Hi all, excuse me for the long message, I tried to divide it but actually all the introduced concepts are intermingled in a way that's too difficult for me to post each separately.
A few steps immediately after you get your new computer can save you a lot of time, effort and loss of data later. I'll review my recommendations Congratulations! You've received a new computer! There are some things you'll want to do to it before you start using it. These are things that, later, when all heck breaks lose and the machine dies, the software crashes or you get a massive malware infection, will save you lots and lots of grief. Every day people lose data, precious memories and valuable time because they didn't take a few simple steps along the way to prepare. And by far the best time to prepare is at the very beginning. Disconnect From the Internet I know you've already connected; you just couldn't help yourself I'm sure. I'm the same way. But until we've made sure of a couple of safety items, let's pull off the road for a moment and prepare. "Installation disks contain a full copy of Windows that can be installed from scratch." Save the Installation Media First, collect up all the CDs and DVDs that may have come with your machine, and put them in a safe place. If you don't, then someday, maybe years from now, you'll desperately need one and be unable to find it. This is also a great time to ensure that you have installation disks, not just recovery disks. Installation disks contain a full copy of Windows that can be installed from scratch. Recovery disks do not, and often rely on information saved on the hard drive - which is fine until the hard drive itself dies and takes all that information with it. If you don't have installation disks, now's the time to get in touch with the vendor and insist on them - even if they cost a little extra. Make a System/Image Backup Using a tool like Acronis True Image, DriveImageXML or similar, take an image backup, also sometimes called a full system backup, of your entire machine. Make sure that this is a backup tool that supports what's called a "bare metal" restore - the ability to restore to a machine that will not boot because the hard drive is empty. Usually this requires that you also create "bootable rescue media" to be used by that software. This step is particularly important if you were not given actual installation media as I mentioned above, and can serve as an alternative should you not be able to get the installation media. The reasoning here is simple: this backup is an image of your machine as you got it. Should you ever need to start over and reformat/reinstall the machine, this image backup can be restored to the machine instead to return it to the exact condition that it's in right now. Setup Regular Backups While you've got your backup software out, take the time now to set up a regularly scheduled backup. Exactly what that looks like will depend on your needs and how you use your computer, but in general setting up something that backs up your machine daily is good practice. Enable The Firewall & Connect to the Internet Now that we've got our backup in case anything goes wrong, it's almost time to connect. First, however, make sure that you have a firewall and that it's enabled. In most cases if you're connecting through a router, you're done. That router acts as a perfectly adequate firewall and protects you from random things that would otherwise attack your machine the moment you connect to the internet. If you don't have a router, simply make sure that the Windows Firewall is enabled. It should be, by default, but it's well worth checking. Once you've confirmed a firewall of some sort - connect. Install Security Software Your computer may well already have come with security software preinstalled, but you don't have to use it. Quite often the pre-installed solutions aren't always the best. Sometimes they're just fine, other times not so much. Do a little research and decide. Then either make sure that the preinstalled security software is configured and enabled properly, scanning and updating itself automatically, or download alternatives that you choose and set them up instead. If you're unsure, I do have The Short-Short Version Here's my current recommendation for most home and small business users who don't want to think about it too much: · Get a router which will be your firewall, even if you have only one computer. · Install Microsoft Security Essentials as your anti-virus, anti-spyware and malware scanner. · Turn on Windows Automatic Update. · Turn on the Windows Firewall when you travel. That's it. Good, basic protection in four steps with only one download. Microsoft Security Essentials In the past, I've strongly disrecommended all-in-one solutions. By "all-in-one" I mean a single program or "security suite" that claims to do it all: firewall, anti-spyware, anti-virus and often much more all in package. What I see in reports and questions coming in to Ask! is simply this: these types of suites typically have or cause more problems than other alternatives. "Microsoft Security Essentials isn't trying to compete against other products' long feature list - and as a result it wins." That strong disrecommendation continues - I've not changed my mind. With one exception: Microsoft Security Essentials. In a sense, it's not an all-in-one solution like the others. True, it has anti-virus and anti-spyware but where it differs is that it's not trying to shovel in all sorts of other features that a) you don't need and b) often only serve to destabilize your computer. Other Good Alternatives Microsoft Security Essentials might not be the right solution for everyone. No single product is. In addition, even with a good, solid foundation you may also find yourself needing additional tools at times. The unfortunate but very practical reality is that no single tool or combination of tools can find all malware all the time. As a result, you may sometimes need alternatives to bring in to help out. Malwarebytes by itself. It's not really an anti-virus tool, per se (in fact in their forums you'll see the support staff regularly recommending anti-virus tools to install alongside Malwarebytes), and I can't really call it an anti-spyware tool either. But is currently has one of the best track records of removing troublesome malware quickly and effectively. Hence anti-malware. Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware comes in two versions: free and pay. The free version is a fully functional stand-alone manual scanner. The paid version adds realtime scanning, and scheduled scanning and scheduled updates. Anti-Virus AVG Free and Avira Free are two free solutions that I've come to recommend. I ran AVG for some time on my primary machine. I have two concerns with both: 1. When you visit their site and download the program, they both try really, really had to up-sell you to the paid versions. Be persistent, be careful, and make sure you get the free version - it's the free version that I'm recommending here. 2. AVG Free includes a feature called "LinkScanner" that attempts to check links on the pages of the sites you visit for phishing and other malware. I've experienced and also had several reports of this feature seriously impacting browser performance. I recommend turning it off immediately. In fact, I recommend turning off any browser intrusive or email intrusive features on any anti-malware program at the first sign of problems. Anti-Spyware Spybot Search and Destroy is one of the longest running and highly regarded anti-spyware tools out there. I wouldn't hesitate to install and use it. Also one of the "old guard" is Lavasoft's Ad-Aware. It's had some issues in years past but as I understand it it's a solid contender once again. My only concern with Ad-Aware is that being a commercial product (though with a free version) it does seem to be starting down the road of perhaps trying to do too much. Firewall For home & business use I recommend the use of any good NAT router as a firewall. They don't have to be expensive at all, and are one of the simplest approaches to keeping your computer safe from network-based threats. If all the computers on the local network side of the router can be trusted, then no additional software firewall is called for. When traveling, I recommend simply turning on the built-in Windows Firewall. (There's often no harm in leaving it on at home, but it can occasionally get in the way of some local machine-to-machine activities.) I understand that some people feel strongly that an additional software firewall is still called for in certain circumstances, but in my opinion those circumstances are infrequent. I do not have a specific product to recommend, as all of the current software firewalls seem to cause issues, often serious, from time to time. What Else? I strongly recommend you backup, regularly. In fact, I can't stress this enough. 99% of the disasters I hear about could be completely avoided simply by having up to date backups. Acronis TrueImage is the backup software I use and recommend. Keep your computer up to date. That means turning on Windows Update or making sure to visit the Windows Update web site religiously. The vast majority of computer infections we hear about are due to the operating system simply not being kept up to date with the latest available patches. Update Take the time now to update Windows, in particular, and if appropriate any of the other applications and software installed on your machine. For Windows, at a minimum make sure that Automatic Updates is enabled. Keeping your software updated is an important part of keeping your machine safe from viruses, spyware and other malware that exploit vulnerabilities discovered in the software. Save the Product Keys One more thing to save: the product keys or activation codes. On the outside of your machine, or in or on the box that the software came in will be a product code that you may need to type in if you ever need to reinstall that software. It's just as important that you keep this code in a safe place as the discs you'd be using. One approach to getting the product keys for most of the software that's preinstalled on your system is to download and run Belarc Advisor. This tool will generate a report of many aspects of your machine, including the Windows Product Key, and the product keys for many of the installed applications. You can print this and save it, or simply record the information elsewhere. Just remember to keep it in a safe place that when you need to reinstall - perhaps a couple of years from now - you'll be able to find it. Enjoy! Of course there's always more, but this is a good start putting in some basic protection and setting up some safety nets that'll help protect your investment, your data and your time. Warm Regards MohammadWaseemKhan Land: 01165154282 Mob: 9213749272 Emails bestmu...@gmail.com, mohammadwase...@gmail.com, mohammadwaseemk...@yahoo.com. MSN: mr.waseemk...@hotmail.com Skype: sweetboy250 To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in with the subject unsubscribe. 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