Whether you have a new computer,
or, like me, one that is several years old, there are steps you can take
to keep it running well. Some of the steps are physical, while others involve
preventing your information from being degraded or lost. I’ll focus on
the latter in this article, and maybe address physical maintenance in a
later article. My comments are from the viewpoint of a Windows XP user;
other operating systems may not work quite the same way. I recommend when
you should do each of these steps, but your computing habits may dictate
different times.
Protecting your information from outside intruders
Virus checker The first piece of software you buy should be a full-featured virus
checker. Norton
Antivirus, McAfee
Viruscan, or some other program…all protect your computer against most,
though not all, of the latest nasties. After installing your virus checker,
go online and update the virus list (and the virus checker engine, if available).
The virus list tells your program how to recognize each virus, and it’s
absolutely essential to update the list at least weekly. Norton’s Antivirus
program updates itself without any prompting, if you set it to, and possibly
others do, also. Set your virus checker to scan incoming e-mail automatically,
and to run in the background while your computer is on, watching for virus
activity in RAM. If possible, have it scan outgoing e-mail also, so you
won’t inadvertently send a virus to your friends.
Firewall
A firewall protects your computer from intrusion over a network, which
for most of us, means the Internet. Windows XP includes a firewall program,
but third-party programs like Zone
Alarm or BlackIce
may provide even more protection. If you are on a high-speed always-on
Internet connection, a firewall program is nearly as important as a virus
checker. Check for updates to the firewall program monthly. of Zone Alarm
provides a free version which is pretty
good, along with for-pay versions with even more features. If you have
a home network with a router, chances are the router includes a hardware
firewall.
Spyware detector
Spyware is a type of program that someone installs on your computer
over the Internet, without asking you. Technically, it could be considered
a virus, but it doesn’t do anything to harm your computer. It reports to
whomever installed it where you go when you browse the Internet, valuable
marketing information. I don’t know if that bothers you, but it annoys
me greatly. So I installed Ad-aware,
a free program that detects and removes spyware that may have gotten installed
when you were browsing. Run it about once a month, or more often if you
spend a whole lot of time online.
Spam filter
Spam is defined as unsolicited and unwelcome e-mail. By that definition,
an unsolicited e-mail that interests you is not really spam. There are
numerous spam filter programs, some provided by your ISP, and none of them
work perfectly. My ISP, Earthlink, provides one called Spaminator, that
catches 90% of incoming spam, but even so, I still get an occasional e-mails
offering to make me rich, enhance my sexual performance, or sell me something.
If your ISP doesn’t provide a spam filter, find one that works with your
e-mail program. Spam filters usually collect e-mails that they suspect
of being spam, so you can identify any that you want to read and delete
the rest. Check your spam filter accumulation at least weekly.
File and disk maintenance
Disk Cleanup
One of the most valuable utilities Microsoft includes with Windows
XP, Disk Cleanup removes files that clutter up your computer. It’s particularly
good at removing files left in your Internet cache after you spend a lot
of time surfing the net. After my wife indulged in a particularly energetic
evening of Internet exploration, there were nearly 100 MB of left-over
cache files on the hard drive. Disk Cleanup also removes standard temporary
files that Windows creates while you’re working, as well as an assortment
of other files that you may not need. I run Disk Cleanup after each day’s
surfing the net, and usually wipe out around 10 MB of trash files.
Disk Defragmenter
Files on hard drives tend to get split apart into separate pieces as
you work with them over a period of time. The more you use a file, the
more pieces, or fragments, it’s split into. The operating system keeps
track of all the pieces, so there’s no danger of losing the files, but
the hard drive takes longer to read fragmented files because the read head
jumps around the drive as it reads all the pieces. Moving all the fragments
into a contiguous stream makes it easy for your drive to read the files.
That’s what defragmenting does. Windows’ Disk Defragmenter, in the System
Tools folder, does that for you. Normally, it’s sufficient to run this
program monthly, but if you add and remove a lot of files, you may want
to run it weekly. Windows XP’s disk defragmenter is somewhat puny; for
a better version you’ll need something like Diskeeper
7.0.
Checkdisk (Scandisk for Windows 95, 98,
or Me users)
This program checks all the information on your drives (files, indexes,
folders, etc.) for errors, and attempts to fix those errors. It’s especially
valuable if you start to see disk error messages. Normally, run it monthly,
unless you see lots of error messages. Windows 9x’s Scandisk is easier
to use, since it runs from within Windows. Checkdisk is still used by Windows
XP, and only runs when you boot up your computer. I hesitate to say it
runs in DOS, since Windows XP doesn’t use any DOS code, but the effect
is the same.
Sources
Here are some sources for Programs that could be useful in keeping
your computer healthy. I list these as references only, and don’t guarantee
they will work with your computer or software. I haven’t even tried most
of them.
Spam Filters
Mailshield
SpamKiller
SpamWeasel
Spam Inspector
Supergoogie
iHateSpam
Junk Spy
MailWasher
Matador
SpamButcher
SpamCatcher
SpamNet
Firewalls
Zone
Alarm
BlackIce
Tiny
Personal Firewall
Norton
Internet Security
McAfee
Firewall
Outpost Personal Firewall
PC Viper
Antivirus
McAfee
VirusScan
Norton
AntiVirus
Panda
PC-Cillin
2003
Ad blockers
AD
Killer
Ad Blocker
AdSubtract
Pop-up blocker
Spyware remover
Ad-Aware
System
Detective
Nitrous
Anti Spy
OptOut
Spy
Ware Remover
Disk Defragmenter
Diskeeper
Norton
SystemWorks 2003
Disk Cleanup
CleanUp!
|