How Can You Protect Your Computer on the Internet?

Viruses, worms, and hackers….oh my!

If you are connected to the internet, you need to make sure you get your computer set up properly if you want to avoid problems down the road. With all the viruses, spyware and other threats on the internet today, no computer should be set up without the proper protection. And that protection needs to be place as soon after you hook up your new machine as possible.

The following five steps will make your computer a much harder target for threats. You still won't be completely immune to problems, but 99% of the time the threat will pass you by, looking for the easy mark.

1. Running a Personal firewall

A personal firewall is software that basically makes your computer invisible to hackers, worms and other threats that can infect your computer over the internet. Setting up a firewall is the absolute first thing you should do if you're going to connect to the internet. Without a firewall, your computer could get infected in as little as one minute after connecting.

If you have a brand new computer running Windows XP Service Pack 2, there is a firewall built into Windows. It will already have been turned on when you first set up your computer. If you're running an older version of Windows, even, an earlier version of Windows XP, there is no firewall automatically set up for you. In this case there are two possibilities:

Your computer came pre-loaded with a firewall such as Norton Internet Security or McAfee Internet Security. You have no firewall installed and should download ASAP. If you don't have any personal firewall software installed, you should do so right away. Zone Alarm is very good firewall program that has a version that you can download and install free. You can download the free version of Zone Alarm from http://www.worldlink.com.np/support/download/index.php

2. Turn Windows Updates

Again, if you're running Windows XP Service Pack 2 this is already set up, but otherwise you should turn on Windows Updates. Microsoft releases updates for security problems and other bugs in Windows on a regular basis. These updates will keep your computer running better, and they often fix security issues that could compromise your information or privacy,

If you are running Windows XP Service Pack 2, you can double-check that automatic updates are turned on by clicking Start, and then click Control Panel, then double-click Security Center. The window that opens will tell you if automatic updates are turned on, and lets you turn them on if they're no.

To turn on automatic updates in earlier version of Windows XP, click on the Start menu, click Control Panel and then double-click on System. On the "Automatic Updates" tab, click the option to "Automatically download the updates and install them on the schedule I specify."

To turn them on in Windows 2000, click on Start menu, click Control Panel and then double-click on Automatic Updates and click same option "Automatically download the updates and install them on the schedule I specify."

Now when Microsoft release updates, they will be downloaded for you automatically and Windows will tell you when they are ready to be installed.

3. Install & Update Antivirus Software

Most new computers come with antivirus software these days. You might have Norton, McAfee or another brand. No matter what program you have, you will need to update it when you get connected to the internet. It doesn’t matter how new your computer is -there will be new viruses, and new updates for the antivirus software, since it was loaded.

The exact process is different for each brand of antivirus program, but most of them will have an icon in the bottom right corner of your desktop, beside the time. The icon might be picture of a shield (McAfee), a stethoscope (Norton) or something else. In most cases, if you point to the icon for your antivirus and click the right mouse button, a menu will pop up with an update option. It could be simply called update of could be something like Live Update or Download Latest Updates. If you click on the update option (with the left button this time) it will install the newest updates for you.

If you are not sure which icon is for your antivirus software, just point to each one for a few seconds and a little should pop up telling you what it is.

4. Install Anti-Spyware Software

Spyware - and other things known as adware and malware - is becoming as big a problem as viruses. Spyware programs can cause a lot of problems with your computer, not to mention they can track your personal information and you never know where it's being sent. Some new computers might include antispyware software, but most of them don't yet. There area quite a few anti-spyware programs available, some free and some not. The one I recommend is from Microsoft and is one of the free ones.

One of the reasons I like it is because it always runs in the background and will automatically catch a lot lf spyware before it gets on your computer. Many of the other programs don't catch it until you run a scan. Not only does this allow things to get on your computer, it also means you have to actually remember to run a scan. You can download the free Microsoft Antispyware from http://www.worldlink.com.np/support/download/index.php

5. Set up a Free Email Account

This last item is not as critical as the first four, but I would highly recommend you set up an email account with one of the free services like Hotmail or Gmail.

