TechTidBit - Tips and advice for small business computing - Tech Experts™ - Monroe Michigan

Brought to you by Tech Experts™

Defragging Your Hard Drive Can Make Your PC Run Fast

Defragging your hard drive is one of the most overlooked PC maintenance tasks, yet one of the simplest ways to keep your PC running fast.

When your files are organized, your hard drive has to work less to retrieve data, which speeds up the computer.

In Windows XP, open My Computer and right-click the hard drive, then click Properties and look under the Tools tab.

You will select the hard drive you want to defragment and click Analyze to see the state of the drive. The computer will take a moment to test the hard disk, then show you a graphical representation of the drive. Mostly blue bands indicate a healthy state on contiguous files.

Scattered red bands indicate fragmented files. If you have a lot of these, Windows will prompt you to defrag and you should accept when ready.

You’ll want to schedule your defrag, since you won’t be able to use the PC while this utility is running. Consider doing this when you leave the office for the day – it could take a few hours to complete depending on drive size.

If defragmenter produces errors, consider running defrag from within Safe Mode, where most services are stopped and nothing is using the drive.

How often you defrag the hard drive depends on your usage. If you constantly add and remove large files, you will need to do this often. If you do general PC work like checking Emails, working on spreadsheets, etc you will only need to perform this task about every two months.

Professional System Cleanings Are Essential To A Problem-Free Summer Computing Season

We spend a lot of time talking with clients, and writing in our newsletters, about the importance of keeping your systems clean from spyware, pop-ups and viruses. With the warm weather of summer approaching, it’s important to talk about physically cleaning your PCs.

The dirt, dust and debris that accumulate inside your computer’s case and power supply acts just like insulation, and can make your system run much hotter than it should.

As this extra heat builds up, it can cause erratic operation, lockups, random shutdowns, and in some cases, even data loss.

Tech Experts provides a comprehensive, professional system cleaning service that starts at just $59 per PC, with discounts available for multiple machines.

Our 15-point inspection program is designed to keep your equipment running smoothly, and to pinpoint potential problem areas before they turn into expensive repairs.

If you’re an adventurous sort, and would like to tackle this task yourself, here are some tips:

1) Compressed air is your friend – but make sure you get the “greenhouse gas friendly” canisters. If this is the first time you’ve cleaned your computer, and you’ve had it a while, you will probably need several cans.

Start by disconnecting all of your cables and power cord, and open the PC’s case and take it outside if there’s a lot of dust inside.

Give it a few quick blasts from the can, with the goal of getting all the dust bunnies out of the box. Avoid extended spraying, as the air that comes out of the can is quite cold, and can cause condensation to build up on the electronic parts if you hold the spray button down too long.

Use the nozzle straw attachment to get to hard to reach places like under the motherboard, between the cables, and through the internal air vents.

2) Now turn your attention to the rest of the computer. Particularly, dust out the fans and intake grills, paying special attention to the power supply. If you have a notebook, this is even more important, since these fans are especially prone to clogging.

3) Clean your keyboard, since you have the canned air handy. A few quick sprays will send whatever you’ve accumulated in the keyboard (hair, dust, crumbs, etc.) flying out. Next, you’ll want to clean the surface of the keyboard. Most are pretty tough, so any regular multi-purpose cleaner should work. We prefer to use glass cleaner, such as Windex. Be sure to spray the cleaner on a cloth, and not directly on the keyboard. Wipe the keyboard thoroughly, getting off any gunk or debris that is fixed to the keys.

4) You can use the same technique on your mouse, which you can clean on all sides, but pay special attention to the underside. Mice pick up a lot of junk on the bottom, so just scrape off anything that accumulated there. If you still are using a non-optical mouse (one with a little ball inside), pop the cover off, use a damp cloth to clean the rubber ball, and use a cotton swab dipped in alcohol to clean the rollers.

5) You can clean your screen just like you would a window, using any mild commercial glass cleaner. Again, be sure you spray the cleaner onto a cloth, and wipe with that, and do not spray the cleaner directly onto the screen.

Or, just give us a call at (734) 457-5000 and schedule our Spring PC Maintenance checkup.

This Isn’t Really Related To Computers, But Please Read It Anyway

An article a few months ago in Business 2.0 Magazine talked about how Wal-Mart was really pushing compact fluorescent (CF) light bulbs as a way to save energy.

If you’re not familiar with CF bulbs, you’ve probably seen them – they’re  funny looking, spiraled light bulbs.

