Continue reading »]]> Well, since I’ve got the day off school today thanks to the vast amounts of snow across the country, I’ve decided it might be a good idea to post up a simple guide on how to protect your computer from malware and dangerous software in a few simple steps. This guide should be useful to even the most novice of computer users and will help you get started even if you don’t know your anti-virus from your firewall.

Before I start, everybody who uses a computer needs to be aware of the importance of making sure your computer is protected from malware. If you don’t keep it protected you are at risk from software that may damage your operating system or steal much of your personal details.

The biggest threat to your personal details are probably key loggers. Software is maliciously installed onto your computer via programs running in the background and then it monitors what you type with your keyboard. It then saves this data and sends it back to whoever requested it. You have to remember that this isn’t just forum passwords and computer logons – it could be your online banking details or your credit card details.

So anyway – here’s the top 4 ways to make sure your computer is safe:

1. Make sure that you have anti-virus and firewall installed. There is plenty of free anti-virus software available – there’s no need to be spending money. I’d personally recommend Comodo Internet Security as it not only includes anti-virus and firewall in one package, but it works very well and doesn’t slow down your PC. However, other free standalone anti-virus packages include Microsoft Security Essentials, AVG Free, Avast! and more. Windows XP, Vista and 7 all comes with firewall by default, but the more security conscious should download something a bit more advanced. Comodo Internet Security comes with firewall as I said earlier, but you could also try ZoneAlarm or Outpost. When you’ve downloaded the relevant software and installed it, you’ll need to make sure that its configured correctly – it should do this automatically. If it’s set to monitor “on access” (which means it monitors traffic as it is downloaded or uploaded) and is set to occasionally do a full scan (about once a week or so) you should be fine.
2. Make sure your chosen software is up to date. This is vital as new threats crop up daily – so you need to make sure your software isn’t going to be missing threats that came out yesterday. Your security software will probably warn you if you’re software is out of date. If it does, make sure you’re connected to the internet and tell it to update. It shouldn’t take more than five minutes but it is key to a secure key.
3. Don’t download software you aren’t sure about. There are plenty of pop-ups and weird advertisements across the internet that may encourage you to download software you might not trust – some claim your computer is “unprotected” or “unsafe”. Totally ignore them – they are trying to encourage you to download software that could be harmful to your computer – such as key loggers. Before downloading software, try to do a quick web search to verify the safety of the software. It may be totally fine, but it’s better safe than sorry.
4. Check the security of websites you are using. Especially consider this when you are logging onto sites that involve money. Make sure there is a padlock logo in the address bar, and make sure that the web address familiar. For example, if you are logging into PayPal, make sure the web address shows “paypal.com” and the “https://” beginning. The HTTPS means that the page is encrypted and secure. If your web browser warns you about anything to do with an “invalid” or “unsecure” certificate, tread carefully. I would suggest you try again later. If the warning persists, contact the customer support for the site you are trying to log onto, and ask them to look into the issue.

There you go – 4 simple steps that will make sure you and your computer is safe on the internet. Stick to those and you should never have a problem!

Continue reading »]]> Just so you know, I did originally put this up in the GEEK! Guides section on GEEK!, but I decided since I’m discontinuing that section I’ve decided I’d better republish the guides. For this guide, I’ve updated it a little and republished it here.

It happens to all of us – you’ve had your computer quite a while now and all that software you installed is beginning to take its toll. Slow start-ups, tonnes of programs nagging you on the taskbar – it happens to all of us eventually. It’s quite simple to fix, and it doesn’t always mean that you have to remove programs. Basically, you just need to use System Configuration to disable some of the programs you don’t need from running at start-up. It reduces the load on your RAM and processor meaning that startups are quicker and you aren’t bombarded with programs on the start bar.

Start off by going to Start, and then run “msconfig” (without quoutes). Once it’s loaded, you need to click the ‘Startup’ tab. The long list of tick boxes you see in front of you are all of the programs that are set to run when you boot up your computer. Most of the programs are probably gobbledegook to you, and most people. What you need to do is have your Internet browser open, and search the processes you don’t know in a Google search or similar. See the example below.

For example, I don’t know what IMJPMIG is. So, I fire up a search and see what I find.

You should find that there will be plenty of websites that will tell you what it is. From the internet, I can find out that IMJPMIG is the Microsoft Input Method Editor.