Once you're on the internet, you'll find a lot of useful information that you want that requires you to provide an email address. In some cases, these people will end up sending you a bunch of spam. If you use a free email account to sign up for anything that you don't know for sure you can trust it's not going to fill your main email with a bunch of junk.

This goes for anything really, not just online information. If you're entering a contest or signing up for anything offline and you don't know where your information could end up being used, I would suggest using your free email address. If worse comes to worse, and your free email address gets inundated with spam, you can always set up a new one and let the old one expire. Some of the better free email services are http://www.hotmail.com, http://wwwgmail.com and http://www.yahoomail.com.

If you've had your computer for a while and never done any of these things, you should still take these steps to get it set up properly. It will definitely save you a lot of time and possibly money as you use your system.

A Hacker Inside Your Computer?

Imagine this……

When you check your e-mail program and it reports your username and password as no longer valid. You call your Internet service provider (ISP) to discuss the problem and they tell you they turned off your account due to “abuse”. “Abuse!” you cry to the customer service operator. What are you talking about?”

“Someone used your computer this past Saturday night in an attempt to hack into a government computer system. They made the attempt at 1:20 a.m. from your account,” replies the rep. “Look in your windows registry for a file called QAZWSX.hsq.”

You punch a few keys and sure enough the file stares right back at you. “What is it?” you ask, scared to know the answer.

“Someone used a Trojan Horse virus to remotely control your computer and cloak the identity of the hacker. Here’s how to get rid of it, just….”

What you just read happened very recently to someone I know quite well. A computer hacker found an open port in his computer when he switched over from a dial-up Internet connection to an “always-on” high speed connection.

The hacker used a robot scanning the Internet for available “ports”, openings in a computer that allow data pass back and forth from a network connection like the Internet. Once the hacker found an unprotected port in my friend’s computer he simply inserted a Trojan Horse virus that rides along with Windows Notepad, a handy utility used by just about everyone who makes web pages.

When my friend activated the notepad program he also activated the virus. The virus in turn transmitted all of my friend’s security information to the hacker and allowed him to gain access and control his victim’s computer in the middle of the night.

Count me the last person to sound paranoid, but, as always-on connections through DSL, cable, and T-1 lines proliferate, this story will repeat itself over and over until people learn to protect themselves.

Most people underestimate or are completely about the importance of information they send over the Internet when surfing websites and checking email. Even if you only use a simple dial-up account, you can unknowingly transmit a significant amount of sensitive information.

You can analyze the security of your web connection for free by going to http://www.symantec.com/SecurityCheck. You can also verify the presence of any known viruses of Trojan horse on your computer. The information I saw when analyzing my personal computer frankly shocked me. I saw data I didn’t even know existed staring me right in the face after I performed this analysis.

To protect your computer hardware and sensitive data you should obtain a software package called “firewall”. A firewall, when combined with good anti-virus program, helps stop unauthorized access on your computer, prevents virus infection, and “cloaks” your data ports against a hacker scanning for openings.

Symantec.com and McAfee.com both offer excellent personal firewall and ant-virus software from their websites or you can buy them off the shelf at your local office supply store. A wise investment for anyone on the net before it’s too late!

All About Computer Viruses

Are you searching photos and wallpapers or video search in internet? If so, you might be victim of computer viruses. Recently, in India some internet security agencies such as McAfee found that cyber criminals are spreading numbers of viruses, spywares, ad-wares and spams by using the name of famous actors, actresses and cricket players.

According to some research nowadays among five of one who is searching about Aishwarya, in their computers; detecting with dangerous virus. In other actress Katrina Kaif and Bipasa Basu also are among the name of dangerous viruses. In actors Sahid Kapoor, and in players Saniya Mirza, yuvraj singh, mahendra singh dhoni are also name of viruses. Of course, it hurts them whose name are going misused as well as affects their relatives and fans also. But who can stop those criminals? Isn't it? However you can save your computer from them.

How can you know that your computers are detecting with viruses? Your computer is as slow as molasses. Your mouse freezes every 15 minutes, and that Microsoft Word program just won’t seem to open. You might have a virus.

