The_Matrix
March 29, 2024, 12:53:35 am
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
News: Guests: Register for a free account today, and you can customize your profile, read hidden boards, and add your own posts and comments too!
 
  Home Help Search Arcade Gallery Staff List Login Register  

10 things you can do that will mess up your computer

Pages: [1]   Go Down
  Print  
Author Topic: 10 things you can do that will mess up your computer  (Read 189 times)
wizer
*

Karma: 9
Offline Offline

Posts: 1950



« on: December 13, 2008, 11:12:38 pm »

Ten Stupid Things You Can Do To Mess Up Your Computer

OR...10 things you SHOULD do to avoid common computer problems.

From This article

Okay, I'm using a little reverse psychology on you... If want to keep your computer running smoothly and avoid becoming a target for cyber criminals, here are ten things you should NOT do.

Failing to Apply Security Patches - New computer security threats crop up almost daily, as hackers, crackers and other cyber villians attempt to find and exploit holes in the operating system and application software we use every day. Unpatched vulnerabilities can lead to virus infestations, enslavement in a botnet, or even identity theft. Take advantage of the tools built into your operating system -- Windows Update, Mac OS X Software Update, or Ubuntu Update Manager -- and make sure they're set to run on auto-pilot every day. Other software that you've installed may offer the same type of automatic updating capability. Don't ignore the warning messages from the updaters, and apply fixes as soon as they are available.

Not Using Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware Protection - Having an unprotected system is an invitation to allow all kinds of nasty things like spyware, trojan horses, viruses and root kits to access your system. Virus and spyware creators do this in the hope of gaining control of computers for nefarious purposes, or getting access to sensitive information that may be stored on a hard drive. And of course, viruses and spyware can significantly slow down a machine. Be safe, use a good anti-virus, and anti-spyware program to keep out the bad stuff.

Not Using a Firewall - Yes, your computer needs a firewall. But probably not the kind everyone is telling you to install. Chances are, you already have an excellent firewall built in to your high-speed modem/router.

Clicking on Bogus Popups - Popup ads are intrusive, annoying and seemingly everywhere on the Web. Yet, it is amazing how often some computer users will mindlessly click on them. Popups will promise you anything from a free dinner for two to ridding your machine of viruses with one click. These ads can mask spyware and malware that gets loaded onto your machine behind-the-scenes. Also, a lot of them are just annoying links The use of a good anti-malware program plus using the popup blocker that comes with a lot of browsers, can help keep the popup ads at bay. If you see a popup ad in a browser window, close the window by clicking the red button at the top. Don't click inside the popup window, or you could unwittingly download harmful software.

Unsafe Downloading - It can be tempting to download pirated versions of games, movies or popular software packages. But beware the ****... tools like Limewire, Bittorrent, and rogue download sites are chock full of nasty surprises. Some downloads have been modified to contain embedded viruses or trojan horses that can compromise your system. Stick with safe download sites such as Download.com and Tucows, where you can find tons free software and shareware that's certified malware-free.

Falling for Phishing Scams - The Nigerian email scam has become as well-known a confidence game as the old shell-game. But it still is astonishing how many will fall for it. Also, be on the lookout for those very official looking phishing attempts. Bottom line: no one has any business asking for your private information via email. If you have any questions about a suspicious email that looks like it came from a place you do business with, call that company to verify, and always use a bookmark or manually key the address of sites that require a login.

Not Securing Your WiFi - Ever notice your Internet connection slowing down? This could be the result of strangers mooching off your wifi bandwidth. If you leave your wireless router wide open and unsecured, it's an open invitation for neighbors and passers-by to connect. But in addition to sharing your internet connection, you're also exposing yourself to hackers and possibly even legal liability. Best practice is to enable WEP or WPA encryption on your router and to set a strong password as the key.

Haphazard Deleting - It's not so hard to fill up a hard drive these days, even with the large storage capacity that comes with machines. But when you feel like doing some housekeeping on your system, make sure you know what you are deleting. If you are not sure what you are deleting, leave it alone and do some research on it first. When it come to housekeeping, better options for freeing up drive space are removing unneccesary software with Add/Remove Programs, or running the Disk Cleanup utility.

Forgetting to Back Up - This is a heart-breaker because it so easy to avoid. Sooner or later, you WILL accidentally delete an important file, or experience a hard drive failure. Always make sure that you back up any critical files, and on a regular basis. Backing up is so easy now with external drives and online backup services.

Setting up a BIOS password - This idea is well intentioned yet can cause you trouble. You want to be as safe as can be, so you lock your computer with a BIOS password. It cannot even go through boot up without input of that password.
Report Spam   Logged

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

rancidmilko
*

Karma: 2
Offline Offline

Posts: 29


« Reply #1 on: December 14, 2008, 11:18:18 am »

[deleted- flaming]

Members are reminded that The Matrix is a Flame Free environment


« Last Edit: December 14, 2008, 01:58:27 pm by wizer » Report Spam   Logged
Pages: [1]   Go Up
  Print  
 
Jump to:  

Powered by EzPortal
Bookmark this site!
Powered by SMF | SMF © 2016, Simple Machines
Privacy Policy