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 Ed Sterling "PC Doctor" |
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PC Doctor House Calls
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Ed Sterling "PC Doctor" |
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The Four "Walls of Defense" you must have to really protect your computer !Could you (and your business) survive a total loss of your computer data ?What you need to know about CD "burners" (CD RW) Is your virus protection really doing anything useful ?Don't be the victim of a hoax "virus"Don't trust email attachments, even from your friendsPrices of wireless routers at an all time lowThe "Four Walls of Defense" You Must Have !It wasn't long ago that having an anti-virus program like McAfee or Norton Anti-virus was enough to protect your computer. But things have gotten nasty. The world itself is on edge, and security is tightening up everywhere. Here are four "walls of defense" that I urge you to "build" to protect your computer.
Let me explain each item in more detail. You should be running a relatively current anti-virus program, and your anti-virus subscription should be current. Your version of the anti-virus program should be no older than 2005; if it is, spend a few bucks and purchase the current 2007 version of the anti-virus program from whatever vendor you use. I prefer Grisoft.com's AVG products but if someone else's program works OK for you, stick with it. Also, the constant updates of virus information that downloads from McAfee and Symantec only works for one year in most cases. The reason is that each company pays a lot of money to the army of bright young people that work for them figuring out how these viruses work, and finding solutions to eliminated them. Your annual subscription pays for all those people to work night and day to break these killer viruses. You should have a firewall to protect your computer from hackers' probing. The idea of a firewall is to protect your computer from attacks and probes by hackers. It's an "intruder detection system" that can either be a program (such as McAfee Security or Norton Internet Security or Norton Personal Firewall) that you allow to run in your computer, or, it may be an external unit such as a wireless router/firewall that also guards against hackers trying to break into your unit. An external unit such as a router is a much better choice than a software firewall. Besides, Windows XP and Windows Vista both contain their own software firewall anyway. You should run some type of "spyware" eliminating program. Nasty web sites all over the world try to break into your computer, in addition to displaying pornography, endless ads, and pop-up screens. Some websites are able to take over your browser's home page. Some sites offer a friendly "service" like a suite of games, online slot machines, a "weather bug," a date manager, a precision time clock, an eCommerce "wallet" manager, etc. Behind that friendly service is usually an advertising program that keeps displaying unwanted pop-up ads, and often takes over your web browser forcing you to see what THEY want you to see! This "spyware" can be eliminated by using any number of excellent programs: Ad-aware, Spy-Bot, Webroot's Spysweeper, Microsoft Defender. Ad-aware and Spybot are "shareware" and can be downloaded for free to try them out. Spysweeper is not free, it is usually purchased at a computer store like Best Buy or Staples. These eliminate most if not all of this insidious "spyware" from your computer. You will wonder how you lived without them once you try them. You should backup important data at least weekly, if not daily. Think about what you would lose it your computer was stolen, or when up in flames, or fell on the floor damaged beyond repair. What if a virus slips in undetected and erases important data. You should have some backup system in place regularly moving important data to another disk or tape or CDROM. Could you survive a total loss of your computer data?An attorney called me just before Christmas 2001: his computer had a virus and he could not boot the PC. He asked for immediate help. It was a Sunday afternoon, and