HIgh volume Technics

10 tips for securing your computer

noreply@blogger.com (rahul) — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 09:39:00 +0000

Update / patch ALL your software every now and then!
Check / adjust ALL your settings so they are safe, since they aren't by default!
Use firewall, like ZoneAlarm!
Use good passwords: at least 13marks long, containing both letters and numbers. Remember to chance your password every few months atleast!
Get a good antivirus program: F-Secure or Norton Antivirus and keep it updated!
Don't open or execute files that you are not 100% sure are absolutely safe nomatter where or how you get them.
Wipe your historyfiles (like cookies, internet history and temporary files, etc.), logs and personal files, with specific wiping program (like Eraser) instead of just deleting them.
Use encryption to enhance your privacy! Use encrypted email (like Hushmail or Ziplip) and encrypt sensitive files on your computer (PGP).
Don't use public computers for anything you need to type in your logins, they usually have Trojan horses that capture your passwords.
Don't assume anything. If you don't know, find out! If you cant or don't understand, ask someone who knows! There's nothing more dangerous than doing something you don't really know anything about. That's the best way to cripple your system or get a Trojan horse on your computer!

10 reasons why PCs crash U must Know

noreply@blogger.com (rahul) — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 09:36:00 +0000

Fatal error: the system has become unstable or is busy," it says. "Enter to return to Windows or press Control-Alt-Delete to restart your computer. If you do this you will lose any unsaved information in all open applications."

You have just been struck by the Blue Screen of Death. Anyone who uses Mcft Windows will be familiar with this. What can you do? More importantly, how can you prevent it happening?

1 Hardware conflict

The number one reason why Windows crashes is hardware conflict. Each hardware device communicates to other devices through an interrupt request channel (IRQ). These are supposed to be unique for each device.

For example, a printer usually connects internally on IRQ 7. The keyboard usually uses IRQ 1 and the floppy disk drive IRQ 6. Each device will try to hog a single IRQ for itself.

If there are a lot of devices, or if they are not installed properly, two of them may end up sharing the same IRQ number. When the user tries to use both devices at the same time, a crash can happen. The way to check if your computer has a hardware conflict is through the following route:

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Device Manager.

Often if a device has a problem a yellow '!' appears next to its description in the Device Manager. Highlight Computer (in the Device Manager) and press Properties to see the IRQ numbers used by your computer. If the IRQ number appears twice, two devices may be using it.

Sometimes a device might share an IRQ with something described as 'IRQ holder for PCI steering'. This can be ignored. The best way to fix this problem is to remove the problem device and reinstall it.

Sometimes you may have to find more recent drivers on the internet to make the device function properly. A good resource is www.driverguide.com. If the device is a soundcard, or a modem, it can often be fixed by moving it to a different slot on the motherboard (be careful about opening your computer, as you may void the warranty).

When working inside a computer you should switch it off, unplug the mains lead and touch an unpainted metal surface to discharge any static electricity.

To be fair to Mcft, the problem with IRQ numbers is not of its making. It is a legacy problem going back to the first PC designs using the IBM 8086 chip. Initially there were only eight IRQs. Today there are 16 IRQs in a PC. It is easy to run out of them. There are plans to increase the number of IRQs in future designs.

2 Bad Ram

Ram (random-access memory) problems might bring on the blue screen of death with a message saying Fatal Exception Error. A fatal error indicates a serious hardware problem. Sometimes it may mean a part is damaged and will need replacing.

But a fatal error caused by Ram might be caused by a mismatch of chips. For example, mixing 70-nanosecond (70ns) Ram with 60ns Ram will usually force the computer to run all the Ram at the slower speed. This will often crash the machine if the Ram is overworked.

One way around this problem is to enter the BIOS settings and increase the wait state of the Ram. This can make it more stable. Another way to troubleshoot a suspected Ram problem is to rearrange the Ram chips on the motherboard, or take some of them out. Then try to repeat the circumstances that caused the crash. When handling Ram try not to touch the gold connections, as they can be easily damaged.

Parity error messages also refer to Ram. Modern Ram chips are either parity (ECC) or non parity (non-ECC). It is best not to mix the two types, as this can be a cause of trouble.

EMM386 error messages refer to memory problems but may not be connected to bad Ram. This may be due to free memory problems often linked to old Dos-based programmes.

3 BIOS settings

Every motherboard is supplied with a range of chipset settings that are decided in the factory. A common way to access these settings is to press the F2 or delete button during the first few seconds of a boot-up.