Just what exactly is a virus? What kind is in your computer? How did it get there? How is it spreading and wreaking such havoc? And why is it bothering with your computer anyway?

Viruses are pieces of programming code that make copies of themselves, or replicate, inside your computer without asking your explicit written permission to do so. Forget getting your permission down on paper. Viruses don’t bother to seek your permission at all! Very invasive.

In comparison, there are pieces of code that might replicate inside your computer, say something your IT guy thinks you need. But the code spreads, perhaps throughout your office network, with your consent (or at least your IT guy’s consent). These types of replicating code are called agents, said Jimmy Kuo, a research fellow with McAfee AVERT, a research arm of anti-virus software-maker McAfee Inc.

In this article, though, we’re not talking about the good guys, or the agents. We’ll be talking about the bad guys, the viruses.

A long, long time ago in computer years, like five, most viruses were comprised of a similar breed. They entered your computer perhaps through an email attachment or a floppy disk (remember those?). Then they attached themselves to one of your files, say your Microsoft Word program.

When you opened your Microsoft Word program, the virus replicated and attached itself to other files. These could be other random files on your hard drive, the files furthest away from your Microsoft Word program, or other files, depending on how the virus writer wanted the virus to behave.

This virus code could contain hundreds or thousands of instructions. When it replicates it inserts those instructions, into the files it infects, said Carey Nachenberg, Chief Architect at Symantec Research Labs, an arm of anti-virus software-maker Symantec. Corp.

Because so many other types of viruses exist now, the kind just described is called a classic virus. Classic viruses still exist but they’re not quite as prevalent as they used to be. (Perhaps we could put classic viruses on the shelf with Hemingway and Dickens.)

These days, in the modern era, viruses are known to spread through vulnerabilities in web browsers, files shared over the internet, emails themselves, and computer networks.

As far as web browsers are concerned, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer takes most of the heat for spreading viruses because it’s used by more people for web surfing than any other browser.

Nevertheless, “Any web browser potentially has vulnerabilities,” Nachenberg said.

For instance, let’s say you go to a website in IE you have every reason to think is safe, Nachenberg said.

But unfortunately it isn’t. It has virus code hidden in its background that IE isn’t protecting you from. While you’re looking at the site, the virus is downloaded onto your computer, he said. That’s one way of catching a nasty virus.

During the past two years, another prevalent way to catch a virus has been through downloads computer users share with one another, mostly on music sharing sites, Kuo said. On Limewire or Kazaa, for instance, teenagers or other music enthusiasts might think they’re downloading that latest Justin Timberlake song, when in reality they’re downloading a virus straight into their computer. It’s easy for a virus writer to put a download with a virus on one of these sites because everyone’s sharing with everyone else anyway.

Here’s one you might not have thought of. If you use Outlook or Outlook Express to send and receive email, do you have a preview pane below your list of emails that shows the contents of the email you have highlighted? If so, you may be putting yourself at risk.

Some viruses, though a small percentage according to Nachenberg, are inserted straight into emails themselves.

Forget opening the attachment. All you have to do is view the email to potentially get a virus, Kuo added. For instance, have you ever opened or viewed an email that states it’s “loading”? Well, once everything is “loaded,” a virus in the email might just load onto your computer.

So if I were you, I’d click on View on the toolbar in your Outlook or Outlook Express and close the preview pane. (You have to click on View and then Layout in Outlook Express.)

On a network at work? You could get a virus that way. Worms are viruses that come into your computer via networks, Kuo said. They travel from machine to machine and, unlike, the classic viruses; they attack the machine itself rather than individual files.

Worms sit in your working memory, or RAM, Nachenberg said.

OK, so we’ve talked about how the viruses get into a computer. How do they cause so much damage once they’re there?

Let’s say you’ve caught a classic virus, one that replicates and attacks various files on your computer. Let’s go back to the example of the virus that initially infects your Microsoft Word program.

Well, it might eventually cause that program to crash, Nachenberg said. It also might cause damage to your computer as it looks for new targets to infect.

This process of infecting targets and looking for new ones could eventually use up your computer’s ability to function, he said.

