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Trouble Prevention is Easy...
Let's start here. You can maintain your machine in top shape, if you stick to a routine pattern of cleanings. This doesn't mean excessive work, or time - it is a step by step regular use of utilities that are easy to access and easy to execute.
1) Clear your cookies and temp files nearly every time you have been online, or did a lot of work with your files.
Start button > Control panel > Internet options. Most will have a box that has Delete Cookies showing mid-page. Click . Click Yes. Wait for your hourglass to disappear by the cursor and proceed. Same page, will have a box Delete temp files. Click. Check the box to delete offline content also. Ok. and wait for hour glass to go away. Last box..Clear History . Click. Yes. That's it. Takes about a minute and a half on a regular basis, but may take a couple minutes the first time, due to the build-up it's tackling.
While you're there.....it's not necessary to keep your history for weeks and weeks. It does pile up. If you need to remember where you saw something - stick it in your favorites, rather than counting on the history table. Reduce your history save setting to like a day, or two.
2) Virus Protection. There are some great programs out there. But, I hate paying for something over and over, so I've done a couple years of experimenting, and found that a couple good companies offer excellent free programs that run efficiently, and smoothly without bugging you, or presenting performance slow-downs.
May I suggest - avast4home edition ( http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html ) this program updates itself every time you restart your computer, lets you surf without worry, and can be run as a program alone, anytime you wish to double check that you have not gained an infection. And it's FREE.
Another couple good ones are offered by www.earthlink.net/software/pcc/ , Earthlink Protection center - provides decent virus coverage, spam protection, and firewall. CA (computer associates) has many good paid programs ( http://home2.ca.com/DRHM/servlet/ControllerServlet?Action=DisplayHomePage&SiteID=caconsum&Locale=en_US ). AVG Free home edition is also a good choice ( http://free.grisoft.com/doc/1 ). Malwarebytes.org has an excellent anti-virus program in a free version (www.malwarebytes.org/ ). There are many many others, but I prefer to use ones that I have tested, run and found to be satisfactory in performance and easy to deal with as programs.
Couple of pointers : NEVER EVER DISABLE YOUR VIRUS PROTECTION FOR ANY REASON. It is your only protection for data, your hard drive, master boot record, and running applications. Sites that require your anti-virus be disabled may be suspect and you release your computers' safety into their hands every time you allow your defenses down. One of the "at your own risk" considerations you must make, when surfing to download music, videos, and files. This is a call only you can make. If you truly trust the content of their site - go ahead.
A singular piece of good advice : “When in doubt about security or a download - and you face a click or don’t click on ‘this’ - DON’T !
3) Anti-Spyware & Malware. Nobody thinks that the little pop-up asking for a survey, or opinion can hurt you ? So you click it. BAM ! you are infected ! (great rule of thumb: When in doubt, Don’t click) if you wanted it, you’d recognize it.
NOBODY wins a free car from
the corner ad on ‘website.com’ !!
Often they contain enough spyware to identify where you surf, how long you stay, what you clicked on, and so on. They quietly send this info back to their "creators" by way of your internet connection -home software that installs without you knowing it are keyloggers, trojans, some flash objects can do so also - and I don't think anybody really wants all their activity monitored that way. So.
Get a good cleaning program that identifies this type of software, cookies, temp file and removes and disables them on a regular basis.
My suggestion - Ad-Aware SE personal home edition - ( http://www.lavasoftusa.com/products/ad-aware_se_personal.php ) - I've used this one for three years on all three computers we use here. No problems. Run it anytime you've been surfing, shopping, instant messaging, emailing. Only takes about 5 minutes to complete a smart system scan daily, will take about 1/2 hour the very first time. Thorough system scan can take 6 to 20 minutes daily, or an hour the very first time - but good to do one thorough scan a month - just to catch the nooks and crannies that don't need daily checking.
Spybot-Search & Destroy is another good one ( http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html ) Only thing I didn't like about it - ran my machine slower than I liked, and brought it's own form of pop-ups to annoy me with alerts. If you want alerted every time it trips on something - give it a try. It is effective, does a good job. Just too heavy and annoying for my tastes.
4) Firewall protection. This falls under the same as anti-virus. If you are running Windows XP - all you need to make certain Start button > Control Panel > Security Center > make sure the firewall option is "On". A firewall provides that when you send a signal out of your connection to reach a website it is noted, when a website needs to connect to your computer, it is noted ( and identified ) by the ports and IP address used. This is where you can make the choice to block or allow communications in and out of your machine. If you surf in an ordinary manner - it's likely you'll never face too many firewall questions. When you download music, videos, and files however - wouldn't you like to know if someone's site or file is Ok, and virus/ spyware / ID theft, etc. Safe ??
5) Email, Instant Messaging, and Music. Three typical things I've seen hundreds of times over five or six years.
Singularly, none of them are fatal to your machine. But, as I have; if you have an active internet addict in the house - who has Limewire, Kazaa, AIM, Windows messenger, or in this day & age - a Myspace.com space, Facebook page, Fubar account, Twitter, etc. Look out.
You are open to some of the largest Peer to Peer network units around. Peer to peer is just that, a direct link to them....or specifically a file off their hard drive - whether it's that cute photo she got off her camera phone, or the downloaded Skippy & the peanuts CD she wants to share with her friends.......you're vulnerable to all the mistakes and dirt that have happened along the "path" that the CD took, to end up on your WMPlayer !!
Sure, it takes a route thru the AIM computers, or Limewires torrents, but it's been thru other people's machines too. Do you want to let firewalls and anti-virus take a rest while that could be taking place ? No, I don't think so. Be careful who you download from. Be careful who you chat and share with.
Never let your security be at risk.