Once inside the BIOS, great care should be taken. It is a good idea to write down on a piece of paper all the settings that appear on the screen. That way, if you change something and the computer becomes more unstable, you will know what settings to revert to.

A common BIOS error concerns the CAS latency. This refers to the Ram. Older EDO (extended data out) Ram has a CAS latency of 3. Newer SDRam has a CAS latency of 2. Setting the wrong figure can cause the Ram to lock up and freeze the computer's display.

Mcft Windows is better at allocating IRQ numbers than any BIOS. If possible set the IRQ numbers to Auto in the BIOS. This will allow Windows to allocate the IRQ numbers (make sure the BIOS setting for Plug and Play OS is switched to 'yes' to allow Windows to do this.).

4 Hard disk drives

After a few weeks, the information on a hard disk drive starts to become piecemeal or fragmented. It is a good idea to defragment the hard disk every week or so, to prevent the disk from causing a screen freeze. Go to

* Start-Programs-Accessories-System Tools-Disk Defragmenter

This will start the procedure. You will be unable to write data to the hard drive (to save it) while the disk is defragmenting, so it is a good idea to schedule the procedure for a period of inactivity using the Task Scheduler.

The Task Scheduler should be one of the small icons on the bottom right of the Windows opening page (the desktop).

Some lockups and screen freezes caused by hard disk problems can be solved by reducing the read-ahead optimisation. This can be adjusted by going to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System Icon-Performance-File System-Hard Disk.

Hard disks will slow down and crash if they are too full. Do some housekeeping on your hard drive every few months and free some space on it. Open the Windows folder on the C drive and find the Temporary Internet Files folder. Deleting the contents (not the folder) can free a lot of space.

Empty the Recycle Bin every week to free more space. Hard disk drives should be scanned every week for errors or bad sectors. Go to

* Start-Programs-Accessories-System Tools-ScanDisk

Otherwise assign the Task Scheduler to perform this operation at night when the computer is not in use.

5 Fatal OE exceptions and VXD errors

Fatal OE exception errors and VXD errors are often caused by video card problems.

These can often be resolved easily by reducing the resolution of the video display. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-Display-Settings

Here you should slide the screen area bar to the left. Take a look at the colour settings on the left of that window. For most desktops, high colour 16-bit depth is adequate.

If the screen freezes or you experience system lockups it might be due to the video card. Make sure it does not have a hardware conflict. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Device Manager

Here, select the + beside Display Adapter. A line of text describing your video card should appear. Select it (make it blue) and press properties. Then select Resources and select each line in the window. Look for a message that says No Conflicts.

If you have video card hardware conflict, you will see it here. Be careful at this point and make a note of everything you do in case you make things worse.

The way to resolve a hardware conflict is to uncheck the Use Automatic Settings box and hit the Change Settings button. You are searching for a setting that will display a No Conflicts message.

Another useful way to resolve video problems is to go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Performance-Graphics

Here you should move the Hardware Acceleration slider to the left. As ever, the most common cause of problems relating to graphics cards is old or faulty drivers (a driver is a small piece of software used by a computer to communicate with a device).

Look up your video card's manufacturer on the internet and search for the most recent drivers for it.

6 Viruses

Often the first sign of a virus infection is instability. Some viruses erase the boot sector of a hard drive, making it impossible to start. This is why it is a good idea to create a Windows start-up disk. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-Add/Remove Programs

Here, look for the Start Up Disk tab. Virus protection requires constant vigilance.

A virus scanner requires a list of virus signatures in order to be able to identify viruses. These signatures are stored in a DAT file. DAT files should be updated weekly from the website of your antivirus software manufacturer.

An excellent antivirus programme is McAfee VirusScan by Network Associates ( www.nai.com). Another is Norton AntiVirus 2000, made by Symantec ( www.symantec.com).

7 Printers

The action of sending a document to print creates a bigger file, often called a postscript file.

Printers have only a small amount of memory, called a buffer. This can be easily overloaded. Printing a document also uses a considerable amount of CPU power. This will also slow down the computer's performance.

If the printer is trying to print unusual characters, these might not be recognised, and can crash the computer. Sometimes printers will not recover from a crash because of confusion in the buffer. A good way to clear the buffer is to unplug the printer for ten seconds. Booting up from a powerless state, also called a cold boot, will restore the printer's default settings and you may be able to carry on.

