Computer Protection Basics

The same advice parents might deliver to young drivers on their first solo journey applies to everyone who wants to navigate safely online. The basics are the following:

• "Don't drive in bad neighborhoods."
• "If you don't lock your car, it's vulnerable; if you don't secure your computer, it's vulnerable."
• "Reduce your vulnerability, and you reduce the threat."

Below are some key steps to protecting your computer from intrusion:

Keep Your Firewall Turned On

A firewall helps protect your computer from hackers who might try to gain access to crash it, delete information, or even steal passwords or other sensitive information. Software firewalls are widely recommended for single computers. The software is prepackaged on some operating systems or can be purchased for individual computers. For multiple networked computers, hardware routers typically provide firewall protection.

Install or Update Your Antivirus Software

Antivirus software is designed to prevent malicious software programs from embedding on your computer. If it detects malicious code, like a virus or a worm, it works to disarm or remove it. Viruses can infect computers without users' knowledge. Most types of antivirus software can be set up to update automatically.

Install or Update Your Anti-Spyware / Anti-Malware Technology

Spyware is just what it sounds like—software that is surreptitiously installed on your computer to let others peer into your activities on the computer. Some spyware collects information about you without your consent or produces unwanted pop-up ads on your web browser. Some operating systems offer free spyware protection, and inexpensive software is readily available for download on the Internet or at your local computer store. Be wary of ads on the Internet offering downloadable antispyware—in some cases these products may be fake and may actually contain spyware or other malicious code. It's like buying groceries—shop where you trust.

Keep Your Operating System Up to Date

Computer operating systems are periodically updated to stay in tune with technology requirements and to fix security holes. Be sure to install the updates to ensure your computer has the latest protection.

Be Careful What You Download

Carelessly downloading e-mail attachments can circumvent even the most vigilant anti-virus software. Never open an e-mail attachment from someone you don't know, and be wary of forwarded attachments from people you do know. They may have unwittingly advanced malicious code.

Turn Off Your Computer

With the growth of high-speed Internet connections, many opt to leave their computers on and ready for action. The downside is that being "always on" renders computers more susceptible. Beyond firewall protection, which is designed to fend off unwanted attacks, turning the computer off effectively severs an attacker's connection—be it spyware or a botnet that employs your computer's resources to reach out to other unwitting users.

10 Speed Up Windows Tips

Is your Windows slowing down lately? Follow these 10 Steps to SPEED IT UP!

Step 1. Disk Space Check

1. CHECK YOUR HARD DISK SPACE. As a rule, you want to keep at least 15% of the hard disk space free to keep the computer running smoothly. Simply go to My Computer, right-click on Hard Drive, and go to Properties. There you'll see a pie chart of your free versus used space. If it’s mostly full, you'll want to start by removing unnecessary programs and files; if it’s not, you probably want to tackle the actual way your computer operates.

Step 2. Uninstall Unnecessary Programs 

2. UNINSTALL THE SOFTWARES THAT YOU DO NOT USE. Go to Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs (or Uninstall a Program, depending on your operating system) to find a master list of programs installed on your computer. Some things will strike you as useless immediately, in which case you can remove them right away. Others won’t look familiar to you and may require you some research.

Checking Last Used On just to make sure...

It may help to see how often you use the program. If you right-click one of the column titles above your program list (ex. Name, Publisher, Size, Installed On, etc.), you should be able to add additional characteristics by which to judge your programs. For example, find Last Used On on the list of options and check it; a column displaying the last time you used each program will now appear and can also be used to sort your programs. Some programs will not have been used in years and may be candidates for deletion.

Step 3. Empty Recycle Bin

3. ALWAYS make it a habit to Empty your Recycle Bin.

Step 4. Using msconfig to limit start-up programs/applications

4. WINDOWS START-UP: Prevent unnecessary programs from starting when the computer boots. The more programs try to run while your computer initializes, the slower everything your computer will be. Revise your start-up programs by altering your system configuration via msconfig.

UNCHECK the programs that you don't need during start-up (e.g. Yahoo Messenger, Groove Monitor, uTorrent, BitTorrent, Skype etc..). You can run this programs only when you need it and not during start-up.

Step 5. Install an Anti-Virus and Anti-Malware

5. INSTALL AN ANTI-VIRUS PROGRAM, spyware scanner, and an anti-malware. The fewer bugs, viruses, and bits of adware your computer has to manage, the more time it will have to devote to other processes. While you're at it, make a point of keeping Windows up-to-date; not only will this keep Windows itself in better shape, but some viruses ride in on Windows updates that are downloaded way after the fact (and therefore not monitored as closely).

