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Computing Tip-of-the Month:
"Fighting the Malware Battle"
Fighting the battle with malware can
really hurt your business when you have to spend a great deal of your
IT budget on software to protect your machines from infection. Here
are some tips to do it for free.
First, let's start with a definition
of "malware" so that we are on the same page. Malware is malicious
software (e.g. viruses, trojans, worms, adware, etc.) that is designed
to secretly install on your computer with the sole purpose of wrecking
havoc to the code or harvesting data.
There are a few free tools we'd like
you to be aware of that will help you create a "first line of defense"
against an attack. While no "over the counter" software is a
guaranteed cure-all, you can certainly decrease the effects of malware
and save your organization dollars over the course of the year as a
result of fewer attacks.
You can fight malware with these free
tools:
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CCleaner - this handy tool does two things well. It cleans the
Windows registry and removes cached web data. It's a good idea to do a
backup of your registry before running this tool, but plan on
experiencing a faster computer with less problems afterwards.
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Microsoft Security Essentials - looking for an antivirus program
that is effective and causes little drain on your system? This tool is
it, and the cost is zero.
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Malwarebyes - it always amazes us when clients are surprised that
they need anti-spyware software in addition to antivirus protection.
While antivirus software is effective at protecting against viruses,
there is a long laundry list of other types of malicious code (a.k.a.
malware) that you have to protect your machine against. That's where
Malwarebyes comes into play.
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Clonezilla - one of our favorite tools for creating "clones" of
your machine so that you can perform a restore in the future should
something catastrophic happen to your data.
There are many tools on the
marketplace for businesses to use to protect their data and increase
their company productivity. These 4 programs are a great place for you
to start. Just keep in mind that not all computer problems are created
equal and there is still a possibility that you will run into a
situation that requires professional intervention. We are happy to
assist if such a situation were to arise; however, we do feel it is
important to educate our clients and enable them to implement steps
they can perform on their own.
Home Computing Tip-of-the-Month:
Presented by Computec Solutions
 "How
to Create a Home Computer First-Aid Kit"
As each day passes, and we enter
further into the technology age, people become more reliant on
computers to play vital roles in their personal and business lives.
It's interesting to note that
although this phenomenon continues to progress each year, the average
computer user does not take any preventative measures to preserve
their personal data, programs, and overall daily workflow.
That is why we decided to dedicate
this month's home-user article on helping our clients plan ahead to
prevent any dreadful circumstances that can come from relying so
heavily on a device that is not preserved in some backup state.
We've prepared a quick guide to
creating your personal "home computer first aid kit," you can have
peace of mind in knowing that your pictures, videos, programs, files,
settings, banking data, etc. are recoverable should your computer
crash or hardware fail.
3 Elements of a "Home Computer
First-Aid Kit"
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You'll want to start by bringing your
computer to a perfect state of operating. Many times this can be
acheived by re-installing Windows, updating your Windows updates,
optimizing your personal settings, installing all of your favorite
programs, organizing your personal folders and files, etc. We realize
this is a lengthy step to take, but it is important to establish a
"perfect state of operation" where your computer is running at optimal
performance.
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The next step is to create a "system
image" of your hard drive. There are various tools you can use to
create an image of your computer. In layman's terms, a "system image"
is like taking a picture of your hard drive that can be stored on a
DVD (or two). That "picture" can then be restored onto your hard drive
at any time. If your computer ever crashed, or you were interested in
purchasing a new hard drive, this "system image" would come in handy
as a convenient way to restoring your computer back to that perfect
state.
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The next step in creating a "Home
Computer First-Aid Kit" is to choose an online or offline backup
system. There are websites online that will automatically backup your
personal files (e.g. pictures, videos, music, software data, etc.).
You can also purchase an external hard drive that has auto-backup
capabilities.
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Once you have your "system image" and
auto-backup system in place, you'll have peace of mind in knowing that
your data, programs, settings, etc. are all recoverable.
We realize that some of these steps
are advanced and not everyone would feel comfortable performing them.
Many of our clients hire us for the re-install, system imaging, and
auto-backup installation. You are welcome to implement these steps
yourself. If you feel you would rather a professional handle them, we
are happy to assist.
We cannot stress enough how important
it is to protect your computer. We receive calls every week from
clients who've lost everything, and it can be an extremely sudden and
costly situation to be in. You can prevent this from happening to you
if you go in with a plan.
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