8 Software

A common cause of computer crash is faulty or badly-installed software. Often the problem can be cured by uninstalling the software and then reinstalling it. Use Norton Uninstall or Uninstall Shield to remove an application from your system properly. This will also remove references to the programme in the System Registry and leaves the way clear for a completely fresh copy.

The System Registry can be corrupted by old references to obsolete software that you thought was uninstalled. Use Reg Cleaner by Jouni Vuorio to clean up the System Registry and remove obsolete entries. It works on Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 98 SE (Second Edition), Windows Millennium Edition (ME), NT4 and Windows 2000.

Read the instructions and use it carefully so you don't do permanent damage to the Registry. If the Registry is damaged you will have to reinstall your operating system. Reg Cleaner can be obtained from www.jv16.org

Often a Windows problem can be resolved by entering Safe Mode. This can be done during start-up. When you see the message "Starting Windows" press F4. This should take you into Safe Mode.

Safe Mode loads a minimum of drivers. It allows you to find and fix problems that prevent Windows from loading properly.

Sometimes installing Windows is difficult because of unsuitable BIOS settings. If you keep getting SUWIN error messages (Windows setup) during the Windows installation, then try entering the BIOS and disabling the CPU internal cache. Try to disable the Level 2 (L2) cache if that doesn't work.

Remember to restore all the BIOS settings back to their former settings following installation.

9 Overheating

Central processing units (CPUs) are usually equipped with fans to keep them cool. If the fan fails or if the CPU gets old it may start to overheat and generate a particular kind of error called a kernel error. This is a common problem in chips that have been overclocked to operate at higher speeds than they are supposed to.

One remedy is to get a bigger better fan and install it on top of the CPU. Specialist cooling fans/heatsinks are available from www.computernerd.com or www.coolit.com

CPU problems can often be fixed by disabling the CPU internal cache in the BIOS. This will make the machine run more slowly, but it should also be more stable.

10 Power supply problems

With all the new construction going on around the country the steady supply of electricity has become disrupted. A power surge or spike can crash a computer as easily as a power cut.

If this has become a nuisance for you then consider buying a uninterrupted power supply (UPS). This will give you a clean power supply when there is electricity, and it will give you a few minutes to perform a controlled shutdown in case of a power cut.

It is a good investment if your data are critical, because a power cut will cause any unsaved data to be lost.

Computer Basic Components

noreply@blogger.com (rahul) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 11:52:00 +0000

Computer Organization – the Von Neumann model

Most Computers are based on a model proposed by John Von Neumann in 1946
1. The ‘logical’ units of this model are:
– Stored program
– Central Processing Unit: fetches and executes the program instructions sequentially
– Memory
– Input and Output devices

Computer Hardware components

A typical PC System is made up of:
– System Unit
– Keyboard
– Monitor (VDU)
– Mouse
– Printer
– Modem
– Multimedia Devices

Hardware – The System Unit

1. The central component of the system
2. Houses:
– The Processor: corresponds to the CPU
– Memory: RAM and ROM
– Storage: Hard Disk, Removable Storage devices

The Processor (CPU)

Types include Intel Pentium series, Celerion, AMD Athlon
Chip at the heart of the computer- does the calculations
Speed is very important – measured in megahertz (MHz): the faster the processor the more calculations performed per second.

Memory

A computer must be able to store its calculations and programs
Two types of memory: “Volatile” and permanent.
Measured in bytes
One byte = eight bits

Random Access Memory (RAM)

Used by the Computer as the working area
Holds the working program, the data being processed and the interim results
Volatile - contents are erased if power is cut
Can be accessed randomly: can get any piece of data directly.
Faster than perminant storage
Not to be confused with ROM (Read-Only Memory)

Storage - Hard Disk

Permanent Memory - records and stores all programs and data / information magnetically
Larger than RAM - average 12 - 120GB
Slower - involves mechanical movement (read/write head, revolving disk)

Other types of Storage

Floppy Disks
CD/DVD ROM
Zip Drive
Magnetic Tape

Input Devices

Keyboard
Mouse: used in conjunction with the GUI (Graphical User Interface), point and click
Other types of Input Devices:
– Trackballs
– Light Pens
– Touch Screens
– Tablets

Output Devices

Monitor: also known as the Visual Display Unit (VDU)
Printers
– Laser Printer
– Inkjet Printer
– Impact

Software

Generic name of all programs
Made up of code interpreted by the hardware
Written in programming languages - Java, C, C++, Perl
Two kinds of Software:
– System
– Application

System Software

Concerned with the computer itself: devices, file and storage management, error correction
Main piece of SS: Operating System (OS)
OS: the driving program of the computer
– communicates between all programs and the hardware
– controls timing and sequence of events
– manages data to ensure security and integrity
– Examples: Windows, Mac OS, Unix

Applications Software

Concerned with the world outside the computer
Gives the computer its general purpose nature
Used for the things you want the computer to do
Common Examples - Word, Excel, Internet Explorer
Applications can be more specialised: e.g.Architecture package

How Software is made

Involves a cycle of research, analysis, development and testing
Systems Analysts - study the business processes and designs the software
Programmers - develops the software.

