4 Safety Tips for your Windows PC
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By: Brian Deitch
Are you tired of calling your nerdy friend or local computer guy to come fix your computer? Many of issues that I troubleshoot for my clients could have been prevented but not everyone knows exactly how to prevent these issues from happening. If you follow these 4 easy steps (3 of which are 100% free), you will be able to keep your computer running fresh and safe!
1. You need an antivirus and you need to keep it up to date. If you have an antivirus and you don’t keep it up to date, it’s worthless. Make sure it is up to date by opening your antivirus and clicking update. If you do not already have an antivirust here is a list of free antivirus programs that work just as well as the paid ones. I strongly suggest Microsoft Security Essentials.
If you have any issues updating your current antivirus (assuming you have a valid subscription) or have any trouble installing any of the antivirus’s that I’ve listed your probably have a problem. My best recommendation is to reboot in safe mode with networking (just Google how to boot in safe mode….etc) and visit Trendmicro and try their online antivirus scanner. This should clean up any issues that you might have.
2. You need a router (acts as a hardware firewall). Generally speaking most households have a router or wireless router to share the internet connection with multiple computers within their house. What most people do not know is that the router is actually a security device as well. Generally speaking, there are over 65,535 ports available on your computer. Think of these ports as doors to a house. If not secured correctly, anyone can walk in. A router closes off all of those ports by default. Many of the famous internet worms are/were spread from open ports on computers.
3.Install K9 Web Protection for Web Filtering and Parental Controls. This software ensures that your computer never gets to websites that you should not be at in the first place.I cannot stress how important this software really is. As many of you already know, I fix computers that are riddled with viruses/spyware/malware. I can tell you that 100% of the customers that I have installed K9 Web Protection never call me to have their computer fixed again for viruses/spyware/malware.
4. Always install Windows Updates. There are way too many times when I go to fix someones computer and I see the notification down by the clock that says they have 75 Microsoft Windows Updates waiting to be installed. Not keeping your Windows software up to date is a very bad thing. For most of you, updating Windows is as simple as clicking on the Start Button and clicking Windows Update. Yes, if you haven’t done this in a while or ever, it’s going to take some time and multiple reboots. Do it anyway.
If you have any questions, you can always contact me at me@briandeitch.com.
Hi, my name is Brian Deitch. I’m a husband to my beautiful wife Corin, a father to Elly, Mikey, Celeste, and Chloe, and a Senior Systems Engineer at US Airways. I was raised in Globe, AZ and I currently live in Gold Canyon, AZ. I have a passion/addiction when it comes to working with computers and it often leads me to the Globe area where I make house calls to fix computers.
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