Often the destruction a virus causes is pegged to a certain event or date and time, called a trigger. For instance, a virus could be programmed to lay dormant until January 28. When that date rolls around, though, it may be programmed to do something as innocuous but annoying as splash popups on your screen, or something as severe as reformat your computer’s hard drive, Nachenberg said.

There are other potential reasons, though, for a virus to cause your computer to be acting slow or in weird ways. And that leads us to a new segment – the reason virus writers would want to waste their time creating viruses in the first place.

The majority of viruses are still written by teenagers looking for some notoriety, Nachenberg said. But a growing segment of the virus-writing population has other intentions in mind.

For these other intentions, we first need to explain the “backdoor” concept.

The sole purpose of some viruses is to create vulnerability in your computer. Once it creates this hole of sorts, or backdoor, it signals home to mama or dada virus writer (kind of like in E.T.). Once the virus writer receives the signal, they can use and abuse your computer to their own likings.

Trojans are sometimes used to open backdoors. In fact that is usually their sole purpose, Kuo said.

Trojans are pieces of code you might download onto your computer, say, from a newsgroup. As in the Trojan War they are named after, they are usually disguised as innocuous pieces of code. But Trojans aren’t considered viruses because they don’t replicate.

Now back to the real viruses. Let’s say we have Joe Shmo virus writer. He sends out a virus that ends up infecting a thousand machines. But he doesn’t want the feds on his case. So he instructs the viruses on the various machines to send their signals, not of course to his computer, but to a place that can’t be traced. Hotmail email happens to be an example of one such place, Kuo said.

OK, so the virus writers now control these computers. What will they use them for?

One use is to send spam. Once that backdoor is open, they bounce spam off of those computers and send it to other machines, Nachenberg said.

That’s right. Some spam you have in your email right now may have been originally sent to other innocent computers before it came to yours so that it could remain in disguise. If the authorities could track down the original senders of spam, they could crack down on spam itself. Spam senders don’t want that.

Ever heard of phishing emails? Those are the ones that purport to be from your internet service provider or bank. They typically request some information from you, like your credit card number. The problem is, they’re NOT from your internet service provider or your bank. They’re from evil people after your credit card number! Well, these emails are often sent the same way spam is sent, by sending them via innocent computers.

Of course makers of anti-virus software use a variety of methods to combat the onslaught of viruses. Norton, for instance, uses signature scanning, Nachenberg said.

Signature scanning is similar to the process of looking for DNA fingerprints, he said. Norton examines programming code to find what viruses are made of. It adds those bad instructions it finds to its large database of other bad code. Then it uses this vast database to seek out and match the code in it with similar code in your computer. When it finds such virus code, it lets you know!

Beeps! Your computer is telling you something.

One beep from your computer at startup can make your whole day. Just ask anyone that has turned on the PC and suffered the agony of several beeps and then nothing.

When you purchase a computer, it will arrive with the BIOS (Basic Input/Output System), pre-installed on an EPROM (Erasable Programmable read Only Memory), chip on the main/motherboard. When you start your computer the CPU (Central Processing Unit), sends control of the PC to the EPROM BIOS. The BIOS is part of the POST (Power-On Self Test) of the computer. Once the BIOS receives the go ahead from the processor it starts its magical journey through all the components and peripheral devices attached to the computer. CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor), hold the data that is accessed by the BIOS setup. Basically, the CMOS is the reason that you can unplug your computer and retain the startup and BIOS information. CMOS is maintained on the motherboard in an always-on state supported by a battery installed on the main board.

Much like the human mind, when we wake up in the morning our brain remembers that we have eyes, ears, a nose and so on. We know the town we live in. You can go to work, stop by the post office, the grocery store and back home without having to spend time perusing a map for directions to each one. Your computer works much the same way. Without a memory device to instruct the computer on what’s where, the operating system and other software would literally have to take the time to locate each part of the PC and its components every time they are loaded. Fortunately, the BIOS take care of that for the processor, operating system and components.

