Ben Hovinga

I love reading the Oatmeal comics and this comic caught my attention because its about computers and the three stages of owning a computer. Well I am going to show you 2 simple steps to prolong the painful event of computer ownership stage 3.

Clean up

This is the hardest part of the 2 steps because you are not only cleaning up temp files, cookies and other files that are useless but you will also need to uninstall useless programs. This can be hard because most people don’t know what programs to uninstall.

The average computer user just needs a basic web browser, some basic office software (ex. microsoft word) and some basic computer security so I will be basing the examples around that.

Some things that you should be removing include:

• Trial Software – Its been used once and probably wont be again until you pay for it.
• Old Games – You played them, beat them, now they just sit there clogging your hard drive.
• Useless Media Programs – If you just have WMP or iTunes and just use those then you don’t need to worry about any other programs for media… If you need to play media that isnt supported by those then go ahead and look at getting VLC Player, its small and plays about 99% of media files.
• Manufacture Software – These days when you buy a printer or camera they not only come with the drivers but also some very useless software like photo managers… If you can remove the software without removing the drivers then do it.
• Old Programs – If you haven’t used it in the past month then you don’t need it.
• Old Drivers – If you had a printer but it died or just replaced it with a new printer then remove the old printers drivers.
• Toolbar programs – Google Toolbar, Yahoo Toolbar and many others. they are useless and you can live without them.

Some things that you should never remove include:

• Acrobat Reader – You need this to read PDF files and most documentation on the internet uses PDFs now.
• Used Programs – If you use it daily or almost daily then you should not remove it… All tho you could consider replacing the program with one that performs the same function you use but will do it faster.
• Security Software – This is essential for staying safe… If you have paid for it or it is asking you to pay for it then remove it, there is free software that will do the same thing. This will be discussed more in the next section.

After you have removed the useless programs you should perform a disk cleanup. Just start the disk cleanup utility (usualy start, all programs, accessories, system tools, disk cleanup) and follow the steps to remove the junk.

Also considering cleaning up your desktop. Move files to the documents folder, shortcuts to programs can be deleted. Right now I have no icons on my desktop, having a clear desktop with a nice background from interfacelift can also help you stay on track with a clear mind.

Seruity

Security is essential to staying safe on your computer. Having the top of the line security software is not always the best, most of the high end security software requires big subscription fees and slow down your computer. When it comes to security stay simple. Only have one antivirus program installed at any time (most antivirus programs will fight with each other), ease of use is also a big factor because if its to difficult for you to use then you will never use it.

I have tested many antivirus programs over the years and at the moment Microsoft has the be solution for the average user called Microsoft Security Essentials. It is very simple to install and use. It is very basic and will not slow down your computer, not to mention its free.

Antivirus is only one step, installing a safe and easy browser is the next step. I have tested the most common browsers and found that Google Chrome is the easiest and most secure, not to mention the fastest loading.

You or someone you know may have been a victim of account hacking viruses. I am going to show you how to spot it and fix it.

I am going to use facebook as an example because a friends facebook account has recently been hacked but this example can apply to just about any account like msn, twitter, even your bank account.

How It Happens

On a recent attack on my friends facebook account, one of his friends account has been hacked. This hacked account sent mass messages to his/her friends on facebook with a link to go see a video, and posted on his/her wall the same link. This link took my friend to a fake youtube page, a page that looks like youtube but is at a different web address, and then a pop-up opened saying that you needed to download software to see this video. My friend installed this software but later found out that it took over his facebook, this virus did the same thing as his friend, sent messages and links. But there is a deeper function, most of the time that is just to spread the virus around the web, the real function of the virus could be to steal information of destroy data on your computer.

Preventing Infection

Well now that you know what happens its pretty simple to see how to prevent any infection. I would say not to click on any link but that would contradict the point to sharing websites like facebook. Just be aware of the link address and the content, if the website looks like youtube but doesn’t have the http://www.youtube.com in the address bar then don’t click on it. If a website wants you to download software to view a video or photo don’t allow it to. Get away from that website as soon as you can, and tell your friend that their account may have been hacked then give them a link to this post so they can fix it.

Fixing The Problems

Well if you have been infected then you will need to fix it. Don’t create a new account and delete the old one because that wont fix anything, that will just delete everything you have and the virus can take over your new account. The first step is to scan your computer for viruses. avast! antivirus home edition is a good, free antivirus program that I personally have been using with no problems ever. After the virus has been removed from the computer all you need to do is change your password. To make a secure password you can use a password generator but that uses makes a password of random letters and numbers and it can be hard to remember. An easy way to make a secure password that you can remember is to make sure it is at least 8 characters long and contains at least one upper case letter one lower case and one number. For extra security you could add a symbol too. After all of this, make sure that you contact your friends not to click on the links and to tell them to read this if they have.