WebPro Report March 2009

Tips of the Month

Top 10 Dumb Things You Can Do to Mess Up Your Computer

1. Plug your computer in without surge protection – the slightest surge through your wall outlet can damage the sensitive circuits of your computer. And it does not take a thunder storm to generate a damaging surge. Use a surge protector and not just a power strip from the hardware store. There is a difference.

2. Surf the web without a firewall – if you are surfing the web without a firewall you are leaving the doors unlocked for anyone to come in and take your stuff. Windows has a built in firewall progam and others are available. There is no excuse not to use one.

3. Don’t bother to update or run your anti-virus and anti-spyware programs - the bad guys are always working on new ways to infect and corrupt your computer. You have to update your anti-virus programs and spyware programs. And you have to run them on a regular basis. Most will update and run automatically. Make sure yours does.

4. Install lots of programs – look for the "free" programs, the beta versions, or just try out lots of programs. The pirated versions (warez) are especially bad for malicious software being hidden in the package. Install reputable programs and only the ones you need.

5. Keep those disks full and fragmented - Along with installing lots of extra programs comes a full hard drive. This slows everything down as it takes longer to search for the file that you requested. Delete old files, run defragment on a regular basis to keep the drive orderley and compact.

6. Next issue #6-10

Contact me if you have questions .

Spotlight of the Month

Historic Cabarrus -Historic Cabarrus Association, Inc. is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of the heritage of Cabarrus County and the City of Concord, North Carolina. The website serves to inform the interested parties of upcoming events of interest as well as help keep the history of the area alive. If you are in the Charlotte, NC area, stop in Concord and visit the museum.

Langiape (a little something extra)
If you have not already - make sure that System Restore is turned on if you are using Windows XP or Vista. This small step will help you "turn back the clock" if you encounter virus, malware or other troubles. You can reset your system to a previous date without loosing any data that you have worked on during the interim. If you need to know how to do this, contact me.

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