You
need to protect and clean your pc of these nasties which slow down
your costly computer.
We will show you how to do at little or no cost in this free report.
Before we start here is our disclaimer:- we take no responsibility
for any harm YOU may do to your computer with this information. Use
it at your own risk and be sure you are confident of what you are
doing before you start. It's a good idea to make a restore point before
installing/uninstalling or changing anything (see below for details)
Firstly Viruses, these are the most newsworthy of the baddies, and
because of this most people have heard of them. They are the pc version
of the Flu, or in a worse case scenario, Sars, and can kill your computer.
There are new viruses released almost daily, and you need to keep
up to date with Antivirus software to stop them. Fortunately there
is a free program which can help you protect your pc. This is called
AVG and is available at www.avgware.com
just follow links through the site to AVG Free Edition. Register your
email address, download and install it to your pc.
The program is pretty straightforward to use but make sure you keep
it updated at least weekly by double clicking the AVG icon (four coloured
square) in the taskbar and then clicking on update in the window,
tick internet as the source and you are good to go. It will automatically
update and restart the main Antivirus program. Remember prevention
is better than cure though and don't open attachments in emails or
even sent to you over instant messengers unless you are sure of the
person sending them, even then if you have AVG installed right click
the file and use the “scan with AVG” menu item to double check.
Trojan Horses come next on our hitlist, mostly these are small programs
which record either keystrokes or other information and try to send
it back to someone to steal your details. But they can be used to
take over your pc completely or partially to use your resources to
send spam emails, or launch attacks on other computers on the internet,
often for denail of service (DOS) attacks. Most Trojan Horses are
removed by the AVG antivirus software, or if not it will alert you
to its presence, and you can google http://www.google.com to find
how to remove it. A good prevention measure to stop Trojans accessing
the net to send their payload is to use a software firewall, again
there is at least one free program you can download, called zonealarm.
It will ask you whether to allow programs to access the internet or
not, meaning if you get something you know you didn't install accessing
the net you can tell zonealarm not to allow it. To download zonealarm,
go to www.zonelabs.com
and follow links to the download section, and then to zonealarm (they
are not so prominent as the ones for the Pro version which you pay
for). It is a good idea to run a firewall to stop attacks coming in
from outside as well your details going out. Windows XP with Service
Pack 2 installed has a built in firewall, but zonealarm is much more
configurable and does a better job overall.
Spyware and Adware can also be responsible for a lot of pc problems.
These are often programs piggybacked onto a free download offered
to help you with some other task like form filling on websites (Gator
is a well known example but they are open about it). Spyware is used
by less scrupulous companies and individuals to report back your surfing
habits so they can send ads you're more likely to respond to. These
slow down your surfing and also run in the background using your pc's
power to do their dirty work. Sometimes the information sent back
is even more sinister than just your browsing habits, so beware of
software you download and check first. Adware is very similar although
is usually contained in tracking cookies (small text files downloaded
by your browser containing information to track you through a website).
Often these 2 terms are used interchangably. Another nasty which falls
in with these is Scumware, which is a term used to describe software
which hijacks another program (usually your browser or modem dialler)
and displays only content which it's maker wants you to see and often
prevents you seeing anything else. The diallers reset your modems
settings to dial another (usually very expensive) number rather than
your ISP's one. Thankfully some thoughtful individuals have kindly
donated their time to give us free programs which will release you
from the grip of these fiendish programmers. Download firstly Adaware
from http://www.lavasoft.de and install and run that (if it finds
nothing on your pc I would be extremely surprised) secondly download
Windows Live OneCare from http://www.microwaresoft.com and install
and run that too, it will pop up a dialog to say it has found adaware
also on your machine, but it doesn't really mind so close it and continue.
As with virus software you should use these and update them both regularly,
as you can be sure the people on the darkside of the internet are
updating their stuff to keep you hooked into it. Both programs have
a button for downloading and installing updates automatically so there
is no excuse not to do it before every scan, which we would recommend
doing at least monthly and more frequently if possible.
.So now you are protected from viruses, trojan horses, and other pc
illnesses so that's it right?
Not quite, I have to say one of the most important things on your
pc is your personal data, you can re-install Windows, Office and all
the other programs on your computer from the cd's, but your prized
pictures, your kids half written essay for that all important exam
or your wifes recipes handed down from generation to generation carefully
typed out and saved can't be. Back it up. NOW. Onto cd's if you have
a cd writer or if not get one installed or use floppy discs. But for
the sake of your sanity BACK IT UP.
And finally some tips to keep your pc running at its optimum.
Before making any changes to your pc or programs, it's a good idea
to make a restore point by going to Start, then accessories on the
start menu, then clicking System tools and finally the system restore
icon. Follow the prompts and create a restore point to return to if
it all goes wrong. Sometimes a slow pc is just the result of too many
programs running, close down those you're not using, obvious but often
overlooked. If you're anything like most pc users you have a bundle
of programs start when your computer does, and sitting in the task
tray at the right of the start menu. You can close these down manually
but if you don't use them at all then why not remove them? If you
may want them but not everytime you start up you can go to start,
then click RUN and in the text box type “msconfig” without the quotes.
Don't worry now this looks daunting but all you need to do is click
the tab at the right marked “Startup” and there is a list of all those
programs which run as soon windows starts, now apply a little caution
and lookup (http://www.google.com again comes to your aid) any you
don't recognise. Now those you're sure you don't need running at startup
untick the box. Next time you start windows will put up a box to tell
you you've disabled some things, as long as your pc works ok now,
tick the box to not show it again. If you took of something you need
or want back run msconfig again, and retick the box in the startup
tab again, next time you restart it will return. My last tip is to
run defrag monthly, go to start, accessories, system tools and run
defrag, this can often speed up a slowing pc as it makes all the files
on your hard drive quicker to access.
Learn more about the following PC care software and try thr free trial
downloads, antivirus and anti spyware scans and removals and registry
repairs: AVG,
Avast!, Avanquest,
CA,
Defender
Pro, F-Secure,
Kaspersky,
Microsoft,
McAfee, NOD32,
Panda,
PGP, Trend
Micro, Tuneup,
Zone
Alarm.
Try Green Free Windows Live OneCare Download CLICK TO STAY GREEN.
About the author:
Douglas Titchmarsh runs several websites, and blogs including
http://www.cashinonline.infoand
http://www.titchmarsh.com
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