10 Ways To Protect Your Computer

My computer recently shuts downs as I am busy doing some internet jobs. So I've figured out why did it happened. I researched for what are the possible reasons why a computer crashes in definite point in time and how to protect it. I've read an article in pcmag and they've written a good piece of advice in avoiding things that can mess up your computer system.

Nervous newbies are often does the 10 dumbest things that bring havoc damage to their computers. Here's how they do it!

• Plug into the wall without surge protection-When you have a power outage, you may experience a surge when electricity comes back. You can protect your computer by havng a surge protector, but a UPS or Uninterruptible Power Supply is more preferred because it has a battery to sustain the life or power of the system even if there is a power outage.
  

• Surf the Internet without a firewall-Never connect into the internet without having a firewall program installed. Be sure to turn it on and configured properly to protect your system. This firewall can be a personal firewall, firewall built into the modem or router, and computer, a server at the betwork's edge running firewall software.

• Neglect to run or update anti virus and anti-spy ware programs - Anti virus programs can block you in using some application you want to use, it will prompt you to disable them for you to install new software. AV have to be updated on a regular basis to do any good. When renewing the subscription is really a headache because for some it may cost a fee especially when the AV is about to expire. But there's nothing more important than a system protected from malicious programs like viruses and worms/ that can bring the whole network down. Spy ware is also a threat, these are programs that install themselves on your computer (usually without your knowledge) and collect information from your system that is then sent back to the spy ware program’s author or vendor. Anti virus programs often don’t address spy ware so it’s important to run a dedicated spy ware detection and removal program.
  

• Install and uninstall lots of programs, especially betas- Trying new software before the others is very tempting especially if it is a freeware, shareware or pirated ones. But you never knew that installing pirated programs or "warez" may put your system at risk because it contains malicious code that can cause your system to behave improperly and crash. Licensed or final releases programs can gunk up the registry if too many installations and uninstallations is made because not all uninstall programs doesn't usually remove all the temporary files in the registry. Make sure to install only the programs you need most to avoid too many installation and uninstallation.
  

• Keep disks full and fragmented-always have a routine in defragmenting your disk especially when you does a lot of installations and uninstallations of programs because it will took so long for the CPU to locate the file if it is fragmented meaning, the file is located in different clusters in the disk. This is why the system slows down because it tries to locate the other part of the file. You can use the built-in Windows Defragmenter in Accessories in Programs. Using this progam makes thepieces of files to be placed in the disk contiguously. Another common cause of performance problems and application misbehavior is a disk that’s too full. Many programs create temporary files and need extra free space on the disk to operate. You can use Windows XP’s Disk Cleanup Tool or a third-party program to find and delete rarely used files, or you can manually delete files to clear space on your disk.
  

• Open all attachments- Check your e-mail messages if it contains any attachments like .exe,.cmd and others that are most likely executable, meaning it contains code that will delete your documents or system folders or by simply just sending viruses to your list in the address book. Even if .doc files and .xls files are not safe because it may contain embedded macros aren't directly executed by the computer but by other programs. What makes the file malicious if it's real extension is hidden, meaning a .jpg or .txt is not safe because we cannot be sure if it is really a graphic file or a text file. So be careful to be spoofed by that kind of malicious attack when opening e-mail messages.
  

• Click on everything-Think before you click any link that can direct you to porn sites or pirated music sites. Clicking a link in web pages can direct you also to sites that contain activeX controls that run scripts in your system enabling the hackers to get in and take control of your computer. Before clicking hover your mouse over the link to see if the site is safe and not phishing the site or imitating the site to reveal the real URL.

• Share and share alike- Turn-off printer sharing if you're across the network. Be careful in enabling the file and printer sharing because even if you haven't created any shared folders, Windows by default have hidden administrative shares for the root of each drive and theses what the hackers are using to access your files. It is important to protect your files by share-level permissions and NTFS permissions only. Also use strong password in your account to ensure safety.
  

• Pick the wrong passwords-Don't pick passwords that easy to guess like using your first name, lastname or any part of your name because hackers find it easy to crack. Make it a least 8 characters long 14 is even better and should contain at least a combination of alpha-numeric characters and symbols for security.
  

• Ignore the need for a backup and recovery plan-Always backup your files in cases when hackers deletes your files. corrupts the file or crash your system. Use the built-in Windows backup program (Ntbackup.exe in Windows NT, 2000, and XP) or a third-party backup program and schedule backups to occur automatically.

Remember that the data is the most important thing on your computer so share with your users to help them steer clear of preventable problems and avoid these 10 dumb thing that destroy your computer.. tnx


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