Top 10 Ways to Protect Your Computer By Asif 'De Rebel' Mohamed

Almost everyone has had problems with their computers. Amng the common problems are computere freezing, computers being affected by virus and the ultimate one, computers crashing. Below are ten steps that will help to protect your computer: · Try to update your computer software (files), as soon as a newer version is available. Most updated files, correct any previous vulnerability and glitches within the software. Often updates should be performed on your Operating system (Windows and Mac) and Internet service provider/email programs (AOL, MSN, Yahoo, Microsoft Outlook, etc.). · A virus is a program designed to attack or destroy files in your computer. An Anti-virus protection software removes viruses from your computer and offers protection against incoming viruses. Because over 500 new viruses are discovered each month, it is necessary to get automatic updates for your Anti-virus software. The automatic update defends against newer viruses by downloading updates everytime you sign online. Always have your Anti-virus software on. While Macs and PC run on different platforms and operating systems, no computer is foolproof against viruses. Macs are least likely to be attacked, because only about 5% of all computer users run a MAC operating system, and since most windows viruses don't affect Macs the threat is a lot less. · A firewall stops anyone from accessing your computer files. When you are connected to the Internet your computer sends to and receives information from the Internet and other computers. Hackers can exploit this and gain access to your personal information or files. A firewall prevents anyone from gaining this kind of access. It also stops programs that are trying to send out your information. Always have your Firewall software on. · The object of choosing a password is to make it difficult for anyone to make an educated guess at what you have chosen. Most crackers run a program that tries to guess your password from a selected list of words found in the dictionary. Therefore never use a word from the dictionary as your password. Make up a combination of words at least 6 letters long with numbers and punctuation. That way a cracker will have to use every possible combination to crack your password. At this rate it will take a machine about 100 years if it processes one million passwords per second. · Over 98% of computer viruses are spread through email. Here are a few ways to prevent a virus infection: Do not download anything besides .JPG, .GIF and .BMP files (picture files) unless you are sure of the content. The files that are most likely to have viruses are .exe and .VB files. Do not download any questionable content even if it's from friends, because some viruses attach themselves to files without the knowledge of the computer user. · Spam is any unsolicited email send to you. This includes chain letters and advertisements. Delete all chain letters and block advertisers. Most of these advertisements are trying to swindle you out of your money. Some may even contain harmful files. Spam, in it's extreme, can slow down your computer or network server. Other than that it's just a nuisance. Spam is very easy to prevent if you are willing to never to publish your email address on ANY websites (this includes message boards and forums) and make sure your email provider is not selling out your address to anyone. Remember also if you access public chat rooms, spammers will get you. However, AOL and other Internet Service Providers have launched a legal campaign to deal with spamming and are asking all its users to inform them of any spam you receive. · When downloading files from a website, make sure you trust the website and it's contents. When in doubt, err on the side of caution and don't open. If you are downloading from software review sites like CNet or download.com, make sure the file size they publish matches the file size you're downloading. Since CNet network (the largest download site online) only checks the software they review once and don't host any files, the developer can change the software anytime. If the file sizes don't match, then the developer has changed the file. Also be sure to read the reviews and see what other users are saying. You may gain useful insights about the saftware that way. · In this case, the "protection" is worst than the cure. A lot of fake emails are circulated on "how to get rid of harmful files on your computer," but the most popular ones lead you to delete legitimate files and harm your computer. Verify all such instructions from a legitimate website before proceeding. http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/hoax.html is a good start. · Be careful what CD or floppy disk you put into your computer to install programs, play music or watch DVDs. Cheap CDs off the streets might seem like a good deal, until you find out they contain spywearz, virus or might just melt in your CD/DVD drive on your computer. I don't mean to sound paranoid, for their threats are very seldom, but when they do occur, you loose a lot of money in hardware and software. So always have caution on your side. · Backups ensure that when all else fail, you will still have your files intact. Always make regular backups on removable disks or another computer or an external hard drive, mainly because if your computer is infected or harmed, you have your files saved externally. This way when your computer is fixed, you can reinstall your files from your backup copies.