PC Drivers Updates

Top 10 things to Keep your PC secure

PC security is a major issue in these modern, Internet enabled times. Every PC owner needs to take some steps towards ensuring their system is secure. Below are 10 things you can do to increase the security of your system.

1.            Enable Windows firewall; as a bare minimum you should use the inbuilt Windows firewall to secure your Internet connection.

2.            Turn on automatic updates, this will ensure that your PC receives any security fixes deployed by Microsoft automatically.

3.            Install a good anti-malware solution; if you don’t like using third-party software then Microsoft have an excellent product named Microsoft Defender available for free download.

4.            Find yourself a good anti-virus solution. There are many excellent free antivirus software suites available including Avast! and AVG Free.

5.            Do not accept files from anyone unless you are sure that they use their PC responsibly. If you absolutely must copy files from somebody else make sure you run it through your virus checker before opening it.

6.            Do not visit dubious or illegal websites, quite often these sites will contain malware embedded into the website code, the best way to avoid this is simply not to visit them.

7.            Never open an e-mail that is not from somebody you recognize, e-mail is one of the most common ways that viruses are distributed. Additionally, never open any form of e-mail attachment without checking it out with your virus scanner first.

8.            Avoid using peer-to-peer sharing applications such as Kazaa, BitTorrent and other forms of file sharing software. A very high percentage of files available for download in this fashion have been infected by viruses, either by the original creator on purpose or by being hosted upon a PC which has a virus infection.

9.            Use your PC responsibly, if you download illegal music, videos or pirated software and visit pornographic or other illegal sites you are leaving yourself wide open for a whole host of security breaches.

10.          If you are a frequent user of instant messaging style applications such as MSN or Google Talk then make sure that the antivirus software you have chosen includes an instant messaging module, which can scan incoming files from your instant messaging contacts.

These 10 simple tips above will go a very long way to ensuring that your PC continues to be secure now and into the future, always remember that your first line of defense is you, if you use your PC responsibly you will find that security risks are minimized to the extreme.

PC Help from the Web - Top PC Help Sites

We all need a little help from time to time; even the most skilled computer technicians don’t know everything. Luckily there is a wealth of assistance available via a whole range of excellent PC related websites. Below we will take a look at a few of these and introduce their features and their strong points.

One of the best PC support websites out there is http://www.helpwithpcs.com/ it contains a whole wealth of useful information as well as reviews of hardware and software and many excellent free guides. The website also contains a very active and lively technical support forum, where you will find you can receive help from other individuals if you ask the right questions in the right way.

The Granddaddy of all computer hardware sites is without a doubt http://www.tomshardware.com/. This site has been in existence for over a decade and now contains a full range of how-to guides, tutorials and excellent hardware reviews, all backed up by one of the most popular PC related forums on the Internet today. If you have any question regarding computer hardware this is the best place to start looking for an answer. Recently the site has gone fully multilingual making it a perfect resource for everybody around the globe.

A bright new star in the PC help website arena is http://www.suggestafix.com/. This support forum has grown in popularity very quickly. It contains sections covering everything from Windows installation through to PC tweaking and overclocking. If you have a question that needs to be put to the PC community to receive an answer, then this is a great place to post it. No expensive website design, no advertising, just a simple and effective support forum.

Have you ever fired up your Windows task manager only to find one or more tasks that you do not recognise? Tracking down the owner owner or function of a Windows task can be very difficult, but luckily http://www.pchelpforum.com is on hand to provide some help. This website maintains a database of a huge number of Windows tasks and processes making the identification of your running tasks simple.

These are just a selection of the excellent PC support websites that can be found on the Internet, each of these makes a great starting place to begin your search for an answer to your questions. There are also many specialist sites dealing with niche technical issues, many of these can be found by searching Google.

The Myths Surrounding System Restore

There are a whole bunch of myths and misconceptions which surround the Microsoft Windows system restore feature. This is unfortunate, as system restore itself is a fine concept and one which can be extremely useful. However, it should be noted that if you do not understand exactly what system restore is designed to do, then it is possible that you will come to rely upon it, thinking that it can safeguard you from a whole host of problems for which it was never designed to protect you from.

