P.C. Security & Housekeeping BasicsWritten by Mike Nalbone
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The second, common type is a hardware Firewall. It’s an actual device that gets plugged into your connection just before your PC. Properly configured and maintained, a hardware firewall is considered by many to be most effective in preventing snooping and attacks. What do I mean by maintained, you ask? That brings us to second part of this article: HOUSEKEEPING . First, and foremost, if your PC is running any version of Microsoft Windows, you should be visiting http://www.windowsupdate.microsoft.com at least every month or so to check for any updates. Just follow instructions on web site. Hackers are constantly finding new security loopholes in Windows, and Microsoft, bless their hearts, frequently publishes free updates designed to plug these holes. Like I said earlier, no machine is hack-proof. Hackers frequently attack FBI, CIA, Banks, and big corporations' computers. If they want in, they'll find a way. Just make it as difficult as you can for them. If your machine is running sluggishly, you might want to defragment your hard drive. I hear you, "What hell does that mean?" Picture your new hard drive as a blank sheet of paper. When you install a new program or create a file on your hard drive, it starts to fill in information on this "blank sheet" . Over time, as programs are erased or as files are deleted, empty spaces begin to show up on sheet. Now, when you install a new program or create a new file, your pc looks for first available empty space on sheet. What if new file is larger than empty space? Well, your pc will copy part of file into that first space & rest of it goes into next available space. The process repeats itself until entire file has been copied. See where I'm going here? After time, parts of nearly all of your files can be scattered all over place. That's called fragmentation. When you go to use file, it takes more time to find each part & put it back together than it would if file was all in order & all in one piece. Luckily, you can fix this. Windows comes with a utility called a "de-fragmenter". On my PC, which runs Windows 2000, I can access defragmenter by clicking "Start", "Programs", "Accessories", "System Tools", and then "Disk Defragmenter". The location may be slightly different on your PC. Once you've found program, run it, & click on Analyze button. Windows will check your hard drive & show you what percentage of files are split-up. It will also make a recommendation as whether or not you should de-fragment drive. Defragmenting a drive can take a long time, so, you might want to run it just before you go to bed at night, or before you leave for work in morning. One more housekeeping tip: Why waste valuable hard drive space? Un-install any programs you no longer use by clicking "My Computer", then "Control Panel", then "Add/Remove Programs". Windows will show you a list of registered programs installed on your system. If you click on any of program names, Windows will show you size of program, and how frequently you have used it, and date you last ran it. Chances are, if you haven't looked in a while, you'll find some things there you'd totally forgotten about & no longer use. Get rid of junk. It's like cleaning out attic. The extra space can be used for "new junk". I've only covered basics here, and these are minimum steps you should take. For more information on maintaining health of your computer, just do a search on Google or Yahoo for "PC housekeeping" (include quotes). If you have neglected your poor PC, now is time to make things right. You'll gain better performance & possibly thwart any future, bigger problems.
Mike Nalbone is a freelance ghost-writer. He specializes in creating unique, original & affordable content articles for web site owners. You can visit Mike at: http://www.nalbone.org
| | Effectiveness of Web Hosting Directories (WHDs)Written by Priyanka Agarwal
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Some people believe that paid WHDs are very easy to manipulate as ranking of web hosts can be changed in unfair ways. Others have view that WHDs that are actually free reflect true ranking of web hosts companies. Whatever case may be, paid or free, people should believe web hosts rankings only if they are based completely on votes of customers who have actually given their remarks and have left their website address as well. It is not possible for any web hosting company to have 100% positive reviews. It is also observed that at times customers who are satisfied with their web host forget to express their opinion about that host. However, a biased customer who is not satisfied with their web host does not forget to mention their opinion of that web host. This implies that a negative review doesn’t always reflect true picture of a web host company. No doubt web hosting directories are very useful if newbie like John wants to compare prices and features of different companies. But, when it comes to choosing a web host he/she should make an intelligent choice by referring to other resource sites (forums etc.) as well.
Priyanka Agarwal M6.Net http://www.m6.net
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