Tips being coins and tricks being a magic trick to make a big coin.

Are there any ways I can help prevent disaster with my computer?

Last updated: around 2006

Type:              Tips
Reliability:        - High
Ease of learning:   - Easy-medium
Time saving:        - No effect
Usefulness:         - Extremely useful
Difficulty:         - Easy
Overall:            - Great

1 Introduction

1.1 What this is about

Today, you'll find a computer practically everywhere you go, even your own home. Computers will only become more common as time goes on as well as faster and more powerful. However, they aren't truly secure. There are all kinds of dangerous things out there and it almost entirely comes from the internet.

1.2 Some terms you should know

There are quite a few different types of objects that are dangerous:

Virus - A virus is a program that can destroy your computer by making it extremely difficult and frustrating to use. Some examples of virus activity is where the virus causes files to be deleted without your knowledge. It may make Windows critically unstable, or it may prevent programs from running or, even worse, prevent your computer from starting up at all.

Spyware - Although much less serious than a virus, spyware is dangerous in it's own unique way. Spyware comes in many varieties. Some log your keystrokes to capture credit card numbers, usernames and passwords, social security numbers, and various other information of the related.

Adware - Adware is much less harmless, but it can be very annoying. Adware is basically any program that enforces popup ads to appear, redirect you to other sites you don't want to visit, and it may add on additional banner ads on webpages you visit. If you have children, adware can become bad as some adware enforces you to visit porn sites and other websites with extreme adult content.
Trojan horse - a trojan horse is a form of spyware that appears harmless, but it can allow hackers to get into your system and cause all sorts of trouble.

2 E-mail safety

2.1 E-mail is both good and bad

Most anyone who uses the internet to some degree likely has an E-mail account with their own E-mail address. E-mail provides free sending of messages almost instantly to your friends or for business coorespondence such as technical support. The dark side to E-mail is the fact that it is free. This means that anyone can send a message to you, good or bad in which some messages may contain spyware or viri.

2.2 Some precautions on the file size

Spam, unwanted E-mail messages such as those shown in the screenshot above (this is my worst case of spam and attachments I've ever had - click it to see a full-size version), are quite common ways that security can be at a risk. I, myself, often get between 250 and 400 spam messages per week (that 263 was in 5 days which is about 370 for 7, on the high end)! If you see an E-mail message from someone you don't know, be cautious about opening it. If you have doubts, just declare it as junk mail (if it's in the inbox) and/or send it to the trash without reading or opening it. Messages above even 15 KB should be something to be careful at. If there was previous coorespondence included, then there shouldn't be much worry, even if 50 KB in size. A 15 KB E-mail means a lot of text. This document hovers near 15 KB (which includes HTML formatting). Messages above 25 KB should be a cause for concern. If you see a message that's, say, 28 KB, make sure that it's from someone you absolutely know and have requested in someway. If you didn't request it, declare the message as junk and/or send it to the trash. If it is from a friend of yours, then you may open it without much worry.

2.3 About attachments

Be very careful about attachments. If you see a message with an attachment (the paperclip icon in my screenshot), and you don't know who it is with absolute certainty and if you didn't request such a thing, do not open the message. The attachment might download and a virus or some spyware might get installed onto your computer without you even knowing about it. Take extreme care when viewing messages with attachments.

If you plan on sending attachments, run a virus scan on your system before sending it. This can help prevent your friend(s) from getting a virus or spyware you might have. It's also recommended that you run a spyware scan too.

3 Browsing safety

3.1 Browser security

Internet Explorer is a low-security program due to ActiveX controls. Avoid using it. Try using a different browser instead. Firefox is supposedly much more secure than IE mainly because it doesn't have ActiveX controls.

