Computer Help For Beginners

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=168 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="03da11c3.gif"> <div> <A HREF="compuhelp_m.htm#viruses" TARGET="TRLX_Middle" TITLE="Computer Help For Beginners"><U>Viruses</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="compuhelp_m.htm#spyware" TARGET="TRLX_Middle" TITLE="Computer Help For Beginners"><U>Spyware</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="compuhelp_m.htm#freeware" TARGET="TRLX_Middle" TITLE="Computer Help For Beginners"><U>The BEST Freeware</U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Burton's Nightmare 2000" ><B>Michael W. Thompson, Ph.D.</B></FONT>     <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#CCCC66" FACE="Arial" >|   <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Michael W. Thompson, Ph.D."><U><B>home</B></U></A></FONT></div> <div> <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Nature Photography"><U>Nature Photography</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Antique Furniture"><U>Antique Furniture</U></A>   |   <A HREF="placles.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Places Ive Lived"><U>Places I've Lived</U></A>   |   <A HREF="cats.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="My Cats!"><U>My Cats!</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id15.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Stoopid Signs"><U>Stoopid Signs</U></A>   |   <B>Computer Help For Beginners</B></div> <div> <IMG SRC="03cf4010.gif" border=0 width="500" height="1" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Computer Help For Beginners</div> <div> I often find myself asked to help co-workers, friends and family with their computer problems.  By popular demand (okay, just one person), here is a list of the most common problems I've encountered, and a few freeware programs available from the Internet that may help.</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="viruses"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A>VIRUSES</div> <div> These little nasties are the most common cause of unexplained computer crashes and erratic behavior.  Personally, I think the people that write these things should be strung up in the town square upside down so that I can spit in their faces, but that's just wishful thinking.  There are several types of viruses out there now:</div> <div> <I><U><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c002d00f0ccffff00.gif" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Worms</U></I>  -- These are usually spread by e-mail attachments, which must usually be opened to execute.  There are a few out there, however, that may spread simply from opening an e-mail containing HTML content, and these may be stopped by instructing Outlook or other e-mail client not to execute embedded javascript in e-mail messages.  Most worms read your stored e-mail addresses and will attempt to e-mail themselves to those people.  The best defenses against worms, however, are to use a good resident virus shield and NOT to use Microsoft Outlook, as it is the major target application of most e-mail worm writers.  And, for God's sake, DO NOT open e-mail attachments from people you don't know, and you should even be suspicious of attachments from people that you DO know!</div> <div> <I><U><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c002d00f0ccffff00.gif" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Trojan Horses</U></I> -- Trojan horses, like their namesake, are programs (often embedded within other applications) that carry concealed malicious code that opens a "backdoor" on your computer that can be exploited by hackers and other miscreants to take control of your computer, read/erase your files, your e-mail, or to hijack your computer to download porn or spew spam.  The most famous of these is the infamous and aptly-named Back Orifice.</div> <div> <I><U><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c002d00f0ccffff00.gif" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Viruses</U></I> -- Most run-of-the mill viruses are executable code that is attached to a file, or is disguised as another file type.  There are many flavors of the run-of-the mill virus, infecting executables only, infecting Microsoft Word macro files, or infecting disk boot sectors.  While some viruses are fairly innocuous and simply copy themselves everywhere, some are quite destructive and can severely damage a hard drive, or re-write your system BIOS.</div> <bR> <div> The best freeware virus scanner I've found out there is AVG for Windows, which also has a paid version that includes telephone technical support.  Another freeware scanner worth mention is F-Prot.  I've found both of these programs to be superior to the more common McAfee's and Norton Virus Scan, as well as being much less expensive.</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="spyware"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A>SPYWARE/ADWARE/MALWARE</div> <div> This is the second most common problem I've encountered.  Spyware is simply an application that exists only to collect personal information (usually concerning web surfing practices) and beam it home to an ad company that either uses it to serve up pop-up ads, or sells it to the highest bidder.  Most of these programs come along for the ride with freeware/shareware programs from the web, and may or may not let you know of their presence and whether or not they were installed.  Frankly, most of these programs are poorly written, consume memory and processor time on your computer, and are a serious privacy risk.  If you have installed Kazaa, Morpheus, Grokster, or any other file-sharing program, YOU HAVE SPYWARE ON YOUR COMPUTER.</div> <bR> <div> So, how to get rid of it?</div> <div> <A HREF="http://security.kolla.de" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://security.kolla.de"><U>Spyware Search & Destroy</U></A> -- simply put, the best spyware/adware/malware killer out there</div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.adaware.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.adaware.com"><U>Ad-Aware</U></A> -- THE original, and still a competitive alternative.</div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="freeware"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A>THE BEST FREEWARE</div> <div> One common misconception held by most new computer users (and by many more experienced ones as well) is that there are no good alternatives to the most common software applications, such as Microsoft Office, McAfee Virus Scan, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Microsoft Outlook, and even Microsoft Windows.  Truth is, however, that there are plenty of alternatives, and there are some out there that are open source and TOTALLY FREE, in some cases!  Here are some links to freeware applications, grouped by type.</div> <div> <I><U><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c002d00f0ccffff00.gif" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Productivity</U></I>:  The best freeware alternative to Microsoft Office that I've seen is <A HREF="http://www.openoffice.org" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.openoffice.org"><U>OpenOffice.org</U></A>, which is an open source office suite with a word processor similar to MS Word, a spreadsheet application similar to Excel, and a presentation program similar to PowerPoint.  And the files it creates are compatible with Microsoft Office files!  Another similar productivity suite is <A HREF="http://www.e-press.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.e-press.com/"><U>E-Press's EasyOffice</U></A>, which is even capable of reading and writing .pdf files compatible with Adobe Acrobat.  Both of these program suites are every bit as full-featured as Microsoft Office...and much easier on the pocketbook.</div> <div> <I><U><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c002d00f0ccffff00.gif" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Virus Scanners</U></I>:  Without a doubt, the best freeware virus protection program out there I've found is <A HREF="http://www.grisoft.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.grisoft.com"><U>AVG</U></A>.  There is a free version (you will have to register), but it is totally free, and is updated about every 2 weeks, on average.</div> <div> <I><U><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c002d00f0ccffff00.gif" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">E-mail clients</U></I>:  I know Microsoft Outlook is required for some applications, such as the University of Phoenix's online and flexnet courses, but there are some freeware e-mail suites out there that are every bit as good, nowhere near as bloated, and are much less of a security risk for viruses.  One such program is <A HREF="http://www.pmail.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.pmail.com/"><U>PegasusMail</U></A>.  Another popular e-mail client is <A HREF="http://download.com.com/3000-2367-9692109.html?tag=lst-0-9" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://download.com.com/3000-2367-969210"><U>Foxmail</U></A> (link goes to download.com, please let me know if this link becomes stale).</div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>