Because I love computers and have worked with them for many, many years, AND I write this column, I am often asked for advice and help with other’s computers. Over the years I’ve discovered that there are a few things most people do that eventually cause them to call me or seek professional computer help. So here’s my list of things that you really shouldn’t be doing:
Number 1: Plug into the wall without surge protection
This one can actually physically destroy your computer equipment, as well as the data it holds. Here in Bali, you may think your systems are in danger only during one of our many electrical storms, but anything that interrupts the electrical circuit and then starts the current back again can fry your components. Something as simple as someone turning on an appliance that’s plugged into the same circuit (especially a high voltage one such as a hair dryer, microwave, or air conditioner) can cause a surge, or a surge may be caused by a tree limb touching a power line. If you have a power outage, you may experience a surge when the electricity comes back on.
You can protect your systems against damage from power surges by always using a surge protector. An Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) is better than a surge protector; it has a battery that keeps power flowing smoothly even when there’s an outage, to give you time to gracefully shut down.
Number 2: Surf the Internet without a firewall
Too many home users plug their computers right into their spiffy new cable or DSL modems and hop onto the Internet without realizing that they’re putting themselves at risk from viruses and attackers. Every Internet-connected computer should be protected by a firewall; this can be a firewall built into the broadband modem or router, a separate firewall appliance that sits between the modem/router and the computer, a server at the network’s edge running firewall software, or personal firewall software installed on the computer (such as the built into Windows XP or a third-party firewall program like Kerio (www.kerio.com) or ZoneAlarm (zonealarm.com)).
Number 3: Neglect to run or update antivirus and anti-spyware programs
How many times must we mention this one? We know that antivirus programs can be a royal pain. They’re always blocking some application you want to use, you often have to disable them to install new software, and they have to be updated on a regular basis to do any good. Seems like the subscription is always expiring and prompting you to renew it — for a fee, in many cases. But in today’s environment, you can’t afford to go without virus protection. So do it know!
Spyware is another growing threat; these are programs that install themselves on your computer (usually without your knowledge) and collect information from your system that is then sent back to the spyware program’s author or vendor. Antivirus programs often don’t address spyware so it’s important to run a dedicated spyware detection and removal program.
Number 4: Install and uninstall lots of programs, especially betas
If you’re like me you like to be on the cutting edge, so you often install and try out new software. Beta programs are usually free and give you a chance to sample neat new features before most people. There are also many freeware and shareware programs made available as Internet downloads by their authors. We know you’d never do it, but some users even install pirated software or “warez.”
The more programs you install, the more likely you are to run across ones that either include malicious code or that are poorly written and cause your system to behave improperly or crash. The risk is greater with pirated programs.
Number 5: Keep disks full and fragmented
One of the results of installing and uninstalling lots of programs (or adding and deleting data of any kind) is that it fragments your disk. Disk fragmentation occurs because of the way information is stored on the disk: You can use the disk defragmenter built into Windows (Programs | Accessories | System Tools) or a third-party defrag program to rearrange these pieces of files so that they’re placed contiguously on the disk.
Watch for the next issue when we’ll cover another five dumb things we do to our computers!
