Computer Repair, Tech Support, Remote Support

Computers are the most useful and well-known technical gadgets used worldwide. Some uses it for their livelihood, some uses it for playing games on it and some uses it for browsing the Internet world. Among those who use the computer, most of us do not know the proper security steps that can be taken to prevent unauthorized access to their machines. Many of us do not hesitate surfing the Internet wirelessly on any hotspots without knowing the security part, which if turned out to be a Poisoned Hotspot can be very dangerous. Most of the hackers try to sniff data stored in the computer without the owner´s permission. Taking some necessary steps can prevent these.

Types of computer attacks

There can be two types of attacks which a computer might face:-
• Active Attack
• Passive Attack

Active attack is something where eavesdropping is on so that the data sniffer can sniff the data which is being transmitted over the network. These attacks are difficult to detect but can be prevented.

Passive attack is done by those who have an intention to destroy other´s network security without having any aim of sniffing their data, but they are harmful as well. These attacks are easy to trace out but can be difficult to protect from those.

Remedies of computer security

The collection of various hardware and software specially designed to protect from data theft and other malicious stuffs are termed as computer security. There can be various solutions to protect the computers from unauthorized access from hackers and crackers. Hackers are those programmers who break the computer security with an intension to steal, destroy or change some data that is also treated as cyber-crime. Whereas, a cracker is a programmer who gains unauthorized access to a computer without having any specific intension as the hackers has. Some proper security tools might include firewall, anti-virus, anti-spyware, proper use of the Operating System and its browser etc. Let us discuss them one by one.

Firewall:- This can also be describes as a protected wall or shell all around the computer to detect and filter out the threats which try to access the computer in an unmeaning full manner. A firewall is the combination of hardware and software that is installed in the machine that helps in controlling the flow of data between computer networks. It helps the computer to protect from the hackers who can sniff data without the owner´s permission.
Those who have Windows XP or Windows Vista as their operating system, for them getting a firewall is not a worry, they just need to make them active to protect themselves from the hackers and other unwanted stuffs. But those who doesn´t have any of those two as their operating system, they need to have any other firewall software which is easily available in the market.

Anti-virus:- One of the most important tools for computer security is the anti-virus software. Though a firewall is always protecting from unwanted access to the computer network, but still some malwares make their way onto the computer by means of some attached file in the email or files from the Internet that the firewall cannot detect. For those malwares the antivirus software can be effective.

Antivirus software´s are easily available in the market that doesn´t cost much. Sometimes it is also bundles with a firewall as well which also includes in the security tool.

Some other security concerns are operating system; the web browsers and many more which should be updated regularly. One should also not click on the links which are there in unwanted emails, as they are might contain viruses and other malwares. Some people also face trouble when they download any free software that in some cases are bundled with viruses and spywares.

Below are some simple and easy steps that will make your Computer secure.

1. Always make backups of your most important information and store in a safe place separate from your computer.

2. Install a firewall. Zone Alarm is best. Without a good firewall, viruses, worms, Trojans, malware and adware can all easily access your computer from the Internet.

3. Update your operating system, web browser and software. I recommend FireFox, it’s a safe Browser. Internet Explorer is the favorite browser of the hackers.

4. Review your browser and email settings for optimum security. Why should you do this? Active-X and JavaScript are often used by hackers to plant malicious programs into your computers. While cookies are relatively harmless in terms of security concerns, they do still track your movements on the Internet to build a profile of you. At a minimum set your security setting for the “internet zone” to High, and your “trusted sites zone” to Medium Low.

5. Install anti-virus software and set for automatic updates so that you receive the most current versions.

6. Do not open unknown email and email attachments. Remember “I Love You” virus?.Delete it at once.

7. Do not download any programs from unknown websites. If you’re looking for drivers, download it from manufacturer’s website. Don’t download any program from websites with adult banners, most of them have spyware and malware that will stole your information.

