Your Computer, The Internet and You!
Your Computer, The Internet and You!
By Jack Jackson
So you ve got a new computer, and are ready to get onto the Internet and go surfing! Well, there are a few things you need to be aware of and put into use, if you want to try and keep your computer and personal information safe.
Your shiny new computer most likely came with a few “tools” (software programs) already loaded and raring to go! STOP – before you go any further, take all the disks that came with the computer and put them in a safe storage place, as they contain the programs that are pre-loaded on your computer system! This will assure that in the event you should have a problem with any of these programs (i.e., your Internet browser stops working), or your hard drive (this is where all your system information is stored) were to crash, and you need to replace it, you ll have the information need to load onto a new one! Also, the paperwork that came with your computer containing your system specifications needs to be filed in a safe place. Belarc Advisor offers a very nice free service (just do a Google search on it) that allows you to obtain an in-depth analysis of your system, which you might want to check out.
Speaking of your Internet browser (it s the program that enables you to surf the Internet), you DEFINITELY want to be able to lay your hands on the disk containing it, because if it becomes “corrupted” (doesn t work), you can t surf the net! Of course, you may be able to fix/repair the browser problem without having to reload the program. There s a couple of ways of doing this. You can try the “Repair” option by going to your system s control panel and clicking on “Add/Remove Programs” icon. Of course, this is assuming your operating system is MS Windows. If this doesn t work, you can try going back to an earlier “restore” date on your system. Note: if you use the “restore” to an earlier date function, you will loose any work you ve done from that date to the current date, unless you ve backed up your work since the restore to date.
A brief word on backing up your important computer files. Try and make it a regular habit of backing up your important files!! Consider backing them up on a removable device (i.e., external hard drive, jump drive – this is a small storage device [about the size of your thumb and sometimes referred to as this]). DON T STOP there – be sure and keep the removable device in a safe, secure and OFF SITE location (in case of a major catastrophe like a fire, hurricane, etc.). I recall an incident while I was in the military where the computer shop (no it wasn t a “government intelligence unit”) I worked in kept the back up files [in this case, punch cards - oops, telling my age here!!] in supposedly “fire proof” containers in the same location. Well, when the smoke settled and we opened the “fire proof” containers all we had left were ashes!
There s many other areas you need to think about when it comes to your computer and surfing the Internet. Here s some: type of web browser to use adware, spyware, malware email userids and passwords purchasing online and, Firewalls to name a few. Join me at my blog below for more information and to comment on any topic you have a question, or input to! Look forward to seeing you there!
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