Have a shoe box for your PC
Friday, August 18th, 2006To keep your PC running smoothly it is vital to have a shoe box for it. Here’s a tip that could save you life in an IT crisis. (more…)
Archive for the 'Security' Category
Encrypting data the easy way
Wednesday, August 9th, 2006Never again worry about the wrong people getting their hands on your sensitive data. In this post I’ll tell you about a great tool for encrypting data & files - and it’s free! (more…)
Virus and trojan woes - stacking the cards in your favour
Monday, July 17th, 2006
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I had a call this afternoon from a lady in distress.
She told me how her PC had been behaving strangely the last couple of days with unfixable “virus found” messages and general slowness. She told me how her son’s PC, on the same network, had also exhibited some “anomolies” recently. She told me of her worry that important files might go missing and how much time she had lost.
Sadly, this is a familiar situation.
Let me give you a couple of things you can do in advance, to lessen the chances of this happening to you. (more…)
1ef9The GRC Test
Thursday, May 4th, 2006
To find out just how well protected you are, try the GRC test. This is normally done by total geeks but anyone can do it. Follow these instructions: -
- Go to http://grc.com
- Click on the big fancy “Shields Up!!” logo;
- Scroll down and click on the “ShieldsUP!” subheading under “Hot Spots”;
- Click on the “Proceed” button;
- Scroll down to the two horizontal silver bars of buttons, and click on the “All Service Ports” button on the top one;
- Be patient while you are probed! A grid of 1055 little squares will appear line by line. If they are all green CONGRATULATIONS! Scroll down a bit and read your report. If it says PASSED that’s fantastic.
A firewall - Zone Alarm
Wednesday, May 3rd, 2006This is a free (for home use) software firewall. This means that it protects your PC from probes and nasties lurking on the Internet and stops horrible things that shouldn’t be on your PC from emailing all your friends without you knowing.
Download it from http://www.zonelabs.com
Be nice to your PC
Wednesday, April 19th, 2006You know, if folks were as nice to their PC as they are to their pets we would all live in a happier world…
Perhaps once a month, give your PC a colonic irrigation - OK, not literally (although I’m sure some of you are tempted).
First off, clean out any unwanted malware that may have accumulated. Download and run Ad-Aware Personal, and Spybot. Make sure they are updated before you run them.
Then run Disk Cleanup (Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Cleanup).
Finally kick off the disk Defragmenter (Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter).
Now go and have a cup of tea leaving your PC in private for an hour or so…