8. Disable hidden filename extensions. By default, the Windows operating system is set to “hide file extensions for known file types”. Disable this option so that file extensions display in Windows.

9. Disconnect your computer from the network or Internet when not using it. A hacker cannot attack your computer when you are disconnected from the Internet

10. Make a boot disk on a floppy disk in case your computer is compromised by a malicious program you can bring your Computer back to life.

Advice from Admin

If your computer problems are not resolved by these simple tips, then it’s time to call in the experts. Unless you are a real computer wiz, fiddling and rummaging through your computer’s hard drive and software can cause further problems, making fixing your computer problems even harder. It’s time to call in the experts…

Computers today are highly complex machines squeezed into very small spaces. Add to this the constant barrage of computer viruses, malware and spyware plus the enormous range of add ons such as cameras, modems and wireless network cards and it is no wonder that there is the occasional glitch.

• When your computer misbehaves, a simple restart may be all that is necessary to set things right. By shutting down and restarting the computer, you are effectively starting afresh. During the reboot, files, services and programs are properly closed. Fresh new copies of the files needed to run your operating system and support your hardware are then loaded from the computer’s hard drive during start-up. Naturally, rebooting will not solve all the computer problems that you are likely to encounter. However, in many instances, it is a very useful first step and may ultimately save you a lot of frustration and lost productivity.
• Over time, computers accumulate a series of instructions from the various programs that are added or downloaded. Although the programmers are pretty clever today, conflicts can develop between different operating instructions requested by the software. Without getting too technical, these conflicts can either slow your system down or, in the worst cases actually cause your PC to freeze up. You should research and buy a reliable PC optimization program that regularly checks for such conflicts and “spring cleans” your system.
• Unless you have a sophisticated hard drive filing system, files can often become “orphaned” or randomly spread out across your hard drive, jumbled up like a deck of cards dropped on the floor. Defragmenting your computer attempts to do some housekeeping, putting all related files closer to each other so that your PC takes less time and does not have to work as hard to find the files.

Advice From Admin

If your computer problems are not resolved by these simple tips, then it’s time to call in the experts. Unless you are a real computer wiz, fiddling and rummaging through your computer’s hard drive and software can cause further problems, making fixing your computer problems even harder. It’s time to call in the experts…

If your computer has been slowing down than take the time to read this. I have some great tips to make your computer run faster. And the best part is that all of these are so easy that just about anybody can do it themselves.

First of all, apply any windows updates that it may need. You can go to Internet explorer, go to tools than click on windows update.

Second step, Run your virus program and clean out any found problems. Since these can be one of the major problems to a slow computer.

Third step, Remove any unused software on your computer that you no longer need. For example file sharing programs, email enhancers, online shopping companions, browser toolbars and internet download managers.

Fourth step, Clean out the hard drive. There is a lot of files just sitting everywhere on your computer making in less efficient. Start by going to C drive, right click it, click on properties, and the disk cleanup. Choose what you don’t need and it will clean it out for you. Next in cleaning out hard drive is to defrag it, right click C drive, go to properties and than go to tools and click on check now option. It will first scan and than click defragment now button. All this will do it organize your hard drive to run faster and smoother.

Fifth step, limit what programs start once your computer boots. Click start than run, type msconfig and enter, select startup tab. Now to pick what programs to not startup, so uncheck the ones you don’t need at startup, I like to uncheck programs like AOL, realplayer and msn messenger.

And the final step is to clean out your registry. The registry is database of all known programs and hardware that your computer has. Many malware and adware can hide in there and it takes a good registry cleaning program like Regcure to clean it out. After you clean your registry your computer will be running like new again. Hopefully you learn something from this and that your computer is in top running condition.

Advice from Admin

If your computer problems are not resolved by these simple tips, then it’s time to call in the experts. Unless you are a real computer wiz, fiddling and rummaging through your computer’s hard drive and software can cause further problems, making fixing your computer problems even harder. It’s time to call in the experts…