Computer working again...

Re: Computer working again...

David Hammond

>Man Terry, what a mess! Maybe you just need your shotgun to finish it off, and start fresh! Computers are such a pain: I can't live with 'em, but I can't live without 'em.

David

Re: Computer working again...

Paul Kierstead

>You best protection is a Mac :)

OKOK, that is often not viable. I am a computer security "expert" (actually, I am) and my single two biggest pieces of advice are:

- Don't use Internet Explorer. My suggestion is FireFox or Mozilla, both free and much much much lower chance of being compromised. And they work extremely well to boot. Both available at www.mozilla.org (FireFox is a "lite" version of Mozilla if you don't want mail client etc)

- Don't install software you don't need, especially something which promises a lot. File "sharing" applications such as Kaaza, etc. are rife with spyware.

Outside of those two things, a decent firewall application (most brand name ones do a decent job) and anti-virus are good ideas; the former always and the latter if you tend to install a lot of stuff from the web or run things you recieve via email (a very bad idea, but..)

Re: Computer working again...

Wayne

>I agree with Paul 100%. Also, make sure you are updating your anti-virus files. Most have an automatic update option that keeps your software protection correct.

I also use Mozilla and find it to be very good compared to ms stuff. Most hackers are not after the little guys, just the big boy Microsoft!

My belief is to Never Never download unkown software. It might sound okay, but you are certainly taking a risk.

As for spyware, I find myself checking my computer daily to eliminate this and seems like everytime I have something there (?) Guess I need a better capture software?

Just my thoughts

Wayne

Mac?

TDaniel

>Thanks for the advice Paul. I am looking for a new computer and a Mac may be in the cards. As my computer started to disintegrate I installed "Errorguard" via download but it did not help. Now I wonder if I should re-install this software or just forfeit my $30? I have a new version of McAfee virusscan9.0, McAfee Anti-spyware, and McAfee Personal Firewall Plus; do I need anything else?

Thanks a bunch for your help.

TD

Re:Yup!

Scott in NH

>Get a Mac. You won't regret it. Scott

Re: Computer working again...

Ron in Drums PA

>I agree with Paul about never using IExplorer and moving to Firefox/Mozolla. Also, Netscape 7.2 is built from Mozolla and this is what I use.

How do I change over?

TDaniel

>To get rid of Outlook Express and go to something else what should I do?

TD

Re: How do I change over?

Stuart Johnson

>Download and install the new browser. You will usually be asked if you want to make it your default. Say yes.

I think they will all add an icon to your desktop so you should just use that one to start. I've found the biggest hurdle was setting up the email and bookmarks. Hopefully someone else with give a simple solution for that process.

Stuart

Re: How do I change over?

Ron in Drums PA

>As Stuart says, down load the software, install and you are set to go. A window will pop up asking you to pick Netscape as your default brwoser.

It been a very long time that I did this, but if I remember, in Explorer you can export your bookmarks and email address. I know in Netscape you can import email addresses and bookmarks.

Re:Yup!

cornelis

>But which mac and budget?

C.

Re: Mac?

Juergen

>You have what you need, now just learn how to used it, just like that old skew you've got. The only other thing I would recommend is the have a backup plan and be religious about using it. I can have my systems up and running in less than 10 minutes if the problem is not a hardware failure.

One of my basic rules is to NEVER mix business computing and personal computing on the same PC, especially if you have kids using the PC. Another is to be religious about backing up. For a backup system I suggest to my clients to spend at least what it would cost (time lost, cost of restoration, and loss of information) to recover from a crash on a backup system. One of the cheapest is an external hard drive connected to your PC via the USB interface.

Go to this link and check out paragraph 6. I has details on MAC viruses. You have to remember that relative to the PC there are very few MACs in the overall personal computer inventory. Additionally, the majority tend to be used in environments other than the home (Publishing, Graphic Art, etc.).

If you check the history of the MAC you'll find out its been a closed system which either obsoletes the hardware or software every few years. The current MAC OS X is the most recent. Try running a 4 year old MAC application on a new G5 without upgrading it. My wife has a 15 year old bridge game that still works on window XP Pro. Just my 2 cents.

OOps!! Here's the link *LINK*

Juergen

>http://www.faqs.org/faqs/computer-virus/macintosh-faq/


Viruses and the Mac FAQ

Re: Mac?

Ken Grunke

>Don't let anyone talk you out of getting a Mac, TD.

You won't need any antivirus software, spyware blockers, or hundreds of extra megs of hard drive space for security updates every month or two.