Anti-Virus (Mac / Windows)
First and foremost, make sure you have antivirus software
running on every computer. We recommend Symantec's Norton
Antivirus 9.0 for Mac and Norton Antivirus 2005 for Windows
based computers, which runs about $50. If you have multiple
computers you can save money by getting multi user
packs.
Even if you have an anti-virus software package on your
computer
you need to make sure you run the built in update utility that
makes sure that your anti-virus software is aware of latest
viruses and therefore able to stop them. If you perform the
update operation and it notifies you that your subscription is
up, renew it or your anti-virus software is useless. Finally once
you know your anti-virus software is up-to-date run a full
system scan. This will let you know if anything slipped by the
anti-virus software between updates.
Anti-Everything Else (Windows)
Organizations big and small are plagued with all those little
applications that slow down our computers, produce pop-up
ads, or spyware that tracks us when we are online.
The best solution we have found is a free software application
that removes all those mischievous little apps. Ad-Aware SE
Personal Edition by Lavasoft is a small application that
you
download directly from the web. Once installed you are able to
scan your computer much like an anti-virus program. At the
end of the scan it will ask you if you would like to remove what
it has found, then remove it. You will be surprised at how much
was lurking in the digital abyss. This program is not available
for Mac users, but Mac users already know it's because Macs
tend not to get these mischievous little apps in the first place.
Browser Beware (Windows)
If you've always had a Window's based computer you may only
be familiar with Internet Explorer (IE) as the way to access the
web. Since IE came on the scene many web browsers have
come and gone and quite frankly they were not offering
anything worth switching over to.
Today it is a much different story. First, let us offer a few
reasons why you should even consider switching. Ever since
Microsoft bundled IE with Windows ,they quickly gained over
95% of the web browser market. This really wasn't an issue in
the beginning but eventually it forced many competing browser
companies out, leaving little or no competition to drive
innovation. With no competition Microsoft had little
incentive to fix known security flaws. Furthermore, in recent
press releases from Microsoft, they have indicated that they
will no longer release new versions of IE and will no longer
provide updates (security or otherwise) to any versions of IE
except for those installed on Windows XP SP2 - the latest
version of their Operating System. The bottom line is to even
have a chance at having a safe browsing experience with IE
you need to spend $200 to upgrade your operating system.
That being said, there is an alternative and it's free! The
Mozilla foundation has developed a new
browser known as Firefox. The new Firefox
release empowers
you to browse faster, more safely, and more efficiently than
with any other browser. We recommend joining more than 4
million others and
make the switch today. Firefox imports your Favorites, settings
and other information, so you have nothing to lose.
Patch What You Already Have (Mac / Windows)
I think we can all agree that no operating system or application
is
perfect. They are just so complex that all the bugs and security
holes will only be found once released to the public. For the
most part, software companies will issue patches once an
issue arises with their product. It is then up to you to find and
install the updates. While you should have every piece of
software up to date, it may not be feasible to accomplish in a
short period of time. The most important software to keep up-
to-date is your operating system, office suite, browser and
email client, because these are the applications that come into
the most contact with files from the outside world.
Defrag (Windows)
Last but not least you should periodically give your hard drive a
good
cleaning, which is known as defragging. Essentially it
reorganizes the information on your hard drive so that when
you open a document or application the computer can locate it
quicker. Also, we should clarify that when we say that it
reorganizes the data on your hard drive, it does not move or
change any folders or their contents, only its physical
placement on the hard drive. Defragging a computer's hard
drive can increase the performance of a computer between 20
and 30 percent on average.
To defrag your windows computer go to: My Computer > Right
click your C drive and Select Properties > Tools > Defragment
Now > Defragment (This process can take a few hours so it is
best left to the end of the day and leave it running
over night.)