Now, we’re automatically dubious of anything Wal-Mart might be promoting, but we went ahead and tried a few of these bulbs.

They take a little getting used to. For example, there’s sometimes a slight (1-2 second) delay when you flick the switch, as compared to regular bulbs, which start instantly.

If CF bulbs are cold, they may initially be dimmer than normal, and brighten up over 60 to 90 seconds.

The bulbs cost as much as five times the cost of a regular bulb. But, the electrical cost savings are pretty dramatic – they use about 80% less electricity than regular bulbs. Plus, they last almost 10 times as long as regular bulb. In the long run, they’re quite a money saver.

At home, we’ve replaced most of our regular light bulbs with CF bulbs, and have a notable, demonstrated drop of almost $25 per month on our electric bill.

Take a few minutes to Google “compact fluorescent” and check them out for yourself. You’ll be happy with the cost savings.

Speed Up Your PC By Limiting Startup Programs

Most versions of Windows use a utility called msconfig, which gives you the ability to control what programs automatically startup each time you boot your machine.

Some programs, like your software firewall and your antivirus, are essential startup programs because they protect your PC.  However, there are other programs that do not need to load, and preventing them from loading will speed up your boot time and save memory.

Aside from the msconfig utility, there are a couple of other ways to remove these startup programs.

If you look down by your system clock, you will likely see several  icons belonging to auto-run programs.

Try right-clicking some of them, and in their preferences menu you may find a way to disable them from loading at startup.  You can also check the startup folder, which is located by navigating through your Start menu, then Programs, then Startup.  Some of the programs here can simply be removed by deleting them. Deleting them will not delete the program itself.

You will need to make the decision what to remove using the techniques above.  If you are unsure, then leave it.  But minimizing the programs that hog system resources at boot  is a quick way to improve system performance.

Ten Things You Need To Look For When Choosing Your Company’s Anti-Virus Solution

Antivirus programs are no longer a best practice; they’re a requirement. If a system has a power supply and runs Windows, it must have a first-rate antivirus application current with the latest signatures.

Don’t make it easier for attackers to compromise the systems your business relies on for day to day operations  – insist on these 10 elements in any antivirus application you implement.

1: Potency
An antivirus program is useless if it fails to identify and isolate viruses, worms, and similar infections. Productivity losses quickly mount when you have to clean machines of malicious software.

Removing infections from systems supposedly protected by antivirus applications only adds insult to injury. Avoid such frustration by ensuring that the antivirus platform you deploy effectively prevents infection.

Don’t let persuasive ads or name-brand recognition talk you into specific brands. Research your options thoroughly and talk to your tech expert to learn their recommendations. The insight you’ll gain is invaluable.

#2: Low overhead
Some mass-market antivirus programs have been known to bring minimally configured Windows systems to a standstill. This is why we don’t sell or recommend Norton’s Anti-virus products any longer – they simply take up too much memory.

An effective antivirus program must constantly work behind the scenes to monitor active applications. That’s understood. But protective software apps requiring (or commanding) significant system resources often do more harm than good.

When selecting an antivirus application, review the program’s system requirements. Before committing to a solution, test the application on several workstations to determine the true load that the program places on real-world equipment.

#3: Centralized administration
No one enjoys having to visit every workstation within the organization. That’s just what you’ll have to do, though, if you standardize on an antivirus application that doesn’t support centralized distribution and administration.

Make sure the antivirus solution you select works well with Windows Intellimirror and other mass client-deployment technologies (or has its own native deployment features).

Although some smaller companies aren’t as dependent on time-saving deployment tools, remotely managing and administering antivirus applications is still most efficient, even in businesses with just 20 employees. By eliminating the need to visit those systems to configure scans, review logs, and maintain updates, strong centralized administration features more than pay for themselves.

#4: E-mail protection
It goes without saying that any antivirus solution should guard against infectious code sent or received in e-mail.

However, not all applications provide such protection. Even if your organization maintains an e-mail server- or router-based antivirus program, seek client antivirus apps that provide secondary e-mail protection.

Client-side e-mail security offers essential protection for your organization. It also safeguard’s its reputation, preventing users from infecting external customers, partners, and suppliers and keeping your organization off one of many troublesome spam lists.

