|
Are These Guys Taking Over Your Computer?????
Well We Can Help!
The Number One & Two & Three Problems Plaguing Users Today Is Spyware, Viruses & Malware .
- They Take Over Your Computer, Slowing It To A Crawl and Ultimately Can Render It Effectively Useless.
- Add In The "Normal" Windows System Problems And A System That Once Ran Quite Well (Even a few weeks ago) Is Fortunate Not To Wind Up Flying Out The Nearest Window.
(Our own nearly have at times)
So How Do I Avoid This Stuff???
- Well if you want to avoid it completely, stay off the Internet. That is the only absolute way to ensure you get neither spyware nor viruses. And to be honest, when that friend brings over that "cool" program/game and loads it, you still may get it
So What Should I Do???
Ahhhhh, that's the 100 Million dollar question.
-
The first thing you should know is that MOST spyware and viruses are designed to attack the Windows Platform. When something has 98% of the market (Windows) and your intentions are profit driven, as most of this stuff is today, you follow the money.
-
One option is to buy an Apple. Apple is currently far less susceptible to both spyware and viruses. However there are drawbacks. (Aren't there always?) Apple is tough to find software for (Staples has very little for example), sometimes tough to get service and parts for and some people find Apple limiting. Inroads are also being made with spyware and viruses as more and more people/companies with nefarious intents set their sights on a heretofore ignored portion of the market.
-
Linux Platform is an option but mostly for much more advanced users. If you find Windows difficult, you'll find Linux impossible.
That brings us back to your current machine, a Microsoft Windows platform most likely.- Here's Our Short List Of Things You Can Do To Help;
- Make sure you install All Windows Updates. (There Are Dozens)
- Make sure you have a good Anti Virus Program running and all updates are always, always current.We DO NOT recommend Norton or McAfee any more.
- Ensure You have a Firewall Running, Hardware Based Is Preferable and it is built into "Most" Broadband Routers (Zone Alarm Free Edition, A Basic Software Based Firewall )
- Download, Update Regularly & Run One of the spyware removal utilities freely available on the Internet. Ad Aware (Do Not confuse with "No Ad Aware" which IS spyware) or Spybot S&D
- All these will help but they won't get it all and if you already have problems, it's possibly too little, too late, get it to a pro.
- And even if you are running all these and more, if it starts to slow down significantly, get it to a pro.
- One More note, Virtually ALL "Internet Security Suites" will slow most PC's to a
- C------R----------A-----------W---------------L.
-
Get rid of AOL/NetZero/Earthlink/etc. They install a bunch of unnecessary junk on your PC that is buggy and hogging your system resources. You have all the tools you need to connect to the Internet in a basic 'Windows Install. (Note; Most ISP's today require you to have at least Windows 98SE Installed before they'll provide support)
If you've installed Kodak software, uninstall it. Use a card reader and drag your pictures over through Windows Explorer. Kodak software slows a machine down badly.
- If you're going to do dial-up we recommend Megatron Data 413-624-3002 or Crocker 413-775-4141 locally. If you live in rural area's, dial up is your only realistic option unless you're willing to pay $80.00/month+ for two way satellite service which is subject to rain fade, snow fade and poor latency.
If you've decided to go with Broadband you have a plethora of choices but unless you need special services like domain hosting, fixed IP Addresses and other things there really are only two choices for the average user. Dsl from your Phone Co & Cable Internet from your Cable TV Provider. Yahoo Dsl, AOL Dsl and others are really a resell of Tel Co DSL so don't be surprised when your Tel Co shows up. You may be using Yahoo or AOL servers but it's still your phone companies switches and wires. Broadband means more bandwidth and that means more spyware and more virus susceptibility so it's even more critical you're adhering to the above guidelines AT LEAST!!!
|