Step 6. Disk Cleanup

6. RUN DISK CLEANUP. This can clean up hundreds of megabytes of temporary files – sometimes even gigabytes (if you have Windows XP, Vista, or 7). It will also open a window in which you can chose what to delete. Go to My Computer, right-click the Hard Drive and select Properties, and then click Disk Cleanup (within the General tab). Check all the boxes except for the game files and setup files.

Step 7. Disk Defragment

7. DEFRAGMENT YOUR HARD DRIVES. This will reconfigure the way the hard drive stores information for maximum efficiency. Go to My Computer, right-click the Hard Drive and select Properties, then go to the Tools tab and click Defragment Now.

Step 8. Check Disk for Errors

8. CHECK YOUR DISK FOR ERRORS. Disk errors slows down your computer. Go to My Computer, right-click the Hard Drive and select Properties, then go to the Tools tab and click Check Now under the Error-Checking area. When the dialogue box opens, check both boxes.

If you get a window saying that Windows can't check the disk while it's in use, click on Schedule Disk Check and then OK. Disk check will run on your next reboot.

Step 9. Turn off Indexing

9. TURN OFF INDEXING. Go to My Computer, right-click the Hard Drive and select Properties, then uncheck the box indicating that the drive should be indexed. Don't do this if you actually use any of the Windows Search functionality. The background indexing is what makes those searches fast and Windows is already very good about not getting in your way to do indexing while you're trying to do something else.

Step 10-A. Create a batch file to Clear the Prefetch Folder

10. CLEAR THE PREFETCH FOLDER. Windows saves a file of the program you are using to make it start up faster. After years of use, this folder gets stuffed with irrelevant programs. 

10-a. Create a batch file to accomplish this task. Simply, open Notepad and type the following lines:

@echo off

cls

del C:\Windows\Prefetch\*.* /Q

Rundll32.exe advapi32.dll,ProcessIdleTasks 

(Copy and paste this text to ensure you don’t make any mistakes.)

Step 10-B. Saving the FASTER.BAT

10-b. Save as faster.bat (the .bat extension will run it as a batch file).

Step 10-C. Run the batch file.

10-c. Run faster.bat. Simply double-click the file to initialize. In a few moments, the command prompt will disappear and your programs should run more smoothly.

desktop.ini

Problem:

After you turn on your computer the desktop loads and...

Notepad Starts With "[.ShellClassInfo] LocalizedResourceName=@%SystemRoot%\System32\Shell32.dll,-21787" When You Start Your Computer

Solution:
  
1. Open Windows Explorer, then click on Organize -> Folder and Search Options.
2. Go to View tab.
3. Under “Hidden files and folders” tree, select Show hidden files, folders and drives.
4. Uncheck Hide protected operating system files in order to be able to view the hidden desktop.ini file.
5.Click OK when done.
6. Navigate to C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup folder, or alternatively, just type shell:common startup in Start Search and hit Enter.
7. Delete desktop.ini file inside the folder.
8. Navigate to C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup folder, or alternatively, just type shell:startup in Start Search and hit Enter.
9. Delete desktop.ini file inside the folder.
10. The bug has been fixed, and no Notepad window with desktop.ini will appear on reboot or startup anymore.

Windows 7 Desktop Goes Crazy

Problem:
Computer works fine only that when you click the desktop icons like My Computer, Documents...
the windows are opened MINIMIZED. The opened windows won't MAXIMIZE.

Even running Windows Explorer and regedit still loads MINIMIZED 

Solution:


1. Create a batch file with the following lines:

@echo off
cls
:: To reset all folders to default folder views
Reg Delete "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\BagMRU" /F
Reg Delete "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags" /F

Reg Delete "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam\Bags" /F
Reg Delete "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam\BagMRU" /F

Reg Delete "HKCU\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\BagMRU" /F
Reg Delete "HKCU\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags" /F

Reg Delete "HKCU\Software\Classes\Wow6432Node\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags" /F
Reg Delete "HKCU\Software\Classes\Wow6432Node\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\BagMRU" /F
:: To kill and restart explorer
taskkill /f /im explorer.exe
start explorer.exe

2. Save the file and name it like: 'resetmydesktop.bat'

3. Run the batch file.