#5: Compatibility
In addition to confirming that an antivirus application operates well with your operating system, check that it doesn’t create errors when installed alongside business applications, proprietary programs, and other software packages. Some antivirus manufacturers do a good job of warning about known conflicts, others don’t. But the best bet is to install the solution (prior to a department- or organization-wide deployment) to test the antivirus software’s interaction with other programs.

Pay particularly close attention if you’re working with Microsoft Vista. Don’t expect Windows XP-based antivirus software to work well with the newest desktop OS. In fact, in most cases, it won’t.

#6: Effective reporting tools
Some antivirus solutions enable you to review reports from all configured clients via a Web interface. Others produce reports indicating threats, scans, and infections but require that an administrator visit each client to obtain that information.

Review your company’s needs and determine which method will work best. Consider reporting features carefully. A program’s logs and report information will prove invaluable in alerting you to problems before or as they occur.

#7: Technical support
Antivirus programs fail. It’s inevitable. Sooner or later, you’ll encounter strange failures, bizarre error messages, or inexplicable system freezes. Having access to the antivirus manufacturer’s development staff is essential for successfully identifying a solution.

Before purchasing any software, check out the manufacturer’s Website. Find out whether the manufacturer provides a toll-free number for support, review any troubleshooting forums, and check which live assistance options exist.

#8: Certification
Just as an antivirus solution’s potency is critical, so too is certification. Manufacturers can make all the promises and claims they want in marketing materials, but industry certification is hard won.

ICSA Labs, Virus Bulletin, West Coast Labs, the National Associate of Specialist Computer Retailers, and others all require antivirus programs to meet stringent requirements to receive certification.

Of course, certification isn’t foolproof. But one way to know you’re purchasing a trustworthy application is to confirm that the program has earned certification from these leading labs.

#9: Simplified licensing
Once you’ve identified an antivirus solution that’s potent, compatible, and backed by quality technical support (among other elements), it’s time to turn your attention to licensing.

Some manufacturers complicate licensing to the point that you can install a dedicated license on only a single machine. If that system’s hard disk or motherboard fails (or the entire system goes down), under OEM terms your organization is likely required to purchase another license, even if the original term is yet to expire.

Review license requirements with care. It’s often best to purchase client licenses by seat. Thus, if a workstation or server fails, migrating an existing license to the replacement system becomes a simple matter. (But expect to pay more for the privilege.)

Remember to factor in growth considerations when purchasing a specific number of seats. It’s all too easy to exceed licensing limits signed six months ago. Keep detailed notes on how many systems receive antivirus software and keep the documentation current as workstations and servers are replaced or upgraded.

If you’re very close to a quantity threshold (for example, you need 23 licenses), ask about purchasing a few extra licenses to take you to the next licensing level. You may very well find that the two or three additional licenses needed to move you to the next level end up costing you less than purchasing the exact amount you need. For example, the price difference between Level A and Level B may be $3 or $4 per seat.

#10: Reasonable cost
When purchasing fewer than 50 licenses, expect to pay approximately $40 to $50 per seat for an annual antivirus license. As an organization exceeds 100 licenses, costs can drop to as low as $35 per user.

Unless an application includes firewall, anti-spyware, or antispam features, prices should fall within the above ranges. Any organization tempted to add firewall or anti-spyware tools to its antivirus application, especially for 20 or more users, might be better served pursuing a hardware-based solution (such as the ones provided by SonicWALL and other manufacturers) instead of a software-focused product.

No matter how secure you think your systems are, and how careful your employees are, anti-virus and anti-spyware solutions are critical to protecting your business. With more and more business transacted over the Internet, you must have a comprehensive protection suite installed.

Tech Experts works with several anti-virus applications, and our trained experts can help you choose the right solution for your business.

How To Send or Share Very Large Files

Here’s a question we receive quite often in our service department: “How can I send a 50-megabyte file to a customer, since it’s way too big for an e-mail attachment? Are there ways to do it other than burning a CD and using postal mail?”

For server space and bandwidth reasons, many e-mail providers limit file attachments on a message to no more that 5 or 10 megabytes in size.

This often makes it difficult to send things like high-resolution photographs or digital video files as e-mail attachments.

If burning the files to a CD and mailing them isn’t a workable option, there are other methods of electronically transferring your large files.

People or companies with their own Websites often upload large files or folders to the Web server with a file-transfer program — and send the intended recipient a user name and password to use for retrieving the files. But this may not be an option for a lot of people.

Instead, several companies offer to transfer huge files over the Internet. Instructions for using each service vary, so be sure to read the information on the site.