In this case, we can consider it [vaguely] useful and ought to keep it running. You should do this for all of the processes in the list if you have time. You should recognise many of the processes in the list. I would recommend not deactivating the following programs as it may stop Windows running properly:

• RUNDLL32
• Cftmon
• REGSHAVE
• Taskswitch
• Svchost
• explorer

Obviously, try to be careful not to deactivate important programs like antivirus, firewall or any other important programs you use regularly. Even if you just get 3 or 4 programs deactivated, it will definitely improve the speed of your computer.

Continue reading »]]> In Windows 7, there’s a brand new way of managing the look of your computer. It’s much tidier and more customizable than in Windows Vista.

To access the central menu for personalization, you can right click on the Desktop and click Personalize, and you will be presented with the following window:

You may notice that I’ve scrolled down quite a lot on the window. This is because I’ve already downloaded some themes on my computer, so it may be confusing if i show them. Anyway, moving on…

Windows 7 comes with a selection of themes to come from. If you’d like to look through what is already available, simply scroll through “Aero Themes” and click on any one you would like to see. It will automatically apply any theme you click on.

If they don’t interest you, you can try viewing some online and downloading those. Microsoft regularly creates more themes for you to download for your computer. Simply click the “Get more themes online” link.

Once you’ve found the theme you’re happy with, just click it and the theme is automatically running.

You can customize the theme if you’d like. Just use the four options at the bottom of the window – ie Desktop Background, Window Color, Sounds and Screen Saver. You can spend ages using your own backgrounds, colors, sounds and screen savers if you want!

Have fun with the great new options in Windows 7!

Continue reading »]]> With one of the top legal problems being illegal downloads over the internet, you need to be aware of what could happen if your internet connection is tracked down as being illegal. It could go as far as court, and if you (being the bill payer) are found guilty of running illegal downloads of your internet connection you could be subject to thousands (if not millions) of pounds in fines. It doesn’t have to be you downloading the illegal files – it could be a family member, a friend using your wi-fi, or somebody in your neighbourhood stealing your wi-fi connection. And as far as ISPs are concerned, it is your problem – no matter who actually downloaded the illegal content.

So, to make your life a little easier and to avoid the risk of ending up in court, GEEK! has compiled some top tips to stay legal online…

• Make sure your wi-fi is secured – you don’t want people stealing your wi-fi and downloading illegal files without you being aware of it. Remember, it’s your problem even if somebody else downloading something illegal on your network. You can easily secure your wi-fi network with a password by going to your router configuration. You’ll probably need to refer to your router’s instruction manual, but it should only be a 5-10 minute job.
• Check that yourself or other family members aren’t illegally downloading. Check computers in your home – if any of them have programs such as Limewire or Vuze installed, users of that computer may well be downloading illegal files such as music or films. Teenagers are the most common users of illegal filesharing software so make sure you check their computer systems. Ask your family members where they are getting their music from. If they are purchasing it from stores such as iTunes, 7digital or Napster they are OK, but if they are downloading it from illegal P2P (peer to peer) software you are at risk.
• Actively encourage your family members that copyrighted content should be paid for. Remind them that illegally downloading copyrighted music and video is the same as shoplifting sweets. It might only be an 80p song they are downloading for free, but the consequences of that could be immense.
• Remember that downloading commercial software via P2P software is also illegal.
• Avoid Bittorrent software/sites. Although some of the content on Bittorrent sites is legal, the majority of it isn’t. Any copyright music, video, TV shows, films, software (etc) that is download from bittorrent could result in legal issues so it’s best to just avoid P2P altogether. In addition, constantly using P2P software is likely to result in problems with your ISP (internet service provider) as P2P uses large amounts of bandwidth very quickly.
• Buy your music, TV shows and films legally. If you want to get your music and video online legally, the best way of doing so if using services such as iTunes, 7digital or Napster (all of these are legal – including Napster as it was made legal many years ago). If you’re not sure how to get your digital content legally, just go to a high street shop and purchase it there. There are still tonnes of high street stores selling digital content and it is the best way to get legal content as you can be 100% sure that what you are buying has been paid for properly.
• Don’t have a credit card to purchase content online? There’s plenty of ways around that. For example, you can purchase iTunes gift cards from most digital content stores with cash, which you simply redeem at home with your iTunes account. You are then free to spend whatever gift card you buy on whatever you want. In addition, 7digital offers pay by SMS which allows you to redeem vouchers for songs online – this is perfect if you are under 18 years of age.

Those tips are the best ways to avoid legal trouble with your internet connection. Use them well and remember that you only have to download illegal content once to end up in trouble.gui