3.2 Make sure you have a firewall

Be sure you have a firewall. If you don't have one, Zonealarm is a decent program to look into. Although you can pay for the full version, the free version has the firewall. If you are using Zonealarm, if a message comes up telling of a program trying to access the internet and if it's one you don't recognize, deny access. If it's something like Norton or Spy Sweeper trying to download software updates, or your browser, allow that program to have access. If you have a Router (such as for a DSL connection), you have double-layer security. To explain this, pretent that firewall A blocks 1, 3, 4, 7, and 8. Firewall B blocks 0, 2, 3, 6, 7, and 9. Attacking with 1 won't get past firewall A and thus can't get to firewall B. Attacking with 9 will get past firewall A, but not B thus still being safe. Attacking with 5, however, will get past both shields. If you don't have a firewall, Spyware will be able to send spied-upon data to the host requesting the data or a hacker may simply just enter your computer and start deleting files, installing hoards of viri and spyware, and even worse. A trojan horse is a doorway for hackers to get in.

3.3 Have a real-time spyware monitor

If you can afford it, try buying a decent spyware scanner (such as Norton Internet Security or Spy Sweeper), or even more than one spyware scanner, preferrably one that has real-time monitoring (such as Spy Sweeper). Sometimes, one program can detect spyware that another doesn't. This helps ensure safety. There are plenty of freeware spyware scanners as well. If you plan to go with free ones, it's highly recommended that you download more than one of them. Free software is a lot less effective than software you buy. Spybot Search and Destroy as well as AdAware and Spy Subtract (this is a trial program) are free (the third one has a 30-day trial limit, but the other two are indefinite.

3.4 Take caution when downloading free software

Importantly, avoid downloading free software. Very frequently, free software comes jammed with spyware, adware, and sometimes even a virus or two! Be very careful when downloading and installing free software. Download sites are okay, but make sure you read their policies first. Download.com is safe due to their restrictions on spyware. Beyond that, avoid it as much as you can. Programs such as KaZaA comes with over 130 items of spyware (according to what I've seen with my dad's computer who downloaded it). With that much, the computer slows down significantly. If you do download any program, no matter where it's from, run both a spyware scan and a virus scan on it to be safe before even opening it to install it with. If a virus or piece of spyware is detected, just delete the program without installing it.

3.5 About warez (pirated) software

Also, avoid using warez or pirated software at any cost. Not only is it illegal to use, it can contain one or more viri and plenty of spyware. It also has a tendency to not work at all (as I've seen from other users on the Gamestudio forums). Even though it might be a lot cheaper, just avoid it no matter what. Look into details before buying software online.

4 Off-line/other safety

Even when you're not online, things can go quite badly off-line as well, but this usually deals with how you use your computer.

4.1 Running spyware scans

First, run a spyware scan and virus scan at least once a week. The more often, the better. Also, if a spyware scanner or virus scanner is not up to date, it's almost useless. When you run a full virus or spyware scan, be sure you have the most recent update.

4.2 Registry, configurations, and program files

Second, don't go playing around with the registry, system configurations, or program file folder contents, unless you're absolutely sure what you're doing. Looking around, however, is okay (provided it is allowed by the license agreement). If you mess something up, your system or a program may stop working.

4.3 Run backup

Third, be sure you have backup of your files on your hard drive. If you fail to backup your files and if something happens to your system unexpectedly, you may not be able to recover anything. Backup your files to CD or a second hard drive at least once a month. Have double copies of your most essential files. To make a quick copy of a file, just open Explorer, click on the file, press and hold control while pressing C then V. This makes a quick copy of a file. If you want to mass-select files, just hold down control and left-click on each file you want to have copied. Then, do the usual control+C, V to mass-copy the files. It is recommended that you do it more frequently, especially if you have very essential files you don't want to lose. If you're trying to install a new piece of hardware or a lot of free software, run a backup just in case something happens. For double copies, use some file compression utility to back them up to use up less disk space.

4.4 Keep the system cool

Fourth, be sure your system is adequately cooled. As the heat caused from the processor and other hardware increases, their performance decreases and it can cause all sorts of problems. Your system could eventually fail if it gets too hot. The system would either give a bunch of beeps to give a warning or just shut down in the middle of something, depending on your BIOS configurations. When using your computer, be sure to have plenty of clearance so air can flow freely. A bigger, stronger fan or multiple fans also helps, even if it's one not normally meant for a computer (such as a 12-inch fan blowing on the computer from outside).