How the BIOS works. Every computer comes pre-loaded with the BIOS on the motherboard. Motherboard manufacturers work long hours with BIOS manufacturers to make sure the information in the BIOS is specific to the needs and components of the motherboard. Although there are a number of BIOS manufacturers, the two most popular are AMI (American Megatrends Incorp.) and VIA. BIOS simply put, is a program and not an actual device. It is the software that informs the computer at startup of all the devices (input and output) attached to the PC. The BIOS also lets you know when there is a problem. It accomplishes this by checking for known devices and makes sure they are still attached. When the BIOS detect a problem it sends a series of beeps to the motherboard speaker. This series informs the user of what the problem is, at least as well as the BIOS can determine. Lets say your video card has gone the way of the XT model computer, the BIOS senses that it has died or is not installed. The BIOS sends a series of beeps to the onboard PC speaker to inform you of the problem. Pretty neat! The problem is that no manufacturer of BIOS uses the same beep series. This is why it is important for you to know the BIOS software manufacturer for your specific PC. We’ll explain how to find this out later.

How do I know if the BIOS are working? That’s easy, if your computer starts and you get a single short beep, the BIOS is working and has found and relayed the information about the input/output devices to the CPU. If you turn on your computer and nothing happens at all, the problem is probably in your power supply (this assumes that you have it plugged in properly) the BIOS is probably still working but the computer can’t start because of a power problem. If all is well, the BIOS will find all the attached input/output devices, send a single short beep to the internal speaker and the computer will start the boot process.

OK, so who’s the boss…? BIOS, CMOS or POST? If we must choose, it would be the (Power-on, Self-test), POST. The POST is simply the process of the BIOS using the information from CMOS to start the computer. Remember, the BIOS information is stored in CMOS memory maintained by an onboard battery.

Three ways to change and/or update the BIOS. Unlike ROM (read-only memory) the EPROM BIOS can be changed or updated. The term for changing the EPROM software is referred to as flashing. You may have over heard someone say that they need to flash the BIOS with a new update. Don’t worry if you have never heard this, well, maybe you should worry a little. Computer components change on a daily basis and the BIOS needs to be flexible enough to be able to change with them. All computers allow the user to change the BIOS software and how the computer reacts to input/output devices. The standard is to offer the user a way in to the software via a hotkey at startup. Normally this hotkey is the F2 key, the Del (Delete) key and in some cases the F1 key or a combination of keys. Start your computer and watch the bottom left corner on the screen. This should let you know which key to press to enter the BIOS setup. The BIOS setup, sometimes called the CMOS setup, allow the user to make changes on the fly and save them. Let’s say you added an external modem to your PC on Communication serial port number 1(Comm1), and no matter how many times you install the drivers, you can’t get the PC or Windows to recognize it. Chances are that the BIOS does not know that the modem exists. Entering the BIOS setup and changing it to allow the use of Comm1 will fix the problem and let the PC know that a device exists on that port. This is the most common use of the BIOS setup and also the easiest to do. WARNING: it is just as easy to totally screw up your system by making changes in the BIOS setup. So be careful and make sure you know how and what to change. Changing the wrong settings can render your computer useless. There, we warned you twice, that’s because we want you to think twice before you change the BIOS. Second is the Flash BIOS update from the manufacturer of the BIOS. This is a software program that the manufacturer of the BIOS sends out periodically to insure the BIOS conform to new equipment and standards. You can normally get this software upgrade for the manufacturer and sometimes from the motherboard manufacturer. Be careful…be very careful installing the software and be positive that it is for your specific BIOS. Always follow the manufacturers instructions exactly. The third way is replacing the BIOS chip. Replacing the chip may be your only recourse and should be left to professional computer repairmen.

How do I know which BIOS I have? That also easy, the computer will actually tell you. If you’re fast enough, you will see the BIOS name and version on the screen the moment you turn it on. If you are not a speed-reader you can access the BIOS setup and retrieve the information from the setup program. You may also contact the motherboard manufacturer and find which BIOS was installed on that board.

