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Queensland
Innisfail Computer Doctor's PC advice
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FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions, stupid !)
1. Do I need virus protection ?
2. Do I need a firewall ?
3. What is spyware ?
4. How should I back up my data ?
5. Where are my emails and Address Book stored ?
6. How do I block all this spam ?
7. How can I remember all my passwords ?
8. How can I block just the adverts ?
9. How can I block pop-up adverts ?
Virus protection
If you go onto the internet it is essential that you protect your computer from viruses.
Free anti-virus software, called AVG, is available from www.grisoft.com, -
it is a 10 Megabyte download, which will take about an hour using a dial-up internet connection.
When the download has completed, run the file and it will install the software.
Getting the virus checking software is only the first step. The checking
software needs a list of viruses to check for, and this list is changing daily
as new viruses emerge.
New virus lists are available from AVG - the software should check for updates automatically,
but you can force it to do an update by double-clicking on the AVG icon on the taskbar
and clicking on "Check for Updates" button.
THE LATEST VIRUSES ARE THE MOST DANGEROUS, SO LET AVG UPDATE YOUR VIRUS LIST DAILY.
Microsoft has just started sending out its own Malicious Software Removal Tool as part of
the Windows Update process. It should (!) automatically download a program about once a month,
run it, fix the problems and delete itself.
When it happened to me for the first time, something seemed to get stuck, and no
report was produced, so I don't know what happened.
Hopefully Microsoft will get their act together in time for the second version.
Firewalls
Some viruses spread by running programs in the background that send themselves and
your information out over the internet.
Others spread by simply asking to come into your computer from over the internet
One extra level of protection that will trap this kind of virus activity is called
a FIREWALL program.
The firewall program monitors the traffic going in and out of your computer.
You tell the firewall program which of your programs may access the internet,
and others are then prevented from having access. It also prevents unapproved
requests from the internet to send messages to your computer.
Windows XP has firewall software built in, but it is not very smart, and doesn't report
what it's doing.
I recommend Kerio Personal Firewall, which is free to home users from
www.kerio.com . This program has to be trained.
If it comes across something it doesn't have a rule for, it will ask you what to do.
At first, when it knows nothing, it will interrupt you a lot and this can be quite nerve-wracking.
But after a short while it will stay in the background unless a serious threat occurs.
My firewall catches about a dozen intrusion attempts each day.
After 3 months it will pester you to buy it, but don't bother. It will cut down on some of
the fancy things it can do, but it is still a fantastic program. As well as watching your
internet traffic, it will also watch for programs launching other programs -
a possible sign that a virus is at work.
If your are ever puzzled as to what internet traffic is going on, double click on
the Kerio icon on the taskbar and masses of information on traffic will appear.
There is also a STOP button to pause all traffic while you work out what's what.
This is also a good way to work out the speed of your internet connection -
start up a big download and go into Kerio and watch it come down the line.
Spyware - what is it and what can we do about it ?
Spyware is software that can get installed on your computer as a result of web-browsing
and downloading off the internet, and installing 'free' software off CDs.
Spyware usually tracks which web sites you visit so that it can report back to its originator
on your activities, but it can also be used for malicious activities like intercepting your banking passwords.
Spyware can be removed by software applications such as the free downloadable
Spybot or
Ad-aware.
I don't recommend using both as they tend to trip over each other.
You should run one of these programs once a week - they take about 5 to 10 minutes to
scan your computer and report on all the problems. You can then have them fixed automatically.
The list of spyware things to look for are constantly changing, so make sure you
get the latest updates before you do the scan.
Backing up your data
If the worst happens (and I can assure you it happens all the time) and you
lose all your data files, including your emails and your accounting records,
you will realise how important it is to have copies of your data files.
This is called backing up your data, and should be done at least weekly
after your regular virus scan and other 'housekeeping'.
1. First choose your back-up medium
Suitable removable discs for backing up are:
• Floppy Discs - cheap but only 1.44 Megabytes of storage.
• ZIP discs - 100 Megabytes on each disc, but needs a special drive installed.
• CD-RW discs - 550 Megabytes per disc, needs a special 'CD
burner' drive which costs about $80 plus fitting.
• CD-R discs - 650 Megabytes per disc, as above BUT CAN ONLY BE WRITTEN TO ONCE.
The removable discs should then be kept somewhere safe, so that if the computer room burns down, all is not lost.
But don't forget that if the data is sensitive, then it also has to be kept secure from thieves.