The most often misunderstood issue regarding Microsoft Windows system restore is that computer users believe it protects their data. This is entirely wrong, all saved documents, downloads and any personal information is not protected by system restore. System restore merely takes a snapshot of the state of your operating system and installed software whenever you install or uninstall an application or apply any operating system fixes or install new device drivers. This allows the user to step back in time and restore their PC to a previous state if they find that a new piece of software or device driver is incompatible with the current software suite, or causes some other form of problem.

Another myth regarding system restore is that people believe that it is completely hands-off, and requires no maintenance or administrative tasks at all. This is incorrect, every time system restore creates a restore point it will store a large quantity of data on your hard drive. This means that over time, it could end up filling an awful lot space. It is important that from time to time the PC owner removes outdated restore points. It is not unknown for system restore to take up 30 to 40 GB of space within just a few short weeks a fresh system install. To regain the space, simply delete the old restore points.

Although system restore is an extremely useful function, you can choose to turn it off altogether. This is especially useful for PC owners who have a limited amount of hard drive space available, and do not wish the PC to create restore points every time they install or uninstall an application.

So in summary, the Microsoft Windows system restore feature does not protect user specific data in any way, it simply ensures that the user has an easy way to roll back their PC to a previous state should they encounter problems after installing or uninstalling software, device drivers or operating system updates.

Correct Software Uninstallation Procedures

Removing unwanted software from your computer is generally an easy matter, but as with most things relating to computers, there’s a right way and a wrong way—and doing things the wrong way can cause serious problems.

Simply deleting a piece of software from your computer by transferring it to the recycle bin can have some pretty dire consequences if you should happen to remove shared files which are used not only by the software you removed, but also by other applications on your computer.

For this and other reasons, using correct software uninstallation procedures can help prevent crashes and keep your computer running smoothly.

The Two Ways to Remove Software

There are actually two ways to correctly remove unwanted software and prevent crashes on your computer which might be caused by improper removal. Both are quick and easy to complete.

The first method specifically involves the piece of software you’re removing. In this case, you’ll start up the software as though you’re going to use it, but instead of starting the application you’ll choose the “Uninstall” option. Then simply follow the onscreen instructions to remove your software. This is by far the simplest and most problem-free method of removing software, but it’s not available for all software. Wherever this option can be taken, however, this is the one you’ll want to use.

For various reasons, not all software provides you with a specific uninstallation option. Sometimes the creator of the software simply didn’t add one, and in other cases if the software has become corrupt or some files were accidentally deleted it may not be possible to use the uninstall option provided.

In these cases, you can use a Windows feature called “Add/Remove Programs,” which you can find in your Control Panel. Using this method is just as easy as the first—simply open up the Control Panel, choose the Add/Remove Programs option, then select the software you want to remove from the list which appears. Select the “Remove” option, wait while the software is removed, and then you’re done.

Upgrading Your PC to Vista

If you are not currently running Windows Vista right now, odds are good you have thought about, or are currently thinking about upgrading your pc to Vista. Luckily this can be done in the comfort of your home. However, it is much easier to upgrade newer computers than it is for older computers. The first step is deciding what version of Vista you want and whether you want the bells and whistles as well. You have the option of choosing Vista Home Basic which is the cheapest, Vista Home Premium with the added graphics interface, or Vista Ultimate that is the most expensive and high-end version of Vista.

Microsoft has an Upgrade Advisor tool, to help anyone seeking to upgrade to Vista. The great thing is that the tool will scan your pc and tell you everything you will need to do in order to make your pc meet the system requirement for Windows Vista. The drawback is that if you are running anything other than Windows XP, the Upgrade Advisor may not work with your system.

Older computers will more than likely need additional RAM, in order to support Vista. Now, you must make sure that you are installing the right RAM for your computer’s make and model. If you are only interested in Vista Basic Home, than you may be set, but if you are looking at one of the higher levels of Vista you will to get a new graphics card.

Finally, you may need to uninstall applications that may be incompatible with Windows Vista. It’s easier to uncover which applications need to be removed with the Upgrade Advisor. Once you are have completed all of the prep work, simply pop in your new Vista disc and get ready to be amazed.

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