Problems with Software

Software is complex
Difficult to test comprehensivly
Can have bugs: these can be trivial or major
Symptoms of bugs
– hanging
– crashes

The Graphical User Interface (GUI)

Represents all the program / computer resources as icons
Workspace represented graphically - creates ‘virtual’ documents
More usable: led to wider use of computers
Adds to the unique nature of the computer as both a tool and a medium

Do’s and Don’t’s

DO

give the computer room to breathe
keep it in a dry place
dust free
shut down properly
keep removable storage away from the screen

DON’T

block air vents
eat or drink while using the computer
expose to extremes of temperature
just switch off
move while the computer is in operation

Basic Concepts Of Information Technology (IT)

noreply@blogger.com (rahul) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 07:31:00 +0000

The Basics – What is Information?

Information is data processed for some purpose
Information can only be considered to be 'real' Info if it meets certain criteria i.e.

1. it must be communicated to the recipient
2. it must be in a language that is understood
3. it must be in a suitable form
4. it must be relevant for achieving some purpose

Information -

is any form of communication that provides understandable and useful knowledge for the person receiving it.

What Is A Computer?

1 A computer is a general purpose, programmable device that is used
for the production and processing of information.
2 capable of calculating and storing results

What do we mean by general purpose?

1. Most devices can be described by their function e.g Washing Machine, DVD Player
2. Computers, however, can be used for almost any purpose:
- typewriter
- video editor
- accounts tracker
- database / address book
- DVD / CD Player
- and many others…

Computers Are Programmable

1. Computers repond to instructions in the form of programs
2. Programs are written in order to make computers behave in specific ways i.e. word processor, systems control
3. Programs are stored in the Computer memory

How computers process information

Computers accept inputs ( i.e. data)
The input is translated into binary numbers and‘processed’
The process produces output (i.e information)
This sequence can repeat endlessly: outputs can be inputs!
Illustrating this - the ‘Black Box’ model

Processing - the ‘Black Box’ model

We can think of a computer as a ‘black box’ :

input process output 3+5 8

Components of a Computer System

Computer Systems are made up of:
Hardware – the physical parts
Software - the instructions or programs that control the hardware
The Human Being – the brains behind the whole system!

Types Of Computer

Mainframe Computer
Minicomputer
Personal Computer (Microcomputer / Desktop)
Laptop
Network Computer / Server

– Uses two types of terminal: “Dumb” and “Intelligent”

Top 15 Ways to Extend Your Laptop’s Battery Life

noreply@blogger.com (rahul) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 06:02:00 +0000

Top 15 Ways to Extend Your Laptop’s Battery Life Laptops tend to lose their charm quickly when you’re constantly looking for the nearest power outlet to charge up. How do you keep your battery going for as long as possible? Here are 15 easy ways to do so.

1. Defrag regularly - The faster your hard drive does its work - less demand you are going to put on the hard drive and your battery. Make your hard drive as efficient as possible by defragging it regularly. (but not while it’s on battery of course!) Mac OSX is better built to handle fragmentation so it may not be very applicable for Apple systems.

2. Dim your screen - Most laptops come with the ability to dim your laptop screen. Some even come with ways to modify CPU and cooling performance. Cut them down to the lowest level you can tolerate to squeeze out some extra battery juice.

3. Cut down on programs running in the background. Itunes, Desktop Search, etc. All these add to the CPU load and cut down battery life. Shut down everything that isn’t crucial when you’re on battery.

4. Cut down external devices - USB devices (including your mouse) & WiFi drain down your laptop battery. Remove or shut them down when not in use. It goes without saying that charging other devices (like your iPod) with your laptop when on battery is a surefire way of quickly wiping out the charge on your laptop battery.

