Protecting and Cleaning your computer in 8 simple steps

Protecting and Cleaning your computer in 8 simple steps
mike
06-11-2006

Protecting and Cleaning your computer in 8 simple steps

by Mike Silvia

A few months back I had a friend who complained that his computer was running very slow and that he kept getting adult material pop-ups. He had several children and was concerned that the pop-ups were inappropriate for his kids. I asked him what he did to clean up his computer and if he had an anti-virus. His reply was typical of many computer users; he did little to nothing in keeping his computer clean and safe from viruses, spyware and other computer intrusions. Below are minimal steps you should take in protecting your computer and keeping it clean. I have separated them into two areas; protecting your computer (for good prevention tips) and cleaning your computer.

PART 1: PROTECTING YOUR COMPUTER

1. Purchase and use anti-virus software program
If you are not using an anti-virus program your computer is at considerable risk. There are thousands of very intelligent people out there that spend their time writing viruses, worms and other harmful programs to destroy your computer files. They have nothing against you. They just love anarchy and want to show how smart they are. Your best and only real defense is to purchase a quality anti-virus program and keep it up to date. You may also want to consider using an e-mail program like Yahoo or MSN that automatically scans your attachments before you download them.

2. Use anti-spyware software
What the heck is spyware? Spyware are small tracking codes that are placed onto your computer without your permission. Companies pay a lot of money to learn where internet users go surfing. Some Spyware programs are invited. For instance if you use the Alexa toolbar, you agreed to allow Alexa to place the tracking code onto your computer. In this case, you have allowed Alexa to use basic information to help with their ranking of websites. The only problem is most spyware is unauthorized and on your computer without your knowledge. Ok, so how to I get rid of the spyware on my computer? Use FREE Spyware cleaners!

The most popular, free anti-spyware programs are Ad Aware SE Personal and Spy Bot Search and Destroy. I use both on a weekly basis to clean my laptop. Both are FREE and excellent ways to remove the Spy Ware from your computer. Click on the links above and install the programs onto your computer. After you install each one, use the check for updates function on each one. Always check for updates before you run these programs!

3. Use pop-up blockers
Remember the saying, "if there is a will, there is a way?" Well, tracking companies and smut salesmen have found revolutionary ways of getting tracking codes onto your computer and getting you to visit their site. For instance, most pop-ups allow you to click on the X at the top right or select Close Window. This is a common and professional way to allow you to close the pop-up. Well, the clever spammers out there have found a way around this! They simply place their links into the X or the Close Window options. So, you may click on the close window option and be brought to a website you don't want to visit! Then a tracking code is placed onto your computer that you will have to remove later on.

Get a pop-up blocker and avoid this mess! I use the Internet Explorer blocker that comes with the browser and the one that comes with the Google toolbar. Alexa also offer an excellent pop-up blocker for FREE. It's a good idea to have 2-3 pop-up blockers adding a solid wall that even the best pop-up creators can not get through.

4. Set your browser's privacy and security options to the appropriate levels
If you have no clue what I am talking about, then perform the following actions. Open your browser (I am using Internet Explorer) and click on Tools and Internet options. Click on the Privacy tab. First, move the slider to at least medium. This will block most shady companies from placing cookies onto your computer. Second, make sure the pop-up blocker option is selected. If you are an advanced user, update your Advanced and Security tabs.

PART 2: CLEANING YOUR COMPUTER

Now that you have a great defense against viruses, spammers and tracking companies let's learn about cleaning up your computer!

Think of your computer as a cargo ship with 1,000s of compartments. When you first by your computer it is not very full and runs well. As you load files onto your computer your hard drive starts to fill up. Even when you old delete files, some of the fragments still remain. It is important to unload the cargo when it no longer belongs on the ship! The same goes for your computer. Get rid of the files that are no longer needed and clean up the fragments that are left behind.

1. Organize and clean!
I like saying that people's hard drives are like a garage. Some keep it clean and well organized. Others pile up items, scattered throughout the garage. They don't throw away anything even though their wife nags them weekly to clean up the garage. Well it's time to clean that garage. I mean hard drive!

First, develop a file plane. Create a well organized list of folders in your My Documents folder. For instance, you may want to create photos, documents, music and other folders that you will use. Create sub-folders as well. I have clicked on people music folders and seen over 1,000 MP3 files in a single folder!

Delete files you no longer need and place your files into the proper folders.

2. Delete those temporary internet files
What are temporary internet files? Good question! As you surf the net, your computer is placing temporary files on your computer. This allows for faster internet browsing. For instance, ever notice that when you watch a video on the internet the first time it takes a while to load, but when you watch it at a later time it loads quickly? This is because the video is downloaded into your temporary folder. The first time you view the video it takes time to download the files. When you watch the video a second time it loads quicly because the video is already on your computer. Most videos are several megabytes and can fill up your temporary folder quickly! This is also true for images, MP3s and other files.

Let's clean out those temp files! Open your internet browser and click on tools and internet options. You will notice a section called Temporary internet files. Click on delete files. Go ahead click on it! I promise that you will not delete anything that you need. If you are given an option to Delete all offline content select that option as well. You should repeat this process on a weekly basis.

3. File Manager
Click on start, all programs, accessories, system tools, and disk cleanup. If you have not run this program before or it has been a while, it may take several minutes for the applications to run. Check all the files that you will to remove and delete them.

4. Disk Defragmentater
Ok, now it is time to clean the fragments, or residue off your hard drive. When you delete files from your computer, fragments of the files are let on the hard drive. After thousands of files are added and removed from your hard drive, there may be thousands of fragments on your hard drive. It is recommended that you "defrag" your hard drive at least once a year. I defrag my hard drive every 6 months. Below are the steps to defrag your hard drive.

Click on start, all programs, accessories, system tools, and disk defragmenter. I recommend running this program before you go to bed as it could take several hours to run.

That's it! Your computer will now run faster and the anti-spyware, anti-virus and pop-up blocker programs will prevent unwanted bugs from invading your computer in the future..

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