I went right over. Within in a few minutes, the diagnosis looked grim: none of my tools could view his hard drive as the "C:" disk where all his files were...all his case files, Windows, My Documents, personal taxes...gone. The disk was still in the PC of course, but it had "disappeared" for all practical purposes. His last backup was in February...far too long ago. I took the PC back to my office, and MANY hours later, luckily, I was able to retrieve his important files. Whew! I was able to restore the hard drive and find his files, but the virus had literally wiped out 90% of his Windows directory. A total rebuild was required. And then, hours of reinstalling Microsoft Word and Excel, legal database search programs, tax programs, etc. In the end, he decided to purchase a new PC. But that required more costly hours to copy his files over to the new machine, reinstall legal databases, etc. It was nearly a total wipeout, certainly the worst damage I have seen in years (the virus was a real oddball called QZAP, I still don't know where it came from, or why HE ended up receiving it in an email message). Imagine that his incident happened to YOU...have you backup up your data? Do you have the expertise to reinstall Windows "from scratch," reinstall all the device drivers, update Windows to put on all the latest anti-hack security updates? Reinstall how many programs that you and your family rely on? I strongly recommend to customers that they consider a total backup solution, such as copying their entire hard drive (the "C:" disk) to a backup system that can be reloaded back into the computer in the event of a total loss. You don't want to pay for hours and hours of consulting time, for someone to reload the Windows system and all of your programs. Consider purchasing a CD writer (often called a "CD burner") which can make a complete copy of your disk. Or, a removable hard drive (disk) which attaches to your USB port. Or even a second hard drive installed inside your computer, large enough to hold a complete copy of your main "C:" drive containing all your programs and data. A new hard drive is only $100 ! And the majority of all PCs have room enough for a second hard drive. Please contact me if you are interested in a complete backup solution. Don't wait to lose your entire PC and data to some lousy virus, and then end up paying 2 to 4 times the price of a backup system to have someone rebuild your old computer, or force you into buying a new one. What You Need To Know About CD and DVD BurnersA CD or DVD "burner" is just jargon for a CD or DVD Read/Write unit (termed CD RW or DVD RW). Making your own CDROM or DVD disc is known as "burning" esp. among the younger and hip crowd. It was but a few short years ago that making your own CD was far too expensive to even consider. Now you have to be crazy if you don't own a CD burner, and perhaps a DVD burner. They have become essential!
Can you still read your CDROM discs in a "burner?" Yes of course! A "burner" can both read and write regular CDROM discs. You can completely replace an older CDROM "reader" with a new "burner" .... you don't have to keep both the old and the new units. Some people like to keep both, since it makes copying a CDROM disc very easy (you put the original in the CD "reader" and you make the copy in your "burner"). Common sense tells you that a DVD cannot be read in a CDROM reader or burner. But a DVD "burner" can read and write both CDROMs and DVDs.
At the store or shopping online, you may see some odd code numbers on the CD "burner" box, e. g. 48X/16X/40X. The "X" is simply a speed rating similar to miles per hour (MPH) in automobiles; in fact, the first CD "burner" units wrote data at 1X, or, 150 kilobytes per second). 48X means this unit writes data at a speed 48 times faster than those first units. Back to examing 48X/16X/40X, the first number 48X is the "virgin" writing speed, the second number 16X is the rewriting speed, and the third number 40X is the reading speed. The speed ratings seem to increase ever few months, so don't settle for something slower like 24X unless it's a real deal of a bargain! The current popular CD speed ratings are 40X to 48X.