5. Add more RAM - This will allow you to process more with the memory your laptop has, rather than relying on virtual memory. Virtual memory results in hard drive use, and is much less power efficient. Note that adding more RAM will consume more energy, so this is most applicable if you do need to run memory intensive programs which actually require heavy usage of virtual memory.

6. Run off a hard drive rather than CD/DVD - As power consuming as hard drives are, CD and DVD drives are worse. Even having one in the drive can be power consuming. They spin, taking power, even when they?re not actively being used. Wherever possible, try to run on virtual drives using programs like Alcohol 120% rather than optical ones.

7. Keep the battery contacts clean: Clean your battery’s metal contacts every couple of months with a cloth moistened with rubbing alcohol. This keeps the transfer of power from your battery more efficient.

8. Take care of your battery - Exercise the Battery. Do not leave a charged battery dormant for long periods of time. Once charged, you should at least use the battery at least once every two to three weeks. Also, do not let a Li-On battery completely discharge. (Discharing is only for older batteries with memory effects)

9. Hibernate not standby - Although placing a laptop in standby mode saves some power and you can instantly resume where you left off, it doesn’t save anywhere as much power as the hibernate function does. Hibernating a PC will actually save your PC’s state as it is, and completely shut itself down.

10. Keep operating temperature down - Your laptop operates more efficiently when it’s cooler. Clean out your air vents with a cloth or keyboard cleaner, or refer to some extra tips by LapTopMag.com.

11. Set up and optimize your power options - Go to ‘Power Options’ in your windows control panel and set it up so that power usage is optimized (Select the ‘max battery’ for maximum effect).

12. Don’t multitask - Do one thing at a time when you’re on battery. Rather than working on a spreadsheet, letting your email client run in the background and listening to your latest set of MP3’s, set your mind to one thing only. If you don’t you’ll only drain out your batteries before anything gets completed!

13. Go easy on the PC demands - The more you demand from your PC. Passive activities like email and word processing consume much less power than gaming or playing a DVD. If you’ve got a single battery charge - pick your priorities wisely.

14. Get yourself a more efficient laptop - Laptops are getting more and more efficient in nature to the point where some manufacturers are talking about all day long batteries. Picking up a newer more efficient laptop to replace an aging one is usually a quick fix.

15. Prevent the Memory Effect - If you’re using a very old laptop, you’ll want to prevent the ‘memory effect’ - Keep the battery healthy by fully charging and then fully discharging it at least once every two to three weeks. Exceptions to the rule are Li-Ion batteries (which most laptops have) which do not suffer from the memory effect. Bonus Tip #1: Turn off the autosave function. MS-Word’s and Excel’s autosave functions are great but because they keep saving regular intervals, they work your hard driver harder than it may have to. If you plan to do this, you may want to turn it back on as the battery runs low. While it saves battery life in the beginning, you will want to make sure your work is saved when your battery dies.

Tip #2: Lower the graphics use. You can do this by changing the screen resolution and shutting off fancy graphic drivers. Graphics cards (video cards) use as much or more power today as hard disks

Tip #1: to give caution about turning off autosave, tip #8 to change information about discharging batteries - thanks to all who pointed it out.

Security at the Browser Level

noreply@blogger.com (rahul) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 09:39:00 +0000

We mentioned that you can set some parameters within Internet Explorer to
minimize the downloading of certain kinds of spyware, but that this will limit
functionality of your web surfing and may even make some of your favorite sites
unavailable.

There are also some general preferences and routines you should consider.

Disabling Bad Scripts – But Enabling Good Ones

There is a two-setting solution that will probably provide you with some
enhanced security while still enabling the kind of surfing and browsing you are
used to doing.

What you want to do is disable IE’s ability to run scripts without your
permission, first.

1. In Internet Explorer click the Tools menu > Internet Options > Security
2. Select A Web Content Zone and Custom Level.
3. Disable four items:
a. Download unsigned Active-X controls
b. Initialize and script Active-X controls not marked safe
c. Active scripting
d. Scripting Java applets

Then set your Java permissions option to “High Safety.” Now you have better
security – but half your favorite sites won’t work. There’s an easy if slightly time-
consuming solution to that.

Next do this:

4. In Internet Explorer click the Tools menu > Internet Options > Security >
Trusted Sites > Sites
5. Enter (by typing them in one at a time!) all of the site URLs of the sites yo
know and like that require scripting.
6. Disable “require server verification” for these sites
7. “OK” your way back to the browser window

As you encounter more sites you like that require scripting to function properly,
you’ll simply need to go back and use steps 4-6 again.

