The Importance of Protecting Your PC from Viruses and Spam

Written by Ken Katz


Continued from page 1

Think of a firewall as a doorman whose job it is to open a large locked door. Whenrepparttar doorman knows who is knocking atrepparttar 150499 door either by an announcement or because he recognizesrepparttar 150500 person he will let them in. With your firewallrepparttar 150501 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 inrepparttar 150502 Norton Security Suite (symantec.com). McAfee (McAfee.com) also has a good firewall as well asrepparttar 150503 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 fromrepparttar 150504 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.

Ken Katz runs the Free Article Site: Power-in-knowledge.com. The site has a lot of useful information and articles in many categories concerning the internet, electronics and business. If you would like to use this article on your website, please give a link back to my site: www.power-in-knowledge.com .


Simple Tasks to Boost PC Performance

Written by Willie Long


Continued from page 1

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 overrepparttar 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 onrepparttar 150335 desktop. From their, right click your hard drive(c: isrepparttar 150336 default), select Properties, then selectrepparttar 150337 Tool tab. Now you need to select Check Now inrepparttar 150338 error checking section. Once you click "Check Now" a small window will pop-up. Checkrepparttar 150339 "Automatically fixrepparttar 150340 system errors" box and hitrepparttar 150341 Start button. Followrepparttar 150342 instructions your system gives you from this point.

Run Disk Defragmenter

This is by farrepparttar 150343 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,repparttar 150344 information on your hard drive may become fragmented. Imagine being assigned a file clerk position at your job. Would it be faster and easier ifrepparttar 150345 files you need to sort/retrieve are all in one location and alphabetized? Or, would it be easier for you to randomly look forrepparttar 150346 files all overrepparttar 150347 office?

Sometimes your computer needs to "look for files all overrepparttar 150348 office". Defragmenting your hard drive will correct this problem. To run this program, double click My Computer, and right click your hard drive (c: isrepparttar 150349 default) and select Properties. Fromrepparttar 150350 Properties window, selectrepparttar 150351 Tools tab and click Defragment Now. You can also clickrepparttar 150352 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 outrepparttar 150353 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.

Willie Long is the webmaster at www.24-7computers.com. He has 8+ years experience working in the Information Technology field.


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