Online Safety Tips

Security Online

Firewalls

Firewalls are a very important safety feature for online users. It’s easy for anyone to gain access to your computer if you don’t have one installed. Your bank PINs and passwords could be tracked, your surfing habits logged or other privacy issues breached.

Here are three free firewalls you can try, just pick your favorite:
ZoneAlarm
Kerio
Outpost
Anti-Virus

Another must have item is a good anti-virus program. Without protection from viruses, your computer is vulnerable to all sorts of viruses that could cripple your computer or breach your privacy. Here are two free antivirus programs to try, pick your favorite & remember to keep it updated.
AVG
AntiVir
Online Virus Scans (Free)

It’s a good idea to run an online scan on your computer every once in awhile, just in case your antivirus has been corrupted.

Here are three places to try:
PandaSoftware
Housecall
Symantec

Spyware Remover

Please make sure your computer is kept clean of spyware/adware, you won’t regret it. Run these at least once a week.

Use both of these free tools, they compliment each other
(make sure to keep them updated)

SpyBot Search & Destroy
Ad-Aware
Email Attachments

Because so many viruses come in the form of an email attachment, I have created a message rule in my email client (ie. Outlook Express, Pegasus, etc.) that automatically sends any emails with attachments to the delete folder. There really is no need for attachments, everything can be cut & paste, pictures can be uploaded to websites to share with everyone, etc. There is no need for anyone (on a personal basis) to be sending you attachments. I highly suggest you try this, it really makes a big difference in protecting your computer.
! Maintenance !

Disk Defragmenter:
Once every week or so you should run the Disk Defragmenter (Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk Defragmenter) to keep your computer running smoothly. Because nothing else should be running in the background while you’re defragmenting, you should run this while in ‘Safe’ mode. If you’re not sure how to do that, here’s a link that will walk you through it:

Safe Mode Help

Or if you’d rather just shut everything down yourself, this is a handy free tool that checks EVERYTHING running in the background and you can click which ones to close:

EndItAll2

Scan Disk
This you should do every once in awhile as well, in fact Disk Defragmenter won’t run sometimes unless you’ve done Scan Disk. (Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Scan Disk).
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This entry is filed under Surfing Tips.

Here you will find various tips and tricks to using the Windows platform. Some are targetted for newbies, but there are more intermediate and advanced tips as well. Tweak your computer to be faster, cleaner and more reliable.