Pando, for example, has free and paid versions of its software for transferring files at www.pando.com, and it works with both Windows and Macintosh systems.

You can send files up to a gigabyte in size free through Pando, and the company has paid plans starting at $5 a month to send even larger files from machine to machine.

YouSendIt (www.yousendit.com) is another service that promises to transfer your big files. You can send files of up to 100 megabytes free with its YouSendIt Lite service — or files up to two gigabytes in size with the company’s $5-a-month service.

Some free or inexpensive online file-storage services like Xdrive (www.xdrive.com), iBackup (www.ibackup.com) and FilesAnywhere (www.filesanywhere.com) also let you mark certain files for sharing. This means customers can download a large file themselves from your online storage drive, rather than dealing with e-mail attachments that are too big to fly.

When Does VoIP Make Sense For Your Business?

The Voice over IP (VoIP) landscape has exploded in the last five years. In its early implementation, Internet-based telephony was a hassle to implement, inconvenient to use, and far less reliable than regular or traditional phone service.

Today, our cup runneth over with VoIP services and providers, with pricing and features packages appropriate for everyone from individual/home users to small/medium businesses to the very large companies.

VoIP lines can connect seamlessly to regular lines and wireless numbers; to the end user, making a VoIP call no different from placing a call on a cell phone or landline.

VoIP advantages
Early adopters of VoIP were motivated primarily by cost; depending on their phone usage and long distance habits, they could save tremendously on phone bills because:

  1. Most VoIP plans don’t charge extra for domestic long distance (and some services offer free international calls to certain countries, as well).
  2. VoIP services often include, at no extra charge, features for which the traditional telephone companies impose extra fees, such as caller ID, call forwarding, three-way calling, and voicemail.
  3. VoIP has not been subject to all of the taxes and government-imposed fees that make up a large portion of the typical phone bill.

The big tradeoff in the early days was a lower quality in voice transmission and occasional dropped calls—pretty much the same disadvantages that plagued cellular phone service in its early days.

However, as VoIP has matured, transmission quality and reliability have improved to the point where they’re now close to that of regular telephone service. VoIP users are also drawn by other advantages of IP-based voice services, including the ability to have VoIP phone numbers in the area code of your choosing, regardless of where you’re physically located.

In effect, this gives you a low-cost way to maintain a virtual “local” presence in cities in which you do business so that customers there can call you without long distance charges, at much lower cost than alternatives such as an 800 number.

Another great advantage is that many VoIP services offer free voicemail services such as e-mail notification when you receive a call (along with a .WAV file of your voicemail messages sent to your e-mail address) that are either not available or cost extra with traditional telephone service packages.

VoIP disadvantages
VoIP technology still has a few disadvantages when compared with traditional phone service. Most notable is the inability to make phone calls during an electrical outage or when the Internet connection is down for any reason. In addition, some services that depend on phone lines, such as monitored alarm services, may require a landline, although there are now some alarm companies that offer service that works over a VoIP line.

Businesses that must rely on their phone service should take steps to ensure that their disaster recovery/business continuity plans cover their VoIP service.

Measures might include maintaining some regular telephone lines for emergency use, backup generators, and/or redundant Internet connections with failover capability.

Finally, VoIP services are subject to the same security concerns as other Internet traffic.

Selecting VoIP services
Small businesses may be able to save a lot of money by using VoIP services primarily aimed at consumers, such as Vonage or Sunrocket. These and other consumer-level services offer small business plans with online account management and may include a separate fax line.

A good solution for a small or home-based business that only has two to five employees and needs only a couple of phone lines is to order two VoIP boxes and plug both into a two-line base station system that supports multiple two-line handsets. Each worker can then use either line.

Larger businesses may need features that consumer level VoIP providers don’t offer, such as the ability to transfer calls, put calls on hold, or create conference calls among more than three parties—although in some cases the telephone equipment you choose can allow these activities, even if the provider doesn’t offer them. Larger VoIP providers generally include features like conference calling, music on hold, call queuing, scheduling and remote office features, and fax support.

Regardless of the size of your company, VoIP is now a viable option to traditional phone service, and may allow you to get more features and a wider scope of calling at a lower cost.

Outdated Operating Systems Combined With Daylight Savings Change May Cause Problems

First of all we have to ask… Do you know about the upcoming change to Daylight Saving Time this year?  Most folks we asked said “What change?”

