 Top
Ten Computer Resolutions
Now
is a good time to get your computer into shape!
As
we start a new year it's a good time to get you're self and
computer into shape--especially if you've slacked off a bit in
recent months. I'll concentrate on your computer. The rest is up
to you!
Here
is our Top Ten List for the best New Year's resolutions you could
promise your computer. They'll cost you a lot less than a gym
membership, and you'll end up with a faster machine and have
better defenses in our ongoing fight with Spam, Spy ware, Web ads
and viruses.
1.
Delete the Junk From Your Hard Drive
One
of the best things you can do to get better performance out of
your computer is to keep your hard drive free of clutter. The less
useless data you have taking up hard drive space, the easier it is
to find and retrieve documents. I never advocate just deleting
programs, so use these simple built in Windows tools to do the
job.
Add/Remove
Programs – If you have programs that you no longer want
or need. Click “Start”, “Settings,”
“Control Panel,” and then double-click “Add/Remove
Programs.” Select the program by name and click the
“Add/Remove” button. Follow prompts. If you are ask,
“Do you want to keep this file.” Those usually don't
take up much space so Keep it.
Only
programs that were designed for Windows can be removed by using
the Add/Remove Programs dialog box. For all other programs, check
that program documentation to determine how it should be removed.
Cleanmgr
- To remove unneeded files use Windows Disk Cleanup
Run
Disk Cleanup to help you free up space on your hard drive. Disk
Cleanup searches your drive, and then lists temporary files,
Internet cache files, and unnecessary program files that you can
safely delete.
Click
“Start,” “Run,” type in CLEANMGR Click
“OK”
Or
in XP. Go to Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk
Cleanup, and select the drive you want to clean. XP will analyze
your files and show a list of which ones can be removed. Check the
boxes next to the categories you want to discard.
The
More Options tab offers you several more cleanup choices. The
System Restore cleanup option can clear lots of disk space by
erasing old restore points.
Use
ScanDisk in Win 98 to check your hard disk for logical and
physical errors.
Click
“Start,” “Run,” type in SCANDISK Click
“OK”
Select
“Standard” Test and “Automatically Fix Errors.”
Now Click “Start”
To
check the hard drive for surface errors change to “Thorough”
Test.
XP
users check hard drives for errors.
Do
a thorough check on the status of your hard drives occasionally.
Go
to Start, My Computer, right-click the icon for your C: drive, and
choose Properties. Then choose the Tools tab and click the Check
Now button. Repeat this step for all your hard drives.
Applications
and files must be closed in order for error checking to fix the
problems it finds, so XP will often report that the disk check
will run the next time you restart your system if you've checked
'Automatically fix file system errors' on the next screen. When XP
starts the system will run through it's check before the desktop
loads.
Note:
Finding and recovering bad sectors can take hours if you have a
large drive.
2.
Now you can delete some stuff!
Digital
music copied or downloaded onto your PC could use up gigabytes of
space. One of the easiest ways to free some space on your hard
drive is to transfer MP3 files and video clips you don't use
frequently onto compact disks, DVDs, or other removable media.
Then delete them.
Removing
Files with the extensions bak, tmp, & chk
If
you have used your computer for a while, chances are it has a few
useless files that you can delete. Files that end in .bak are made
by programs as an emergency data backup. Files with .tmp, .txt,
.prv, and .chk extensions (.chk files are generated by disk-repair
utilities and scandisk) can also be removed if you are careful and
watch what you are deleting. To accomplish this, run Windows'
search command. The menu commands vary depending on your operating
system. In Windows 98, click Start, Find, Files and Folders, type
in each file extension and click Find Now. Windows 2000, click
Start, Search, For Files and Folders and type in the file
extensions one at a time. In Windows XP click Start, Search, Files
and Folders. Type in the file
extension, *.tmp and click Find Now. Highlight all the files by
clicking in the box and pressing the “CTRL” + “A”
keys on your keyboard. Press the “Delete” key.
Of
course, you won't want to delete every file you find, sometimes a
.txt is a help file or word processor text file. You may want to
search by date and delete the old ones.