As stated earlier, the beeps mean something. They can give you information on problems that the BIOS encounters. Contact your BIOS manufacturer to find out what each beep series means. Armed with this information you may be able to figure out why your PC has stopped working and avoid scratching your head and noticing this huge question mark hovering over your PC. http://www.mpl1.com/

10 Easy Steps to Speed Up Your Computer - Without Upgrading

It seems that the longer you own your computer, the slower it gets! A lot of people will keep their computer until it gets so slow that they feel they need a newer, faster model. Some feel like the reason it is getting slower is because it is getting older, when that is just not the case. Your computer should run just as fast as the day you brought it home – if you follow these 10 Easy Steps to Speed Up Your Computer.

1. Empty the Temp directory regularly. After a short while, the temp directory fills up with hundreds of temp files that always get scanned over when Windows starts up and when programs launch. This slows everything down immensely.

Rule of thumb for Temp Files: If you don’t have any programs open (and nothing minimized in the bar below), then you shouldn’t have ANY temp files in your temp directory. If you do, delete them.

To delete Temp files, make sure NO programs are open, and…

a. Click on 'start' button and click on 'RUN' a box will open then type "%temp%" then click Ok or press Enter and delete everything if not work you can delete one by one. This is shortcut way to delete Temp file in all types such as 95, 98, 2000, XP or Vista. Otherwise you can apply following steps also.

b. In Windows 95, 98 or Me, or go to C:WindowsTemp and delete everything inside the Temp folder.

c. In Windows 2000 or XP, it is a little trickier. First, make sure that you can see hidden folders. Double-click My Computer. Click on the Tools pull-down menu, and then on Folder Options. Click on the View tab. Scroll down and click on Show Hidden Files and Folders. Click Ok. Now you can go to the C:Documents and SettingsAdministratorLocal SettingsTemp folder. Delete everything here.

2. Empty the Temporary Internet Files regularly. To empty Temporary Internet Files, go to your Control Panel and double-click the Internet Options icon. Choose to Delete Cookies, and to Delete Files. This will clear all of your Temporary Internet Files. In shortcut if you are using latest version of IE such as IE08 then press same time Ctrl+Shift+Delete and check all box and click on "Delete". Same process in Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Netscape Navigator etc. But if you are using Opera then first click on tools menu, and then on Delete Private Data... then Detailed Options and check boxes which you want to delete and click on Delete.

3. Check your hard disks for problems.

a. For Windows 95, 98, or Me, double-click My Computer. Right-click the C-drive and click on Properties. Click on the Tools tab and choose to check the computer for problems. If you choose to do a Thorough Scan, this will do the hardware check for physical disk damage or sector damage. Choose to fix any errors it finds.

b. For Windows 2000 and XP, double-click My Computer. Right-click the C-drive and click Properties. Click on the Tools tab and choose to check the computer for problems. Click on Check Now. You will then have two check boxes. The top option is for the file check, and the second option is for the hardware (physical disk) check. Check either one, or both. At least check the top one. Hit ok, and reboot. This may take some time, but let it run.

4. An even more thorough disk check, would be to use a 3rd party utility. One of my favorites is TuneUp Utilities 2004. It does cost $39.99, but they do offer a FREE download trial of 15 days. This program does a really good job of fixing software and physical hard drive problems. It also tunes up your system for increased speed, and streamlines your operating system for peak performance. Download it HERE... http://www.worldlink.com.np/support/download/index.php

5. Or, you can do a few of the performance tweaks yourself, if you have Windows XP. By default, EVERYTHING is turned on in Windows XP. It isn’t very streamlined for performance, but rather for appearance. You can turn off a few of the unnecessary features, and Windows will still work just fine, and maybe a little faster.

To do this, right-click on My Computer and click on Properties. Click on the Advanced tab. Under the Performance section, click on the Settings button. On the Visual Effects tab, you will see a list of check boxes. By default, these are all on. You really don’t need any of them for Windows to run. Go through the check boxes one by one, and determine which ones you can and can’t live without.