For those of you that don’t know there is a change in the start and end dates for Daylight Saving Time this year.  It will start on Sunday, March 11th, 2007 at 2:00am and will end on Sunday, November 4th, 2007.  So, for 2007, DST starts 3 weeks earlier on the second Sunday of March and ends a week later on the first Sunday of November.  This change was made as an attempt to reduce energy consumption.

So what needs to happen this year to facilitate the change in DST on your computer systems, and what will the impact be?

The change is about five weeks away, so the time to start making plans is now. Most every device in your company that keeps time will be affected. We’ll address what you need to do to your PC’s, servers and other IT equipment.

However, keep in mind that things like VCR’s, DVD’s, and DVR’s may have some problems.  They won’t realize that the time change takes place three weeks earlier so that show that you thought you were recording may not record at all.

Also, PDA’s, fax machines, time clocks, switches, routers, and telephone systems that have programming embedded to change to DST on the first Sunday of April and the last Sunday in October are going to have problems. This is just the tip of the iceberg.  Each company will have to look at the impact that this change will have on you.

According to Microsoft, these are their products that will be affected by the change:

  • Windows Client
  • Windows Server
  • Windows Mobile
  • Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services
  • Microsoft Exchange Server
  • Microsoft Office Outlook
  • Microsoft Dynamics CRM
  • Microsoft SQL Server Notification Services
  • Microsoft Biztalk Server
  • Microsoft Entourage

Outdated and Legacy Operating Systems/Windows 2000 Server and Professional

The news is not good for those companies who are still running Windows 2000, either server or workstation.  Windows 2000 is going to require a manual process be done to update the timezone database and the registry keys for the current control set.

Manually editing your registry can potentially cause problems, or even cause your computer or server  to stop functioning. It is best to call your technology expert (Tech Experts, perhaps?) to make these changes and updates.

The entire process may take between 15 minutes and a half hour to complete, per machine, so the cost is reasonable compared with updating equipment to a new operating system.

Windows 95/98/ME/NT Server and Workstation

If you’re still using Windows 95, 98, ME, NT 4 server or workstation, it is time to upgrade.  Upgrading may mean buying a new computer.  Sorry about that, but that is the price of progress.  Technology continues to change and we just have to change with it. Don’t fret – you’ve definitely gotten your money’s worth out of your old 95 or 98 system.

Windows XP (SP1)/XP Home Edition (SP1)

Here is the information/clarification on these two items.  Installing service pack 2 appears to be the answer.  Then you fall into the patch available category.  When Microsoft talks about XP SP2 it includes Home and Professional.

Windows XP Pro and Home Edition(SP2)/Windows 2003

There is a patch available on the Microsoft download site and will be in the Update Patch cycle sometime in early March.

Windows Vista

No updates are needed. It is shipping with the new Timezone Database installed.

Microsoft Exchange, Outlook, Biztalk Server, SQL Server or any of the other items listed in the table above would be advised to check the Microsoft article about what the requirements for them will be.

Now for those of you that say… Ok this is it. We get our Tech Experts in to do our updates, and I’m done with it.  Well, maybe not.

Part of the government edict changing DST specifically states that “The Secretary of Energy will report the impact of this change to Congress. Congress retains the right to resume the 2005 Daylight Saving Time schedule once the Department of Energy study is complete.”

So, this is a test year. If they don’t like it they can change it back.  Fortunately, the updates and changes made this year will incorporate an easier mechanism to change back, should Congress decide the change wasn’t effective.

An important note for the Daylight Saving Time changes for this year: A lot of software needs updating, not just operating systems. Anything that uses its own prepackaged Java Virtual Machine needs an update, as well as most software that calculates dates (many will read the system time/date, but use internal code for calculating dates after that).

The best bet is to list out any 3rd party software and double check with the vendors. To make matters worse, not all vendors have released patches for their software yet.

‘Storm’ Trojan Hits 1.6 Million Computers; General Virus Activity at an All Time High

It is mission critical that you keep your antivirus subscription current and your software up to date. Many small business owners think that because they purchased the software one time, they’re protected.

Most anti-virus software requires an annual subscription. And, if you don’t renew, you’re not protected. Too many business owners are finding this out the hard way.

For example, the Trojan horse that began spreading during the last week of January has attacked at least 1.6 million PCs, with no signs of stopping. In addition, Windows Vista is also vulnerable to the attack.

Originally dubbed the “Storm worm” because one of the subject heads used by its e-mail touted Europe’s recent severe weather, the Trojan’s author is now spreading it using subjects such as “Love birds” and “Touched by Love.”

