Six Steps toward your PC's Health
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1. Windows Update
Keep your PC's Operating System up to date with Windows Update. Why? Because the latest OS is usually the best AND updates will help keep your PC safer from the outside world. Security is the primary issue here.
2. Get A Router
If you have high speed internet access and you do not have a router, get one now. A router is a hardware firewall that helps keep everything behind it private. A LinkSys Wireless-G Router is a good place to start looking. About $60. Placing a router between your cable or DSL Modem and your PC will help keep its IP Address private. This is an important step in keeping your PC safe from the outside world.
And if you don't need the wireless feature, DISABLE it at the router! Typical router setup for the home takes about 5 minutes.
3. Wireless Security
If you already have a wireless router, and have enabled Wireless Access, you also need to turn on security like WPA or WEP. 64 bit WEP keys are 10 characters long and 128bit WEP keys are 26 characters long. If you live in a dense area, use 128bit security.
However, WEP has been cracked wide open for a few years, so it's essentially useless. There are a variety of programs for both Mac and Windows that will quickly crack the WEP password of any wireless network after monitoring traffic for a few minutes. This capability is based on a flaw in WEP that made it unintentionally predictable in certain cases. So you should go with WPA encryption, which is secure and unbroken, so far.
WEP and WPA security are set within your router usually via a webpage that you access via a browser like IE6. To enable either, enter the IP Address of your router, usually something like 192.168.1.2, and look for something like Wireless Security. You'll need a password to get in. The default LINKSYS password is 'admin' with a blank userid.
If you don't know your router's IP address, select Start/Run Then enter cmd and press OK. Then in the DOS Window enter ipconfig and press ENTER. Your router's ip address will show as the DEFAULT GATEWAY IP Address.
4. Anti-Virus Tools
Running without anti-virus software is simply bad business. You can get Norton Anti-Virus for under $50.
But some companies have begun migrating away from Norton Anti-Virus, because it has the tendency to mess with the Windows Registry in bad ways, and also because it's become a very inefficient scanner/protector: frankly it's a dog and it kills performance on many machines.
Trend Micro's PC-cillin product is doing the job much more efficiently, and without mucking with the Windows Registry. Here are some example reviews: ZDNET, PC World.
Anyway, I'd choose from the "Big Three":
Trend-Micro
McAfee
NAV
Plus the following free anti-virus packages, all of which are pretty good:
AVG Free (also has paid versions)
ClamWin (Windows version of the open source ClamAV software)
Avast Home edition (also has paid versions)
Which ever tool you choose, make sure that you run:
Scheduled Scans of your PC and
Always keep Auto-Protect ON.
5. Anti-Spyware Tools - they're free
Spyware, Adware , Malware and hijackers are very prevalent across the internet. If you surf the net it is only a matter of time before one of these creatures finds its way into your PC. Use one or several of these free tools to help keep your PC free from this ongoing menace:
Adaware SE 1.06
Microsoft Anti-Spyware
PestPatrol
Spybot S&D 1.4
And make sure that you always update the "definitions" file for each tool before you run.
If you have a serious Spyware problem, you will need to boot your PC in SAFE MODE with NETWORKING (Press F8 immediately after you reboot) and then run the tools from that mode. Many times I have found that it takes more than one tool to completely rid your PC of Spyware.
6. BACKUP Your data!
I can't say it enough. Backup your data! But, what should you BACKUP?
Normally everything under C:\Document and Settings. But I like to keep my files under C:\My Documents and my pictures are under C:\Pictures. But I still have to backup my OUTLOOK and OUTLOOK EXPRESS email and contact files, and they're hidden deeply under C:\Document and Settings, so that gets backed up also.
How?
To CD using a CD Writer.
They're cheap but they only hold 700MB of data. Use a program like Roxio EASY CD Creator to create your CDs.
To DVD using a DVD Writer.
"If you have one of those CD/DVD writers and you have too many files to fit onto a CD, you can back up your files to a DVD instead. As far as Windows (and any of the CD writer programs) are concerned, a DVD can be treated as if it's a 4GB CD, or 8.5GB if your using a +R Dual Layer DVD. I've backed up several directories that way.