Just Say No!

In addition, you can make simple preferences adjustments within your browser
that will minimize the appearance of malicious software on your machine:

• Disable pop-ups (or enable pop-up blocking)
• Do not click in pop-ups if you don’t disable them entirely
• Do not download “free” “toolbars” or other “plug ins” for your browser,
since most of the time these software items will not do things you want
them to do
• Do not answer strange or unexpected questions in dialogue boxes,
whether they pop up in pop-ups or appear on normal web pages. Close
the page, browser or window, and if you can’t, JUST SAY NO! Literally.
Almost always the “yes” option is opting into something very bad.

Viruses

noreply@blogger.com (rahul) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 09:21:00 +0000

You’re probably familiar with viruses, as they have been around the longest and
most people are familiar with “virus software,” more accurately termed virus
detection and removal software.

A computer virus is normally an executable program that arrives on your
computer hidden within something else, like an email, or an email attachment.
The typical computer virus is designed, very simply, to cause you, your
computer, and other computers, problems.

You may wonder why anyone would bother to develop software specifically to
cause problems, and the motives are as complex as the motives for any bad
behavior. Some viruses have been developed by programmers to see what could
accomplish, in a mischievous way.

Some have been developed to hurt certain companies or industries by, for
example, aggrieved ex employees or nefarious competitors. Some have been
developed for political or other purposes – including, debatably, actual
terrorism, since “denial of service” and other virus-based online attacks can
make communications stop for a while.

We’re more concerned with what they do and how to stop them than why
people bother to invent and disseminate them in the first place.

What Viruses Do

What viruses do varies but it is always bad, if sometimes amusing.

Some will try to destroy your computer (on the software level, although some
will actually “physically” harm your hard drive disks). Some will simply
replicate themselves, for example, sending copies of themselves to everyone in your Microsoft Outlook contact lists, then to everyone in theirs, and so on (these
are called worms). Some will be programmed to create huge amounts of traffic
onto certain websites – such as a major corporate site, a major commerce site or
major news outlet site – to cause the site to become unusually slow or to stop
working altogether.

Some viruses are supposed to be humorous. They may make little sheep dance
across your screen, or make your keyboard make belching sounds when you
type.

Some viruses, often called “worms” will actually make your system misbehave
in specific ways – such as redirecting your attempts to visit a certain site to
another site. One famous worm recently redirected Google searches in a scheme
that sent surfers to a German-based site that exactly replicated Google, except
served all ads from the people sponsoring the worm!

Some viruses are not funny at all, and can destroy data that cannot be recovered
While spyware and other bad software will often need to be removed rather tha
prevented, viruses should be prevented, and the good news is, that’s pretty eas
to do.

The most important, and luckily easiest, step any computer owner or
administrator can do is to install, enable, update and continually run a quality
security program that checks for viruses.

There are dozens of software brands out there but there are two that even now
are head and shoulders above the rest, Norton, and McAfee.

How to Avoid Malware

noreply@blogger.com (rahul) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 06:55:00 +0000

Here are some tips to ensure malware is not given access to
your computer:
• Keep your computer up to date.
• Keep your browser up to date.
• Install good antimalware.
• Download free software only from sites you know and
trust.
• Avoid clicking links inside pop-up windows.
• If you are offered antimalware programs while browsing, don’t install them. Stick with the software I outline in this Article.

By following these rules, you’ll protect yourself and decrease the chances of getting malware on your system. The rest of this handbook will show you how to apply the first three tips listed above.

Keep Your Computer up to Date

To keep Windows up to date, Microsoft uses Windows Update. Windows Update should run automatically on your PC. However, you should check if your PC is up to date. To check
for Windows updates:

1. Click Start, Run, and type:
a. Windows XP: wupdmgr
b. Windows Vista/7: wuapp
2. Press Enter.
3. Click Install Update.

You may need to download the Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) tool, which checks to see if your copy of Windows is genuine.
Windows may need to reboot your machine several times as new updates are installed.
Your computer is now up to date.

Keep Your Browser up to Date

Browsers are a common source of computer vulnerabilities because they use so many plugins and programs that create loop holes that malware can exploit. To update your browser:

Internet Explorer
If you are using Internet Explorer (IE) as your browser, use Windows Update—explained above—to keep it up to date.

Mozilla Firefox
To check for updates for Mozilla Firefox:
1. Open Firefox.
2. Click Help > Check for Updates.