scan all attachments with a virus scan program before opening or sending.