A Different Branch of Machine care ....
On to the actual physical piece of machinery you work on.
The Hardware !
The Tower - this is the heavy puppy that hums and blinks and makes all the pretty crap show up on the tv screen.
If you have a laptop/notebook you have the pleasure of all the equipment at 1/3 the weight !
The Monitor - ok. glorified tv screen with perks.
Keyboard - easily ignored - Until you dump coffee or that green McD's shake on it !! Had one time heard of ants invading a board !!
The mouse. - cute name. terribly complex little fella. But it gives your hand a way to track around the machine easily.
TOWER :
This bad boy contains your motherboard (the main brain), your cpu - the nerve center of the brain(the Bios & post live on it) , the hard drive(s) - moving, whirring, data center (operating system lives on it), and all those photos, songs, movies and books. Your email, programs, etc.
After those pricey parts - you have a Power supply - it takes the wall electric which comes in at 115Volts in most USA homes, and makes those whopping huge volts into very small 5volt, 12volt (and in between or more) pieces for the use of each individual part that needs electric to make it function.
The breakdown ratios are deep in the technical specs, but vital to proper performance and safety.
If you ever smell or feel that the heat off your machine is odd - shut it down and have it inspected immediately. If it catches fire - it will be electrical - use a proper extinguisher.
Fans. Most machines have a fan on the power supply, one on the cpu, and often just a case fan for the entire insides' benefit. Fans must be Clean and spinning freely , as quietly as possible, and without blockage. A cool computer is a happy computer.
I found a nice trick to keep my cats' hairs out of my towers by lightly taping a dry, clean dryer sheet (they are made to be anti-static ! great feature !) to the outside area where air is drawn Into the tower, and one out back to flap in the wind, from the air coming Out. Change 'em once every 6 - 8 weeks, Voila ! No huge build-up of dust inside !! Won't prevent it all, but cut my use of canned air to once a Quarter rather than once a month !
Your CD drive, DVD drive, floppy drive and USB drives are all extra to the hard drive....simply that if you had none of those , you could still use your computer, but with far more limited fun and uses. As parts, they can be a true blessing or a nightmare - if you keep changing them, and the corresponding drivers that they need to speak with the brain - you can misconfigure all the working signals making the machine understand the "next" action to take.
The most common questions on forums usually relate to changes made to hardware. Parts all must match certain requirements to live together and still work properly and efficiently, intimate to each individual machine. Mis-matched hardware can ruin your entire machine. So when buying stuff for your machine , there is no stupid question, as you make sure your purchase is a perfectly compatible match to your machine. Just because you own a HP Pavilion and the part says ‘HP” does not mean it will automatically match ‘your’ HP.
Video cards, sound cards, TV and Game PCI slot cards, card readers, etc. These are add-ons and must also match specs to work, and when they do not - you will clearly know, by the lack of Monitor, sound or peripherals that won't work til you work out the kinks.
Network cards are making cable and dsl internet almost seamless in today's connections - but also must match requirements to function. Modem cards are becoming slowly obsolete (as I recently found here at home - not a telephone wire jack on any of our machines any more !). But, where dial-up is the only option , they are a necessity.
Wireless network cards can let you & hubby have your machines in the den, near the router; and Lil Suzy can have her machine upstairs on a wireless - and no holes drilled in the walls to wire her to the router ! It's not the whole machine goes wireless - of course you will still have the mouse, keyboard, speaker, electric, printer, etc. wires - but that all important router signal won't need to be sitting right near her machine. Just make sure the little antenna won't get a whole bunch of bumping or twisting - it is attached inside to the circuitry, and can hurt stuff if it gets stressed.
Other than the few true geeks I know, (self included) - that's pretty much what's inside the tower. All the hardware working parts. Later, I'll have a page with things you'll notice or hear when any of these act up.
Monitor:
Yes. It's a glorified TV screen. Flat panels or CRT it all ends as a Display. Never clean your flat panel with windex or ammonia ! The past three years, I've been keeping all my screens incl. the tv's and phone screens, clean with packaged tissues that are designed for cleaning glasses - (eyeball glasses, to you who didn’t think...lol ). Cost a cent or two - but can't harm the fiber that covers the flat panels, and removes dang near anything, including baby sneeze off the screen without streaks or scratches.
No pens, pencils, tape, food or liquids should get near your computer monitor - but life happens. Use care. My cats seem to think it should make a nice place to rub their nose next to, but I keep them off it so their teeth don’t make an accidental ‘scratch’.
Never try to fix your monitor. It is a electrical device that holds a massive charge if a human comes in contact with the wrong part - Zap ! you get seriously injured. Best to let a TV professional who does monitor restorations work on it physically.
But you can check for software, settings and driver issues that could be part of the problem and those can be fixed without tampering with electrical parts....
If it's acting up - the first line of defense is to check the Device manager ( My Computer icon > right click > chose Properties > Hardware > Device Manager is on a button in that screen.) What you are looking for is display or monitor name that would have a wee icon on it that sticks out as an exclamation point, or red stop symbol, etc. Click category to open . Once you locate your model of monitor, you want to open that panel and update, or roll-back your Drivers. Often these are also easily accessible on the manufacturer site for your monitor model .....under support / drivers / downloads. If they found issues, their experts prepare a software patch that can make your monitor work the way they intend it.
If a driver drops or fails, it is the first obvious thing to look for. After that, in the chain of repair, it would be the connection that communicates the monitor with the motherboard. They don't often fail, but if you recently hooked up a nifty new flat screen on an older model computer - there's a remote possibility that the motherboard can't handle the demands of the newer monitor. In which case, you have to stop, use the old monitor until you determine if it is worth your money to upgrade the motherboard or the whole machine.
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