6. Turn off Active Desktop. Active Desktop turns your desktop into a web page, and allows you to have things like a real-time calendar, and up-to-the-minute weather or stocks. These are nice, but really slow down your computer. And even if you don’t use Active Desktop for anything, just having it active can cause a performance decrease. Turn it off.

a. In Windows 95, 98 and Me, right-click on the desktop and in the pop-up menu, choose Active Desktop. Inside that option, uncheck Active Desktop. If there is no check next to it, then it isn’t on. Don’t choose it. Instead, just click the desktop again to get out of the menu.

b. In Windows 2000, right-click on the desktop and in the pop-up menu, choose Active Desktop. Inside that option, uncheck Show Web Content. Again, if there is no check next to it, then it is not on. Do not check it.

c. In Windows XP, right-click on the desktop and in the pop-up menu, choose Properties. On the Desktop tab, choose Customize Desktop. Now, on the Web tab, make sure that there are no websites chosen here. If there aren’t any, then Active Desktop is not on. Cancel and go back to the desktop.

7. Install and run a good AntiVirus program to keep out viruses that can take over your system. One of my favorites is AVG. It is not only a really good AntiVirus program, but it is also FREE! If you don’t have any AntiVirus software on your computer, get AVG AntiVirus NOW by downloading HERE... http://www.worldlink.com.np/support/download/index.php

8. Get rid of Spyware. A lot of computer users have Spyware and don’t even know they have it, much less how to get rid of it. If your computer has been taking you to websites that you don’t want to go to, or if you get pop-ups when you aren’t even on the Internet, or if your computer has been running extremely slowly lately, for no reason, you probably have Spyware.

On all of the computers that I setup, I install two different AntiSpyware programs: AdAware SE and SpyBot. These two programs are highly recommended by TechTV (G4) and other computer authorities (including my own research on Spyware) and work very well together. They compliment each other and catch Spyware that the other misses, but together, do a very good job.

Get SpyBot HERE...
http://www.worldlink.com.np/support/download/index.php. Download all updates and run the Immunize option a couple of times.

AdAware SE does a good job when you keep up on the updates and manually scan your system with AdAware. http://www.worldlink.com.np/support/download/index.php

In some cases, when the Spyware has become too entwined into your system, even a computer repair technician can’t get rid of the Spyware. At this point, it is better to just backup only what you need and have the operating system reinstalled. Believe me, when your computer gets to this point, you don’t want to just put a “band-aid” on it. Just start from scratch with a clean system. It’s the best way to go.

9. Streamline MSCONFIG. One thing that really causes a HUGE performance decrease is to have unnecessary programs running in the background. Some of these programs can be seen in your System Tray (located next to the clock). These are tiny programs that are robbing you of memory and processing power. Some of them you need, while most you don’t. Some of the programs you DON’T need are printer icons, CD burning icons, shortcuts to programs (such as video settings), AOL, any Instant Messaging Programs, etc. Just because these programs aren’t always running, doesn’t mean that you still can’t print, burn CDs or Instant Message. They can all be run from a shortcut.

You can use a utility, called MSCONFIG, to turn OFF unnecessary Start Up items.

a. In Windows 98, Me, and XP, click on StartRun and type msconfig. Click on the Startup tab. This is a list of everything that is running in the background, some of which show up in the System Tray. Now, be careful, some of these you do need. Some items to keep are Ctfmon.exe (XP), Scan Registry (Win98, Me), Task Monitor (Win98, Me), System Tray (Win98, Me), LoadPowerProfile (Win98, Me), Rundll.32, any AntiVirus programs (such as McAfee, Norton, or AVG). Others, you can uncheck, such as NeroCheck, ypager, qttask, AOL, and any other Instant Messaging programs, or printing programs. Remember, if something doesn’t work, because you turned it off, it can always be turned back on. You just have to reboot every time you make a change here. But, as you uncheck the unnecessary programs that run in the background, you will see that Windows loads much faster, that there are less icons in the System Tray, and that your system is much more “snappy” and quick to respond.

b. In Windows 2000, MSCONFIG wasn’t supplied. You actually have to download and run an MSCONFIG utility. Download the MSCONFIG utility HERE... http://www.perfectdrivers.com/howto/msconfig.html.

After you reboot, you will have a window that says that the configuration utility was edited. Just check not to show that in the future, a check box at the bottom. This just means that there was a change made to the MSCONFIG.

