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Rules: Simple rules for your safety and stability:
-Always have an antivirus program and make sure it is current, updated,
and turned on. Viruses are designed to get past
out of date antivirus programs. If you cannot afford an antivirus download
a free one from www.majorgeeks.com.
-Never give out your credit card info thru a link from an email. Many
hacker send out emails to look like they are from legitimate companies
but are designed to get your credit card info.(E-Commerce)
-Do not install free software. These programs run in the background
taking up resources, causing conflicts, and pop ups. These companies
are paid by selling your info (spam) or by also
loading spyware (pop ups). Some of these programs
are Date Manager, Gator, and Weatherbug.
-Beware of file sharing programs. These open hole in your system and
can allow others in. Also programs like KaZaa download spyware
into your system.
-Scandisk and defragment your drive regularly
(about once a month) or whenever you remove a large program.
-Microsoft will never send you patches. Any email supposedly from Microsoft
that has an attachment is a virus and should be deleted immediately.
You have to manually update Windows yourself.
-There is no son/wife of an ousted/assassinated African/South American
president/rebel leader who has millions for humanitarian aid and needs
your help to launder money. It's a scam to get
your bank account and take your money.
-Any email that says you have a virus and instructs you to search your system
for a specific file name is a hoax. Files like
snflbk or jdbmgr are valid and used by windows.
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Drivers:
Drivers are software instructions that allow Windows to use hardware. Sort of like
the transmission of a car that converts the engine power to the wheels.
Drivers are constantly being rewritten. A bad driver can cause the system
to lockup or prevent certain programs from running. Video card drivers
are the most complex and therefore are rewritten the most. If certain
programs are not running, or lockup a lot (mostly the newer games), downloading the newest driver might help. The most common video cards
are ATI and Nvidia.
If you are having problems with your printer try downloading the newest
drivers from HP,
Canon,
Epson,
and Lexmark.
If you have a device and are having problems finding the drivers,
try Driversguide.com. It is
an archive of hard to find drivers.
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Viruses:
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Hoaxes:
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Updates:
Microsoft is continually fixing their operating systems. Once they
identify a security hole they write a patch to fix it. When they get
a certain amount of patches they will then release a Service Pack that
has all the previous security patches up to that point. A fully updated
system will be more stable and secure. Some viruses are written to take
advantage of security holes in Windows. The updates will prevent the
spread of certain viruses. Microsoft has made it easy to get and install
all the newest patches with their Windows
Update. The computer will connect to the internet and the Microsoft
servers will determine what patches are needed. They can then be downloaded
and installed. To update your computer, open up Internet Explorer, click
on 'Tools' in the toolbar. This will bring a drop down menu. Click on
'Windows Update'. This will take you to the Windows
Update servers. Then choose 'Scan for updates' and the computer
will start checking for critical updates, other updates, and driver
updates. Critical updates will be selected automatically. Select 'Review
and install updates' to start the download. After they download Windows
will install them and may ask you to restart your computer.
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Spyware:
Spyware (some times referred to as Adware) is a type of malware that
runs in the background of your system taking up resources and keeps
track of where you go on the internet and subjects you to pop up style
of advertising. At times it can conflict with other programs and cause
errors to occur. Most spyware is installed with legitimate software.
Some of the biggest offenders are Kazaa, Weather Bug, Date Manager,
Hotbar, and Gator. If you seem to get a lot of pop ups, then you probably have some spyware.
There are a lot of programs out there that eliminate
spyware. Some of the most popular are Adaware and Spybot. These and
other programs can be downloaded from MajorGeeks.com.
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Troubleshooting:
Most computer problems can be solved by scanning for viruses,
scanning for spyware, updating
the operating system, updating drivers, and scanning
and defragmenting the hard drive. If a particular program is having
problems you should uninstall it and try reinstalling it. If that does
not work, try going online to the companies website and checking their
technical support section. If the problem is hardware, then you will
most likely need to replace the faulty component.
If the computer gives you an error message, you can search the Microsoft
Knowledge Base to find the solution. Just type the error message
in the search section.
If you cannot solve the problem, email
or call Gremlin Computers
at 424-1660.
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Disk Health:
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Spam:
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E-Commerce:
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