Think of a firewall as a doorman whose job it is to open a large locked door. When doorman knows who is knocking at door either by an announcement or because he recognizes person he will let them in. With your firewall firewall is unlocked only on your authorization allowing data to be passed on or received. It learns after awhile who is trusted and who is not.

A firewall comes standard with Microsoft Windows XP (Microsoft.com). But in order for it to protect, you must turn it on. Other solutions are Symantec’s Norton Personal Firewall which you can buy by itself or bundled in Norton Security Suite (symantec.com). McAfee (McAfee.com) also has a good firewall as well as free version of Zone Labs firewall called Zone Alarm (zonelabs.com).

And, finally you should have good spyware software to protect against hackers or companies from snooping to find information about you through your internet connection. It is commonly used by companies for marketing purposes. Free spyware software that is widely used is Spybot's Search & Destroy (safer-networking.org) or Lavasoft’s (lavasoft.com) free version of their Ad-aware spyware application. Spy Sweeper from Webroot (webroot.com) is an excellent choice and does not cost very much. Spy Sweeper has received many top reviews from computer magazines.

If you install a virus protection software, Firewall and spyware software your computer will be well protected and you will have peace of mind. And, you needn't spend a lot. In each category you can find a free version that is very good and will help keep your computer problem free.

Update and Run Your Virus Scan Software

Make sure you have virus scan software on your computer. If you don't, McAfee offers a free program you can use over net. Visit http://www.mcafee.com and click "Home and Home Office". If you already have virus scanning software, update it, and run a full check periodically.

Run Scandisk

Double-click your My Computer icon on desktop. From their, right click your hard drive(c: is default), select Properties, then select Tool tab. Now you need to select Check Now in error checking section. Once you click "Check Now" a small window will pop-up. Check "Automatically fix system errors" box and hit Start button. Follow instructions your system gives you from this point.

Run Disk Defragmenter

This is by far longest step in this article. I suggest you perform this procedure last. It may be best for you to let this program run overnight or while you are at work. Over time, information on your hard drive may become fragmented. Imagine being assigned a file clerk position at your job. Would it be faster and easier if files you need to sort/retrieve are all in one location and alphabetized? Or, would it be easier for you to randomly look for files all over office?

Sometimes your computer needs to "look for files all over office". Defragmenting your hard drive will correct this problem. To run this program, double click My Computer, and right click your hard drive (c: is default) and select Properties. From Properties window, select Tools tab and click Defragment Now. You can also click Start Button- Programs- Accessories- System Tools. Make sure you run ScanDisk before you run Disk Defragmenter.

There may be errors on your hard drive that need to be fixed before you defragment. I would hate for you to run this program, head to work, and find out program stopped on its own once you get home.

These are just a few things that you can do to boost your PC performance. If you would like further tips and tricks, visit www.24-7computers.com.