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Have you recently purchased a
computer or thinking about purchasing one and intend accessing
the internet? Are you aware of the risks associated with surfing
the net? Have you owned a computer for awhile and now find that
it’s not running as fast as it used to or programs take forever
to open?
If your answer is ‘yes’ to any
of these questions, then read on and find out what the risk
or problems could be and how to resolve then.
What are the risks of going
online?
Whenever your computer is connected to the Internet it becomes
an open door for many security threats. Such threats come in
all shapes and sizes and from a variety of sources including
downloads, emails and their attachments, chat rooms and the
internet generally. Threats can be in the form of:
•
Viruses,
Worms or Trojans
that could
cause your system to crash or destroy data.
•
Spyware
that records your computer activity or personal information.
•
Adware
that turns your computer into a bill board by constantly loading
advertisements.
•
Pop-ups, spam or sites
that display pornography or other inappropriate material.
How do I safeguard my computer
against such threats?
The majority of risk associated with surfing the net can be
minimized or eliminated by installing appropriate software and
should include:
• Antivirus software
• A firewall
• Anti-Spyware
• Parental control software.
Your fist step is to check your
computer to determine what security software is already installed.
If you have security software
installed, carry out an update to ensure they have the latest
security patches. Check the program options to see if there
is an automatic update feature and if so it needs to be enabled.
If this feature is not available then you will need to manually
check for updates on a regular basis. It is important that you
also check for the latest security patches for your Operating
System, i.e. Windows 98, XP, Vista, etc.
Antivirus and Firewall Software:
If antivirus and firewall software is installed on your computer,
do not attempt to install other such software as this will cause
incompatibility issues and may result in neither of them working
properly. You only need one antivirus and one firewall installed.
Windows XP and Vista have a built in firewall that can be enabled.
If you wish to install another product then uninstall the existing
one first before installing the new software.
Anti-Spyware:
There is a large amount of software on the market that will
deal with spyware, however you should choose a program that
as well as doing a full system scan will also scan the registry,
has a simple interface and is easy to use. Also you want a spyware
remover that comes with real time spyware protection; typically
this comes in the form of an ActiveX control. This will run
quietly in the background and alert you of any suspicious activity
or remove spyware automatically as it is detected.
Parental Control Software:
Protecting your children while they are online should be a priority
for all parents. As well as general internet surfing, children
today are actively involved in blogging, chat rooms, emailing,
instant messaging and social networking, all of these being
hunting grounds of online predators. Choose parental control
software that will allow you to set keyword parameters for sites
you do not want your children to view (i.e. of a sexual nature).
You also want software that will record screenshots of emails
and sites visited, which are then available for later viewing
by parents.
The task of choosing the right
software can be daunting and it can be tempting to choose a
program that is free. There are some good freeware programs
out there but be aware some come with advertising, while others
may not provide all the features as their paid versions.
How do I speed up my computer?
I one word ‘housekeeping’
....you just can’t get away from it!
 During the day to day use of
your computer, installing and uninstalling programs, deleting
files, opening and saving work, downloading from the internet;
these all result in clutter being left on your system in the
form of temporary work files, temporary internet files, cookies,
internet history, cache files and other computer junk. The build-up
of this clutter over time will affect your computers performance
and speed.
To eliminate this clutter and
optimize your computer install:
• A
Registry Cleaner
- to safely analyze, clean and repair corrupt files, paths and
registry keys in the Windows registry.
•
Internet Eraser software
- to remove all traces of your internet activity and other system clutter.
To complete your housekeeping
you should also carry out the following tasks on a regular basis:
• Empty the ‘Recycle
Bin’.
• Run the ‘Disk
Cleanup’ application
which is a program included in Microsoft Windows and reduces
the number of unnecessary files on your hard drive.
• Run the ‘Disk
Defragmenter’
which is a program included in Microsoft Windows and is designed
to increase access speed by rearranging data stored on your
hard drive back into sequential order.
• Startup
Manager. When Windows
starts up, it automatically launches a number of programs for
you, some of these unwanted programs will delay the start of
Windows and also continue to slow down your computer since they
use system resources. By going into the startup manager you
can disable those programs you do not want to automatically
launched at startup. Windows Vista has a startup manager built
into it’s Control Panel under Performance Information and Tools.
If you do not have a startup manager on your computer, you may
have to install one, but first check your registry cleaner or
Internet Eraser software as these may have a startup manager
as part of their options.
If you carry out the recommendations
made you should experience problem free computing and your surfing
experience will be a lot safer.
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