3.
Speed up your hard drive
If
you notice that your hard drive has gotten sluggish, your data is
probably fragmented. You can use Windows 98 Disk Defragmenter to
speed up your hard drive access of files, click Start, Programs,
Accessories, System Tools.
You'll
need to be logged in as the Administrator to run XP's Pro's Disk
Defragmenter. First select Start, All Programs, Accessories,
System Tools, Disk Defragmenter. Highlight the drive that you want
to check, and press the Analyze button. XP will tell you whether
the drive needs to be defragmented. If XP recommends defragging,
click the Defragment button.
4.
Make your computer faster and programs more efficient!
Is
your memory a little foggy? If your like me, it could be too many
holiday sugar cookies. Or in the case of your computer's RAM, it
could be related to programs that don't manage memory correctly or
release RAM when they end.
Remove
programs from Start Up
Click
Start, Programs, Start Up. Highlight program that you would like
to remove from start up. Right click and select Delete. The
programs is still on your hard drive but doesn't start when your
PC boots. Some programs in your notification area (systray in 98)
can be shut down by right clicking on their icon. Some even let
you remove them from starting on boot.
eXpert
Tweaks for programs running in the background. Use MSCONFIG to
disable programs and do a diagnostic start up. Start, Run, type in
MSCONFIG. Click the Start Up tab and clear the check mark to
disable the start up item. The System Configuration Utility has
many other uses.
5.
On line and Network protection
If
you have a wireless home network make sure you turn on your
Wi-Fi's wireless encryption protocol. There is no standard
way of flipping the wireless encryption protocol switch, so you'll
want to consult your Wi-Fi hardware manual for instructions.
All
Internet users; Wi-Fi, hardwired broadband, or dial up; Protect
your network using a firewall program, you have several
firewall options to choose from. I highly recommend ZoneAlarm
(http://www.zonelabs.com)
a free personal firewall that is also available in a Pro version.
Choose
a new / better password: Odds are good that you have been
using the same password for quite awhile now. Strong passwords are
the first line of defense against hackers and identity thieves.
You probably already know that you should never use easy to guess
words like your child's, spouse, or pet's name. But did you know
that if you use any word in the dictionary, your password can be
cracked in seconds? And please stop putting your network passwords
on your monitors at work with stickies! On a recent service call,
out of 50 computers, I removed 8 password stickies from plain
site, and one was an Administrator!
6.
Did you get your Flu Shot?
If
your like me and did not, you still can immunize your PC. If you
don't have virus protection running on your PC, download Grisoft
AVG 7 (http://www.grisoft.com).
If
you do have an anti virus package installed, and a current
subscription to Symantec's Norton's AntiVirus or McAfee VirusScan,
make sure the definitions are up to date by turning on the
automatic updates. Every time you update your software's virus
definitions, you improve the chances that your PC will be able to
identify the latest viruses coming its way.
7.
Keep your system patched:
Vulnerabilities
are discovered all the time in operating systems and applications.
If you subscribe to an email distribution like Bugtraq, visit
Security Focus (http://www.securityfocus.com)
or turn on features like the Windows AutoUpdate you can be aware
of what is going on and know when new patches are available that
you should apply to your system.
If
you use Internet Explorer, keep your it up to date with the latest
patches for crucial security holes.
8.
Browsers and email
I
recommend using the Mozilla Firefox web browser
(http://mozilla.org)
and companion email program Thunderbird
(http://www.thunderbird.com).
Both web browser and email client are free. Firefox has a built in
pop up blocker and can replace Internet Explore in most cases!
Thunderbird works like Outlook, only better.
Do
Not open unknown file attachments, delete them! Malicious
programmers try to come up with the best subject lines and message
bodies for the emails they use to propagate their viruses, Trojans
and other malicious code to take advantage of unpached systems. So
even if the message makes sense you should think twice about
opening any file attachment you don't 100% know the origin or
contents of. Delete it!
Spam,
Spam, Spam, Spam and Spam!
Will
the Spam ever stop? You can take a few steps to stop or decrease
junk mail.
