OMG-I Can't Believe THIS Happened to ME!!

If you clicked on my Facebook post to get to this article, you are exactly the type of person that needs to read this article.

Sorry, I got you here on false pretenses, but you are causing me a lot of grief. My friends are getting infected because of what you are doing wrong on Facebook. Facebook is a dangerous place. If you are going to use Facebook you have to change your ways my friends.

Facebook streams post a lot of curious items that are hard to resist. Every time you click on "GIVE PERMISSION" you are GIVING PERMISSION. Would you give your enemy your coworkers' personal information? Would you want your enemy to infect your coworkers' computers? That's what you are doing. I've lost count of how many of you have fallen prey to this.

It's time to arm yourself. Here's how:

• NEVER EVER USE IE (internet explorer) FOR FACEBOOK. It's too risky. It's unprotected facebooking! It's 2010 almost 2011. Put on your Firefox or Chrome protection before you facebook!
• Never facebook while drinking. Your judgement is impaired and you are more likely to click on some outrageous link.
• Make sure your virus protection and malware protection is up to date and scanning regularly.
• Don't do ANYTHING new on Facebook. Wait for others to try it and mess up their computers first. I'm not talking about a new feature of an app that you have been using quite awhile on FB. I'm talking about a new app that your friends advertise that you have to try. If someone came to you on the street corner and said I've got these little blue pills you just have to try, would you? Of course not. But that is what you are doing with your computers. You are being wreckless and getting hijacked in the process.

Sorry that I have been so hard on you, but if this helps you from messing up your computer, then it has been worth it.  Good luck and happy, safe facebooking!
xoxo Janet

Don't Overstuff Outlook!

The set of folders where you store emails in Outlook, your contacts, your calendar all comprise your PST (personal storage) file. Supposedly Microsoft fixed the 2 gb limit on these with Office 2003. If you believe them that is. I don't because I see them broken. Yesterday I dealt with three broken PST files. They were overstuffed and stopped functioning. Most of the time Outlook users lose emails when their PST break. The three users I assisted yesterday were lucky and didn't lose any emails.

What can you do to prevent Outlook from breaking?

1. archive (under File and Archive)- do this monthly. Create a new archive file each year using the year as part of the archive file name so that you can find your archived emails easily.
2. delete emails- do this daily. After you have dealt with an email delete it.  After you've read a joke, forward it then delete it or simply delete it. Save photos you need to your hard drive then delete them from email.

When you archive emails they become a separate file and it reduces the size of your PST. After you archive a large amount of emails, you need to compress the PST file. Go to Tools, Account Settings, Data Files and click on Personal Folders. Click on Settings and then Compact Now. This has the same effect on a PST as it does to defrag your hard drive. Warning: compressing your PST can take a very long time (same as defrag) and your Outlook will be unavailable to you until the compression is finished.

Hope this helps.

Your DSL Modem is Not a Modem!

OK it's not your fault you call it a modem. Even providers call them modems so it's a natural mistake. Even to avoid confusion, I refer to it as your DSL modem. A modem  modulates and demodulates a digital signal to analog and then back to digital. A DSL "modem" is a digital signal that stays digital all the way. It gets a piggyback ride on your phone line giving you 12-15 mbps downloads and 1mbps uploads. Most of your activity is going to be downloading so it's acceptable.

DSL is faster than dialup and usually pretty reliable. Your bandwidth is not shared. The bandwidth for your DSL (digital subscriber line) is not shared with your neighbors. Some rural areas might not be able to get DSL, the cost is high ($20-30) and even some buildings with old wiring can't support the higher speed DSL. You can hook up your wireless to it which ticks phone companies off; they'd prefer to make more money on you. DSL requires more equipment. You need noise filters put on EACH line so that when you are using the Internet at the same time as the phone you don't hear strange noises. DSL may fall into oblivion as many folks are opting to do without landlines and just have cell phones.

Oh.. ps.. a DSL modem is really an endpoint.  They function like a bridge or router.

To see if DSL is available in your area contact your telephone company or visit http://www.dslreports.com/

Creating a Restore Point

Some of you are afraid to install programs because you are afraid of blowing up your computer- or at least of blowing up Windows. If you blow up Windows, then you have to reinstall Windows and all your applications and probably lose some files in the process.

Creating a restore point is something that is available in Windows to prevent such mishaps. Before you install your new program, make the restore point naming it "before i installed xyz program" and then you can install your program without fear.

In Windows 7: Right click on Computer>choose Properties>System Protection>System Restore.
In Vista: Ditto, except add in a consent prompt for UAC.
In XP: Programs> Accessories>System Tools>System Restore.

You can have as many restore points as you like, just be aware that they take up hard drive space. If you haven't made one yet, today's a good day for a restore point! ;) Try it; it's really very easy.

System Restore will not back up your personal files; I still recommend you do that to an external flash or hard drive, but it will save your Windows install. To restore: go back to System Restore and choose Next, Next, Next. The system restarts and you're back in business. Those of you who already crashed computers should make this a priority. If a certified techie does it, shouldn't you?

Is Your Wireless Secure?

Are you using WEP or WPA encryption? WEP: not secure. WPA: secure.   If your ISP only provides WEP wireless routers, buy your own wireless-G router. It's worth the 50$ for a feeling of security. If you don't mind spending a little more, wireless-N is the way to go!

Are you using mac address filtering? If not ask your ISP to walking you through the set up. Mac address (machine address) is a computer specific address. If you enable mac filtering, only machines with certain addresses can jump on your network.

Do you have your SSID broastcasting? (That means can you see the name of your network in "view wireless networks.")  It's not secure to broadcast you SSID. You can find it if you know the name.

Even if you set up mac address filtering and disable SSID broadcasting, you still need to make the switch to WPA. WEP crackers take less than a minute to crack a code. There are tools to find SSIDs that aren't broadcasting. The best way is to switch to WPA encryption.

Are you using the default password on the box that your internet provider gave you? Uh, don't.

If you suspect someone is stealing your wireless, download this: http://zamzom.com/. You'll find out in a jiff!

I Broke the Cardinal Rule!

Thou shalt not install two antivirus programs.

Ok, I did it on purpose. Does that make it worse? My Windows 7 computer had a non-symantec product on it. I needed a Windows7 machine to test the new antivirus that I installed on our antivirus server. It worked like a charm on our computers that had a Symantec product on it already. It uninstalled the product and installed the new antivirus without anything needing to be done by the people using the computers.  The new antivirus installed on my XP machine as expected, but the Windows 7 machine added the new Symantec product without removing my other program.

Why is having two antivirus programs bad?

It's kind of like having two adult women living together. One insists you must vacuum before you dust because the vacuuming stirs up dust. The other insists you must dust first because dusting stirs up dust. Who's right? It doesn't matter! Two antiviruses fight like women against each other and slow the computer down.

Don't break the cardinal rule-even if I did!

How Do I Clean My Computer?

Dust is the enemy of electronic equipment. Keeping a computer clean is an important task. Other than the normal things: don't eat or drink near your keyboard and don't remove the slot covers from the back there are a few things you can do for maintainence of your computer.

To get rid of dust and particles: computer vacuum. NOT a regular vacuum because it could cause electrostatic damage.

For cleaning the outside case of the monitor and tower: mild soap and water. Power OFF. Moisten the cleaning rag slightly.

Cleaning keyboards and other devices that have non-metalic contact points: deminineralized water

Cleaning metal contacts like the gold metal on interface cards: denatured isopropyl alcohol.

Cleaning monitors: monitor wipes. Don't use window cleaner that will damage your screen.

Blowing dust or food particles out of hard to reach places: canned air.