4.5 Have an emergency boot disk

Fifth, be certain you have an emergency boot disk. This disk can be used to boot into Windows in case problems arise that's preventing you from running normally (such as a corrupt file).

4.6 A useful utility

Sixth, although less important, make sure you have a utility to write zeros to the hard drive. In case you get a virus or something or Windows becomes unstable for some reason, using a utility to write zeros to the hard drive can erase viruses far more thoroughly than a regular format. However, the side effect to this is that you'll need to have an extra two to four hours or so (mainly depending on the speed and size of your hard drive). Part of the side effect is that you also have to run fdisk as well. In short, just leave to the default options (create a primary partition and enable large disk support.). Between NTFS and FAT32, I don't know the difference. I use FAT32 myself (Windows 98 doesn't support NTFS).

4.7 About running lots of programs

Seventh, avoid having a ton of programs running at once. This can drain resources very quickly and if the computer runs out of resources (or memory), weird things begin happening, even a crash may occur. As a recommendation, make sure you get no more than 8 items in your task bar. If you want to monitor your resource level, just click on start > run. From here type "rsrcmtr.exe" and okay it. I don't know which OS have it by default, but it's a program available on the Windows installation CD. If you don't have it, you may need to go to add/remove programs (in the control panel) and go to Windows setup (system tools item - click details to find it) and the system tools item in order to install it.

4.8 Have enough free hard drive space

Eighth, always make sure you have at least 500 MB of free space on your hard drive. If you run out of disk space, you may encounter a lot of problems. If you ever see a "you have run out of disk space" warning, close every single program you have open (to free up some swap file), and open Explorer. Delete some files or move some of the smaller ones to floppy disk or burn a CD. Also, you might want to look into a file compression utility such as Winzip if disk space is running short. It's best to compress drawings and text documents as they compress quite well. Photos, however, don't compress all that well. Also, you might want to clear your cache. If you're using insecure IE, go to tools > internet options (or go into the control panel and use the internet options thing from there). From here, where the cache stuff is, select "delete files" and don't flag the "delete all offline content" as it might erase things you don't want erased. Often, the cache in IE can contain even a whole gigabyte of files or more. You can reduce this though configurations. I suggest that you don't exceed 2 MB if on DSL or 20 MB on dial-up. Another thing you can do is to uninstall programs you don't use. Prepackaged computers often come with a bunch of otherwise useless stuff to you so uninstall those. A final alternative is to just empty the recycle bin. If all else fails, buy a bigger hard drive.

4.9 Handling hardware

If you've never worked with hardware before and don't know of anyone who has near you, you should contact a professional when installing new hardware. Hardware components are static sensitive and your body's natural charge built within can potentially damage the components. Always discharge your body's static build-up (often by touching the power supply) before starting to work with hardware. A grounding strap would be even better.

4.10 Magnets damage data on computers

Magnets are dangerous for a computer. Keep all magnetic things (including speakers) far from the case to avoid any damage from magnets.

4.11 Handling CD's

Fingerprints and scratches on CD's and DVD's can cause them or parts of them to be unreadable. When handling CD's, always hold them on the sides or with using the center hole. The same goes for music CD's and movies. CD's, however, are almost immune to magnets.

Footnotes:
* Because I've never seen a system that uses anything outside a standard 56K dial-up, the reliability is very low. Heh, even dial-up is expensive where I'm at: $30 a month [includes an extra phone line]! Just to double the speed, you pay $50 a month, about that of what you could get for a 1 Mbps speed. With the way things look, I may still never see a system running on an internet connection faster than dial-up even 2 years from now. Due to this, this tip only applies best to dial-up users and not recommended for anything else, unless the specifications are the same. The ratings are declared as "indeterminate" for this same reason.
** Because of the nature of an internet connection, this cannot be applied for time saving. It varies widely.

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