I personally prefer backing up to CD/DVD rather than a second disk drive for one big reason - I end up with lots of backups from different time periods that way. I recently discovered that I'd inadvertently messed up one of my files aways back without realizing that I'd done so, and had to go through several months' worth of backups to find a good copy. I wouldn't have had that option available to me if I'd been making backups to the same hard disk drive each time.
I'm using something called RecordNow, only because it came with my Sony Vaio. One of its options is "Record a Data Disc", which lets you drag-and-drop files and directories from your hard drive onto its window area and then let it build the CD/DVD from there. The CD/DVDs it generates are readable by all of the other PCs I've tried that have a CD/DVD reader (even if they advertise the DVD reader only in terms of movies)."-Bert Tyler
To an External USB 2.0 Hard Drive.
They're inexpensive too and for $150 you can get 120GB of storage that plugs into a USB 2.0 port. Make sure that your PC has a USB 2.0 port also, or you might be in for a long Backup.
To Another Hard Disk...
Use any of the methods listed below.
To Tape...
Using Veritas Backup Exec - Use this in combination with a Server and a Tape Drive like Dell's PowerVault series Tape drives
To the Internet...
Another backup target that you might consider is an offsite 'Internet drive', such as:
iDrive or,
Memeo Internet Disk
X-Drive
There are many similar services.
Using an off-site Internet drive not only protects your data from computer failure, but it also protects you in disaster recovery situations (i.e. if your whole house burns down, floods, etc).
To the Internet
If you dutifully backup every day/week, but you keep the data locally on tapes, CDs, etc, they can all disappear in a disaster, and you're left with no backup after all that effort. So some kind of off-site data storage is recommended, whether it's an inherent part of the destination (as with the Internet drive), or if you just take some or all of your CDs or other backup media to a different location, such as the house of a neighbor, friend, parent, etc, or to work.
Tools & Methods for Backing Up to USB and other disk drives:
Manually using Windows COPY(ctrl-c) and PASTE(ctrl-v)... While this will work I don't recommend this as a standard practice, mainly because we all forget to do it.
A XCOPY cmd like:
XCOPY "C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\"*.* "H:\BACKUPS\UpstairsPC\" /a/e/k/y/r/c/h
saved in a batch file can be easily scheduled with the Windows Task Scheduler. Here's how:
1. Use Notepad to create the command in a file called COPYFILES.BAT and save this to C:\. Remember that this syntax must be exact. If you use the Administrator Account on your PC and your USB is drive F:, then this example will work for you:
XCOPY "C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\"*.* "F:\BACKUPS\Administrator\" /a/e/k/y/r/c/h
Mine looks like:
XCOPY "C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\"*.* "X:\Win2kMAIN\OUTLOOK\" /a/e/k/y/r/c/h
XCOPY "C:\My Documents\"*.* "X:\Win2kMAIN\My Documents\" /s/k/y/r/c/h/d:11-13-2004
XCOPY "C:\FitzeProjects\"*.* "X:\Win2kMAIN\FitzeProjects\" /e/k/y/r/c/h/d:11-13-2004
XCOPY "C:\FFv30\"*.* "X:\Win2kMAIN\DriveD\FFv30\" /e/k/y/r/c/h/d:11-13-2004
XCOPY "C:\My Pictures\"*.* "X:\Win2kMAIN\My Pictures\" /e/k/y/r/c/h/d:11-13-2004
XCOPY "C:\KMSProjects\"*.* "X:\Win2kMAIN\KMSProjects\" /s/k/y/r/c/h/d:11-13-2004
2. To schedule it as an every day task: Click on Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Scheduled Tasks
3. Then DBL-Click on Add Scheduled Task, Next, then Browse to C:\CopyFiles.bat.
4. Now select DAILY as the frequency of the backup and Press NEXT.
5. Select a TIME. I run mine at 6pm when the PC is sure to be on and I'm not working. Press NEXT.
6. Enter the Password. This is the same password you used to login to your PC.
Now your task is scheduled. Remember to check on it from time to time to ensure that it ran and that the data on your external drive is really there.