1st
you need a good Spam filter. Try MailWasher
(http://mailwasher.com).
This junk e-mail killer runs from the system tray and deletes Spam
before it ever gets to your mailbox (free trial or $20 to keep).
2nd
Get a disposable email address from Sneakemail
(http://www.sneakemail.com).
Use a sneakemail address when filling out on line forms or
surveys. It relays emails to your real address, but if you start
getting Spam through it, you can block, bounce the emails or
delete the address!
3rd
Use a Hotmail.com, Excite.com or Yahoo.com email account to help
keep junk off of your computer. They block some Spam, and you can
always create another anytime. These can work well with a
Sneakemail account.
4th
You can also apply filters to your Outlook and Eudora e-mail
programs, turn off your the preview pane, and keep your precious
e-mail address from reaching spammers' by using #2 and #3 above!
9.
Say No Sneaky Ads
Aggressive
monitoring of your surfing habits continues. Keep your browsing
private, Clear Your Cookies and History. In Internet Explorer
click Tools, Internet Options. In the section labeled Temporary
Internet Files, click the Delete Cookies button. After the
operation has completed, click the Delete Files. Sometimes this
takes a while if you have never cleared Temporary Internet Files.
The History can be cleared below this area by clicking the Clear
History button.
If
you download some free ware or shareware, you may (or may not)
have noticed other smaller programs (known as adware or
spyware) that can install alongside the ones you want
without your knowledge. These mini-programs deliver annoying
pop-up ads on sites you visit, or worse, they report back your web
habits to advertisers.
Find
out what's lurking in your system, download Ad-aware
(http://www.lavasoft.com)
and Spybot Search & Destroy
(http://www.safer-networking.org).
These free utilities can ferret out and delete unwanted
components that have been installed on your computer. No they
don't have spyware. Webroot Spy sweeper (http://www.webroot.com)
is a great program if you would rather purchase one.
10.
Stay on Top of Fraud
Despite
advances in computer security, hackers and identity thieves
continue to be a major headache. If you use your credit card on
line regularly, identifying problems should be high on your list.
Check your credit card statements carefully! Consider visiting an
anti fraud site like CardCops (http://www.cardcops.com)
if you think your number has been stolen. This site allows you to
check whether thieves have your credit card numbers.
Watch
out for e-mail scams, chances are there's one waiting in your
inbox right now. Criminals use a new technique known as "phishing"
to masquerade as a legitimate company in an effort to steal your
personal information. Learn more about phishing at The Federal
Trade Commission (http://www.ftc.gov)
Buy
and use a paper shredder! Don't put your name and address in the
trash.
Request
a free copy of your credit report by visiting
http://www.annualcreditreport.com.
All Americans are now entitled to a free credit report from each
of the three nationwide credit reporting agencies, Experian,
Equifax, and Trans Union. You can monitor your credit by
requesting one of your three reports every four months. By
staggering your request, you can check for errors regularly and
identify potential problems in your credit report. Currently,
these reports are available to residents of most western states.
By September 2005, all Americans will have free access to their
credit report.
Opt
out of prescreened offers of credit. By calling 1-888-567-8688 or
by visiting https://www.optoutprescreen.com,
you can stop receiving those annoying letters for credit and
insurance offers. This is an important step for protecting your
privacy, because those offers can be intercepted by identity
thieves.
Enroll
all of your phone numbers in the Federal Trade Commission's
Do-Not-Call Registry. The Do-Not-Call Registry
(http://www.donotcall.gov
or 1-888-382-1222) offers a quick and effective shield against
unwanted telemarketing. Be sure to enroll the numbers for your
wireless phones, too.
Given
Up Already?
For
those of you who resolve to learn a language, eat better, or quit
some habit, technology can't give you willpower, but you might get
a little help from the Web. Try searching your topic in The
Vivísimo Clustering Engine (http://vivisimo.com)
Ok,
some fun!
Check
out: http://babblefish.altivista.com
to translate this page or any other text to your desired
language!
Now
to work on my resolutions: #1 Get those newsletters out on time!
By:
Doug Wyman
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