The Trojan, meanwhile, piggybacks on the spam as an executable file with names ranging from “postcard.exe” to “Flash Postcard.exe.”

If your computer’s anti-virus software is out of date, or if you’ve not renewed your anti-virus subscription, your system could easily get infected by a seemingly innocent e-mail.

By Symantec’s estimate, the Storm Worm is the most serious Internet threat in 20 months.

As with most large-scale Trojan attacks, the goal seems to be to acquire a large botnet, or collection of compromised PCs, that can be used to send traditional scam spams or for later identity mining.

Windows 2000 and Windows XP are vulnerable to all of the Storm Worm variations, but Windows Server 2003 is not; the Trojan’s creator specifically excluded that edition of Windows from the code. We presume the malware writers didn’t have time to test it on this operating system.

New computer viruses are discovered on a daily basis. In order to remain effective, your antivirus software needs to be regularly updated, generally once a week.

Make sure you know how to check your antivirus software for updates, and spot check automatic updates to make sure they are, in fact, updating.

If your version of anti-virus software doesn’t automatically update (many free or low cost programs do not), schedule reminders on your computer so updates are performed regularly.

Nine Easy Steps To Protect Your Computer From Viruses, Trojans and Infections

Here are some helpful suggestions from the experts at TechExperts on how to protect your computer and network.

Step 1: Protect your personal information.
Be suspicious of any email with urgent requests for personal financial information, and never respond to unsolicited requests for confidential information.

Beware of phishing. Phishing is an Internet scam where a message is sent out via email asking you to provide or verify certain information.

Typically these requests are designed to look like they came from a bank or other service provider. Usually there is a link to the bank’s website. But in fact the link doesn’t go to the bank; it goes to a computer controlled by fraudsters. Once armed with your data, thieves take out cash advances from your accounts or may try to steal your identity.

Step 2: Use an anti-virus program and take steps minimize computer virus risks.
Make certain that good, commercial-quality anti-virus software has been installed on your computer. New viruses appear constantly and daily virus definition updating decreases the risk of computers becoming infected. Many free anti-virus programs don’t provide for automatic updating.

Your anti-virus software should be set to automatically update, and should always be running.

Step 3: Install anti-spyware software and enable Windows Firewall.
Spyware is software that is usually downloaded from the Internet, either intentionally under the guise of a service or utility, or without your knowledge as a result of browsing malicious Web sites. Spyware gathers information about how you use your computer, and poses a threat to your privacy.

A firewall is a piece of software or hardware that helps guard computers against hackers as well as many computer viruses and worms.

Windows XP has a built-in firewall product, but it may not be enabled. Give us a call for more information on how to enable Windows Firewall.

Step 4: Be careful with email attachments.
Attachments are files, such as a document or picture that can be sent along with an email. Viruses spread by hijacking an infected computer’s email address book. The virus sends copies of itself as email attachments to everyone in the victim’s email address book. This gives the appearance that your friend is emailing you a joke or a document, but it’s really the virus attempting to spread itself.

If you receive an unexpected email attachment, even if you know the sender, do not open the attachment.

Step 5: Use strong passwords, and change them often.
A strong password is one that is not obvious or easy to guess, it should be 8 – 12 characters long and include a combination of upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols such as punctuation marks and special characters.

Step 6: Stay updated.
As flaws are discovered, software makers such as Microsoft release software updates. To ensure that your computer is secure, install the appropriate updates. There are a few circumstances where you might not want to, but generally, always enable Windows Update to automatically install updates to your system.

Step 7: Be careful about downloading.
Tons of no-cost programs are available with more becoming available each day. If a program is written with malicious intent, the author/intruder will not tell you that it will harm your system.

Many no-cost programs collect data about you and then sell that data to advertisers. These types of programs are called “spyware” (see step 3 above).

Step 8: Backup, backup, backup!
In case of emergencies, such as a hard drive crash, documents and data files stored only on your local hard drive need to be backed up and backups need to be periodically tested. If you are not sure if your files are being backed up, give us a call – we’ll be happy to help.

You may also want to consider encrypting and/or password-protecting files so that data will be unusable if stolen. Note that conventional passwords, such as Windows passwords, do not secure your data.

Step 9: Know where to go when you need help with your computer.
Keep our 24 hour computer emergency hotline telephone number available: (734) 240-0200. We’re always here to help with your computer problems!