10. Defragment your hard drives. NOTE: to efficiently defragment a hard drive, it likes to have 25% free space. It can still do the defragmentation with only 15% free space, but it takes quite a bit longer. If you can, delete any unnecessary files before deframenting your drives.

a. To defragment your hard drives (in any Windows operating system), double-click on My Computer. Right-click on the c-drive and click on Properties. Click on the Tools tab and choose the bottom button, to Defragment Now…

Good luck. I hope this article has helped you. If you live in the Lapeer County, MI area, and would like a Professional professionally TuneUp your computer(s) in your home or business.

Becoming a Computer Trainer

Have you ever attended a computer course at a computer training center and really thought about much money they make on teaching students? I know when I first started taking classes it just amazed me on how much money the training centers make for teaching many of the most popular Microsoft Office courses offered today. Of course there is big money in certification courses, but the majority of the home and small business users just want to learn how to use products like Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook FrontPage and Access. That is were the computer trainer comes in to the equation.

You see, many people do take courses at computer centers but many don't like to or have to travel to the centers. Some students don't like the large classroom environments so many don't even go. Don't even get me started on Computer Based Training (CBT) and Web Based Training (WBT) methods of teaching. Don't get me wrong, computer training centers are good and very attractive to the public. Many of the centers offer very good courses and have very knowledgeable instructors. The problem is they can't offer one-on-one assistance to the customer like personal computer trainer can.

The computer training business can be a very profitable and enjoyable business for a new business owner. For example, no too long ago I attended a course myself and realized I was sitting in a class full of students. After calculating the number students by the price of the course, I realized the center just made over $2000.00 for only seven hours of work (the class could have been done in half that time). That is good money for a computer trainer that could have gone on-site and conducted the same training. Not only did the center make over $2000.00, they did it for only one level. There were four more levels for the same course. Someone is making some very serious money, don't you think?

Whether you know a lot or a little about computers, you can become a computer trainer in not just Microsoft Office products but in a variety of computer related fields. My advice is finding your niche by looking at not only your talents but your passion. If you do decide to become a computer trainer, nothing can stop you if you have the drive and desire to be successful.

Computer Career

Computers have officially become a necessity in this 21st century, and with this technology boom comes the growing availability of a computer career. If you are looking for a computer career, your range of options is immense. While a few years ago a computer career was restricted primarily to programming, the range of options has grown as computers are now used in almost every industry today.  

Most commonly associated with a computer career is the computer programmer job. However, today, if you are looking for a computer career as a computer programmer, you also have options within the career itself. You can be an applications programmer, writing software to handle specific tasks, or a systems programmer, who controls how the software is used. Some employers want a programmer with a B.S. in Computer Science, but you can get started in a computer career as a programmer with a two-year degree or certificate.

If you are a more creative individual looking for a computer career, you may want to consider becoming a web designer. Many companies are looking to offer qualified and creative individuals a computer career as a website designer. Website designers can work as freelancers, designing and maintaining websites for a variety of clients. Other website designers work to design, maintain, and update the website for one company. Another computer career for the art-focused individual is graphic design. Much of today's graphic design is done via computers, so it can be a lucrative computer career. Also, the web has opened up computer careers in website administration and e-commerce.

Many people believe that a computer career involves programming and designing software or websites, but a computer career can also involve using the computers for a purpose. For some people looking for a computer career means that they can work in the areas of data entry or technical writing. Many people find that they want a career working on a computer entering data or crafting words, but they may never need to get into the technical aspect of how the computer works. Training to find a computer career in data entry or writing ranges from four-year degrees to on-the-job training.

If you are interested in a computer career, and you want to get into a fast-growing computer career, you may want to consider getting into computer security. The range of career options when you work with computer security is vast. The government is concerned with keeping network information protected, and they often hire people who are interested in a computer career focusing on security. Many companies are also becoming aware that they need to protect private information, and training in computer security is key to finding a job in this computer career.

Read the rest of the article here: Computer Career.

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Charles Fuchs is an established Six Figure Income earner and one of the top online marketer's. He specializes in showing people the fastest way to Starting a business.

About the author:

Charles Fuchs is an established Six Figure Income earner and one of the top online marketer's. He specializes in showing people the fastest way to Starting a business.