CD and DVD "burners" need extra software in order to make your own CDROMs. This software is always included in the box when you purchase the unit. However, there are a number of different programs and not one popular standard. Most common is probably Roxio Software's Easy CD Creator. Next most popular is Ahead Software's Nero. Sony uses an odd piece of software called B's Gold that I find rather childish, but it works anyway. Some other programs I have seen are Backup Now! and Xpress. So please remember that Microsoft Windows does not contain this CD-making software; you must install one of these programs after you physically install the CD "burner" in your computer. Don't can't trust email attachments from anyoneIt's sad to say, but these days, you simply cannot trust that all email attachements received from friends and acquaintances is safe to open and try out. The reason is that viruses that get into your friends computers AUTOMATICALLY broadcast themselves to all the people in your friend's email address book, and that probably includes you! Your friend HAS NO IDEA this has happened! You receive the email "infection" and figure that your friend would NEVER send anything bad to you! Well guess again....your friend didn't know s/he did this to you! What do you do to protect yourself? Certainly, RUN AN ANTIVIRUS program like McAfee or Norton Antivirus. And you must KEEP THE VIRUS LIST CURRENT! It does NO GOOD to run antivirus programs with a virus list that's 4 years old!!! I could retire now, if I had a dollar for every such computer that I encounter! Spend the $30 to $50 (depending on rebates) to purchase a new copy of antivirus software. Second, DON'T OPEN UNEXPECTED ATTACHMENTS!!! Beware of enticements like "try this, it's really cool!" No way! Call your friend on the phone (imagine!) and ask if they really intended to send it. Just read the email, and save it, or delete it, but DO NOT open the attachment if you were not expecting it. Is Your Virus Protection Really Doing Anything Useful?I run into many customers running outdated versions of anti-viruses programs, mainly from McAfee and Symantec/Norton. They think that because they have an antivirus program installed, it must be protecting them. I tell them an outdated antivirus program is probably worse than no antivirus program at all. The reason I say that is because an outdated antivirus program, especially one that is now over 3 years ago, is not protecting you against any of the viruses in circulation on the Internet. Arguably it is just slowing down everything in your PC as it scans files and email for viruses that are now long gone. You might as well remove the old antivirus program and get back a few performance percentage points that the old antivirus program was stealing doing its futile job. Let me make an analogy. You've probably seen FBI "Wanted" posters in the lobby of your post office? What if no one kept those current? What good would it do for anyone to bother looking at "the bad guys" in those outdated posters...odds are most have been captured. So, an outdated antivirus program with old antivirus recognition files is just like those outdated "Wanted" posters....it's not doing any good because it needs the "fingerprints" of the current bad viruses out there right now! If your antivirus program doesn't know the "fingerprint" to recognize these current and active viruses, then it cannot detect them and stop them. Protect yourself by using a current version of Symantec/Norton Antivirus, or my favorite called AVG. I recommend it strongly over McAfee Antivirus 6.0 or 7.0 software. PLEASE remember that your virus software is useless UNLESS you update the virus files frequently (weekly, if not daily). The latest versions of Norton and McAfee antivirus provide automatic daily updates; please use these features. Please call me if I can assist you with removing PC viruses. Don't be the victim of a virus hoaxThere is a new type of "virus" that disrupts your computer as badly as a real computer virus: it is the hoax. The hoax is an email that might come from a friend (often it is from a friend of a friend of a friend), claiming that a certain file in Windows is actually a virus time-bomb. It warns you that you must delete this file soon because the "virus" will wake up and erase all your data in one or two weeks. In reality, this is only a cruel hoax. The file you are told to erase is usually an important part of the Windows system that runs your computer. If you believe the hoax and erase the file, certain parts of Windows may not run correctly until the file is recovered. You can protect yourself by ignoring these impassioned messages, even if they come from a friend. Let a professional anti-virus program such as McAfee or Norton Anti-virus protect your computer instead. The 2 most popular hoaxes these days warn you about "SULFNBK" and "JDBGMGR" which are both valid and important parts of your Windows system. Do NOT erase them! Prices of wireless firewall routers at an all time low
Wireless firewall routers have never been cheaper. Many are now at the $60 level, down from $100 only 2 years ago. With rebates, prices are as low as $30. A (wireless) router provides four essential features: 1. it provides a "hub" to connect 3 to 4 computers to the
home network and Internet There are two main types of wireless routers: "G" models and "N" models. "G" models, the most common, use 802.11g protocol, which sends and receives at 54 megabits/second. More recently the new 802.11n protocol have become quite popular sending and receiving at 54 to 110 megabits per second at much greater range. "N" models are only slightly more expensive, and they can support both the "N" and "G" protocols simultaneously. For most home environments, a "G" model at a good sale price is perfect. An "N" model might be able to get through more walls and floors if distance is an issue. The Netgear WGR614, a "G" model, is one of my favorites, along with the Linksys WRT54G. Wireless is a great way to network a teenager's computers (usually on a different floor) that would otherwise require an expensive in-wall wiring job by an electrician. Questions? Contact me by email: ed@edsterling.com
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