Alternatively, you can back up your data to another hard disc drive.
Normal hard drives are not removable, but you get about 80,000 Megabytes of storage for $100.
External hard drives with a USB cable cost about $250 and give another kind of flexibility.
Your second drive could be on another computer on your local network,
or somewhere linked by the internet (but it would be slow to transfer).
Or it could be a second drive on your own computer. This is not so safe from fire or theft risk,
but it has the advantage of being as private as your first copy.
2. Then choose your back-up software
(a) I run two hard disc drives on my computer, and I keep the data in step in real-time with the
Mirror Folder software package. That way if my C-drive (with Windows on it) breaks down,
then I can restart the computer and it will carry on using the mirror copy (actually on my L-drive)
while I get a replacement drive sorted out. And no messing about with CDs at all.
If you are running a business and rely on your computer being available all the time,
this is the way to go.
(b) If you are going to burn CDs then you will get software with your CD-burner drive -
Nero is often the one supplied. You should burn a copy of My Documents as often as
necessary - how long will it take to fix up if it goes splat ?
If you have more than one user on the computer, there will be more than one copy of
My Documents needing to be saved. This is where it can start to get confusing.
(c) Once in a while you should back up the whole drive with Windows on it - usually called C:\ or just
'the C-drive'. This will save all of your Windows files and settings and installed software
which will save you lots of time in setting it all up again if the drive becomes hopelessly corrupted.
Norton Ghost isn't free and is pretty poor at telling you
what is going wrong if your CD-burner or discs are playing up.
Where are my emails and Address Book saved?
Your emails are normally saved in files buried inside WINDOWS, but you can
change this so that they are saved along with your personal data in the folder called My
Documents. In Outlook Express click on Tools - Options - Maintenance -
Store Folder... and enter the name of the folder, e.g. C:\...\My Documents\My Emails
Then when you back up My Documents, it will include all your emails.
Once in a while you should save a copy of your Address Book in \My Emails too.
In Outlook Express, click on File - Export - Address Book... then
click on "text" to highlight it, then on Export. Browse to \My Emails
and fill in a suitable name like "Address Book.18April2005.csv" and click on Save.
How do I stop all this spam ?
"Spam" is unsolicited emails - the internet's equivalent of junk mail.
The name comes from the Monty Python "Spam" sketch that emphasises "I don't like spam !"
Approximately 60% of all email traffic is spam, and it is a serious time-waster.
There are lots of "spam filters" available that intercept spam and file it in a
special email folder so that you can look at it, but you don't have to.
The better spam filters let you correct the mistakes it makes and it learns from its mistakes.
So after an initial burst of errors, the filter only makes a very small number of mistakes.
I currently use K9 which is a free download that integrates well with Outlook Express.
I have also had good results from Spamfighter which checks all your emails
against a centralised on-line database, and updates the database with anything that
you report as having slipped through. The only annoyance with this is when the database server is
overwhelmed with traffic, or if it goes off-line for maintenance.
How can I remember all my passwords ?
You need a password to connect to your Internet Service Provider (ISP),
and to each of your emailboxes, and each internet banking account, your Telstra on-line account,
and numerous others. Since these passwords should be difficult to guess,
they are also going to be difficult to remember.
What you must not do is use the same password for everything, because if you lose one,
then you have lost the lot. Also, you must not write them all down and stick the list
on the front of your monitor. So, what to do ?
The solution is to download the free Password Agent Lite .
This application keeps all your passwords in an encrypted file, which itself is kept
locked under the control of a single Master Password.
So you only have to remember one password, and then you can access all the hidden ones.
The free program can handle 25 items, and it can also generate new difficult passwords like "Y4nJFnIx".
It also has a clever feature whereby it can copy your username and password into a login page,
such as you get when you go to your internet banking site, with one click.
I couldn't manage without it.
How can I block just the adverts ?
Adverts take time to download and often detract from the web page.
The free download of WebWasher Classic from http://www.cyberguard.com/products/webwasher/webwasher_products/classic/index.html
installs as a proxy server between Internet Explorer and your modem.
It uses a number of techniques to recognise adverts and prevent them from being downloaded.
This works really well.
How can I block pop-up windows ?
Ordinary adverts are embedded in the web page's window, but some adverts appear
in new windows, that sometimes keep popping up in front of the window you are interested in.
In Internet Explorer v6 you can block this by clicking on Tools > Pop-up blocker >
and setting the level of the blocker.
Dave Kimble April 2005
DK's Home page
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