Windows BACKUP... Access it from Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Backup. Backup does a nice job of telling you the status of the Backup while it runs, something that XCOPY will not do. However, it backups all your files into a single database and your are forced to use its Recover option a view and optionally copy(aka Recover) the file you want. Since I usually just want to go get an old file and view it quickly XCOPY works for me.
Memeo... This looks like a pretty interesting backup program for just $24.95 However some of the recent reviews said that the Recover option was squirrelly so I'd wait until they update the product.
7. Free PopUp Blocker
I'm a big fan of GoogleToolbar. It'll block popups and always give you a search window for Google no matter what web page you are on.
8. Get Organized
Store your files in meaningful names and directory/folder names.
9. Delete Internet Temporary Files
Within Internet Explorer, select Tools. On the General Tab you'll see a button to Delete Temporary Internet Files. Deleting these files will help unclutter your hard disk, and its less to backup.
For a more complete cleaning, use a product like Window Washer.
10. De-Fragment your hard disk
If your PC has been in-service for several years you might consider de-fragging your hard disk. De-fragging re-aligns your hard disk files for optimum performance.
To access it, click on Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Disk Defragmenter
Caution: If you have an old PC, this might take a while...As in hours...
11. Strong Passwords
If you value data that is password protected, use a strong password. A strong password is one that is at least eight characters, includes a combination of letters, numbers, and symbols and is easy for you to remember, but difficult for others to guess. Examples would be Blue$1989 or PAS%2005!. Using passwords shorter than 6 characters and real words is also a bad idea. Using a cheap code breaker I found on the internet, I was able to discover the passwords for several old Word files in under 30 seconds.
12. Use Print Servers for Shared Printers.
These little Printer Server devices plug directly into your printer's parallel or USB port. Require normal 110W power and an internet connection and cost under $100. They come both wired and wireless and basically make the task of sharing a printer quiet easy. This solution requires that you already have a router and at least 2 PCs.
There is a one time setup of the device itself and then a client setup for each PC. All in all a lot easier and more reliable that getting windows to share printers. Netgear is the main brand that I've used.
FireFox instead of IE6?
Some of my IT friends are strong proponents of Mazilla's FireFox for browsing, versus IE. FireFox has features that IE still lacks (better standards support, tabbed browsing, built-in Google search, one-word website entry 'microsoft' = 'www.microsoft.com', built-in popup blocker, and many others) and it's far more secure overall (far fewer critical vulnerabilities, no ActiveX barn door for malware to drive through, etc)."
See this site for details:
http://www.switch2firefox.com/
Thunderbird instead of Outlook?
And some others think that Thunderbird is also a great replacement for Microsoft's Outlook. There are lots of alternatives out there if you are not happy with Outlook.
Ripping MP3 from your CDs
To create MP3 from my old CDs I’ve been using CD to MP3 Ripper v4.01($24.95). There are a mountain of other products available. For some reviews, click here.
Creating DVD Movies
For making DVD slide shows with stills and movies files I’ve been using Nero 6.6. It came as a freeby with my Sony Dual Layer USB DVD writer. Nero easily lets you add stills (.jpg) and movies (.MOV, MPG etc) and add music files with either. Adding music to video clips that already had a sound track caused some problems with crackling. The hardest part of adding the music is actually choosing the music. Nero lets you display a slide every so many seconds or it will calculate the time per frame to fit the length of the music file.
Special Problems
Every once in a while I take a movie in portrait mode. This works fine except that you either have to turn your head to the side 90 degrees to watch the movie clip OR find a program to rotate the movie.
AVS Video Converter 4.1 ($29) does a nice job of this and it’ll convert your .MOV files to the various forms of MPEG. It also lets you add titling and has numerous features for enhancing your clips. It’ll also do a nice job of easily combining numerous .MOV files into one .MPEG.
All of this worked great for burning DVDs. However I had missing CODEC problems displaying the resulting MPEG-2 files under Windows 2000 Media Player. So I was forced to use AVS Video Converter to rotate the clips and convert them from .MOV to .MOV and then use Xilisoft Video Converter ($35) to convert this to a MPEG-1 to save space for displaying these clips via my website. Compression is normally about 4 to 1. The Xilisoft demo will create up to 5 minute clips without a watermark.
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