Eau Claire Wisconsin Real Estate
I
originally posted this in my Eau
Claire Wisconsin Real Estate Blog.
After
reading Brad's
article on how his family's network of pcs was
infected over the weekend I found it highly coincidental but
extremely pertinent. What I have noticed after repairing, fixing and
working on around well over 100 family members and friends computers
over the years and I having done this professionally, is that the
majority of computer issues stem from a few basic problems.
-
Windows
is hardly ever updated. Most people do not understand the
dire consequences of this and either don't know how or just assume that
it is automatic. The first thing I do is have it set to automatically
download and instruct people to manually install the updates every time a new one comes along but
inevitably they never heed my advice and when they call me in 6 months
I come to find the same exact problem.
-
They have no antivirus, they have let the subscription
run out and not sought another solution, or have not updated it. Often
I install a new AV program and do several full sweeps to ensure that
the computer is entirely free of viruses but often it is too late at
this point. Once a massive infection has spread system stability is
inevitable. What happens is that files are overwritten or changed for
the virus to perform its duties and even if they are “cleaned
up” which generally means they are erased, well they are no
longer there. There is a quick and dirty fix to this which involves
downloading and reinstalling the latest Service Pack if one is
available. I would consider this a very advanced technique not that its
hard to do but its hard to find a Service Pack that you can download on
the side in a lone installer package. Instead, normally I recommend a
full format of the hard drive and then reinstall windows. Normally if I
am lucky I got save the data but the data itself is often corrupt and
then you run the risk of infecting your new machine with old, infected
data. If you first install the OS (operating system IE Windows) then
install an antivirus program immediately, you can problem save your
data and some headaches. One thing to mention is if you have multiple
hard drives its probably best to not have them installed until the
primary c: disk is secure. Then bring the other drives online.
-
Often performance
problems are a combination of the above. While security is a major
reason to upgrade windows often performance enhancements are included
in the packages. Even simple driver updates can fix some issues.
Degradation of the system can occur simply by using it and sometimes an
infection that goes unnoticed is the true culprit. Above all it is
recommended that even if you are an expert Windows user you should do a
full reinstall of the OS once per year. You will see a major
performance increase each time you do this. Sure its a pain in the you
know what but it does fix problems. It also teaches you the importance
of backing up data and forces you into a mind set of always keeping
track of your data.
-
Sometimes a simple
solution is
just running a good defragmentation program. I recommend perfect disc.
It certainly wont fix every problem but it will help and ensure your
disc is speedy. Do
not fall for the trap of any other
speed up or system speed ups. These programs do not work. They are
complete bologna. They are often riddled with viruses of their own with
the intention of getting you to buy another program to uninstall the
program that it installed in the first place! Does that sound familiar
to you? Its exactly how that antivirus 2008 and 2009 operates because
for years people have been tricked into purchasing these sorts of
programs! If your computer ever suddenly gives you pop ups or warns you
to install a program to fix the problem you have an infection!!! There
is no AV program in the world that operates like these false programs
do. I repeat never install any program that promises to
speed up your internet connection or speed up any other part of your
computer the only thing that can get your
computer to its original speed is reinstalling Windows and the only
thing that can make the internet faster is calling your ISP and asking
for a faster connection. The only thing that can make your computer
run faster is purchasing faster hardware IE upgrading the memory,
processor, or faster Hard drives.
-
Install a software firewall.
Even if you are behind a router, which at this point most people
consider to be great protection and if you don't have one get one, but
even so it will not protect from a virus communicating out! What a
software firewall can do if properly implemented is basically neuter
the virus and prevent it from executing its job. The point of most
viruses is to turn your computer into a bot to become part of a larger
botnet.
If you don't know what that is go to the link I am sure you will be
shocked. The new virus that Brad was infected with is designed to join
up with a botnet. In turn they will infect other people. Trojans are
often designed to communicate out and connect to the botnet and if you
sever this connection I have seen them basically neutralized. You still
want them off your computer but at that point they are basically
harmless. One sign that you are infected with something like this is if
you see an excessive amount of popup ads on sites that normally don't
have them.
There
is a lot to keeping a system running smoothly and ensuring it runs
well. The simplest thing you can do is what I have mentioned here and
for the most part you should be safe. Having all your programs update
regularly is the key. If you don't like waiting for them to do that
then schedule them at night and do
not turn off your computer or it will not update!!!
I always here after much prodding that the truth was that the
computer “always seems like it needs an update and I just got
sick
of the messages so I just click on them until they go away”
Well if
that sounds like you then you know who to blame. The only reason why
these viruses are so widespread is because of people like that. For
the most part they aren't even that powerful they just rely on the
fact that everyone in the computer industry knows that 95% of people
who own computers don't update them or have any protection!
Brad--
Here
is an interesting article that was just released today that
probably explains how your computer might have been infected.
I
have to agree with the article that perhaps its time to force updates
because people are just unwilling to do whats necessary to keep their
computers updated. They will spend hundreds of dollars fixing them
and days waiting for them to be fixed but wont spend a few seconds a
day to do the necessary steps to prevent it from occurring. I am not
saying thats the case with you. Some viruses are rather malicious and
sometimes it takes months for the proper fix. But compare the article
to what I said above and you can clearly see for the most part these
things are preventable.
If you want 2 great, completely
free security solutions try Comodo
firewall and Avira
antivirus. Another AV program I recommend is Eset Nod32.
I do not recommend Mcafee, Symantec (norton) or any of the other usual
players. For being the most popular they often offer the worst
protection.
*Comodo
recently upgraded and is now a combination firewall and AV program. I
have not seen its protection rating as an AV program. For a firewall it
was rated the best of any available as well as being free.
Here is a good comparison
http://www.av-comparatives.org/
If you would like to work
with an agent who is leading the way call 715-894-1001 today or send me an email.
;)
;)
Thank you for the tips. I haven't defragged in a while and I usually do it every month. I forgot in Nov (LOL).