Mitz | WindowsTalk.org

Apr

5 Computer Maintenance Tips You Should Not Ignore!

by Mitz

The average computer user usually likes to ignore computer maintenance all together. They simply forget to perform even the slightest bit of computer maintenance and only think about it when something goes terribly wrong their computer.

If only they knew how much time and money computer maintenance can save you. I guess you learn this by experience but I always recommend a minimum of 5 computer maintenance tips to get any lazy computer user out of trouble.

Don’t Ignore Errors

When I am in a hurry I break this rule myself sometimes—although I often regret it later. I see a computer error, maybe a blue screen of death or even a computer black screen but I don’t have time to deal with the problem, so I ignore it.

Especially if the computer magically heals itself on the next restart, I forget about the error and continue to use the computer. meanwhile the same error has been left unattended and is still brewing in the background. Does this sound familiar to you?

But ignoring computer errors is kind of like ignoring traffic signs on the roads. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, if you ignore a Yield sign or Reduced Speed Limit sign, nothing bad will happen. But that hundredth time you could get into an accident. This is the same for computer errors so don’t ignore them.

Don’t Avoid Anti-Virus Software

Some people think they do not need antivirus software on their computer. Somehow they think they are safe and will not get a virus. But unfortunately this is not true as there are hundreds of ways to get a virus on your computer and when it happens, it is not a nice feeling.

We have all heard the old saying “prevention is better than cure” so why not do this with our computers? If you have an internet connection on your computer then you better get yourself some anti virus software. Even if you are not connected to the internet, you might borrow an external hard drive from a friend or even use a cd with a virus attached. Do not think it will not happen to you.

Anti-virus software saves you from the much more onerous computer maintenance task of removing a virus, so don’t ever run a computer without anti-virus software.

Don’t Ignore Backups

I am sick of preaching about computer file backup but it seems I have to continue as people still ignore this important part of computer maintenance. Every single one of the toughest computer maintenance jobs I’ve ever had to do were some form of file recovery for people—usually family—who didn’t have backups. It is a pet hate of mine…They come to me and ask me to save their files.

Making a one-off backup will probably take you less five minutes. Setting up a good backup system will probably take you about 30 minutes. But recovering files from a half-dead hard drive without a backup can easily take you hours and hours of work. Which would you rather?

Any non technical person can make easy secure backups and save themselves a load of stress.

Open Your Eyes to Dust

People often clean dust from their shelves and furniture in their house but mostly never notice the dust building up inside their computers. Just image all the hot running hardware cooking the dust resting on them. Dust can build up on any part inside your computer and on the vents on your computer case itself.

I have even had power supplies blow up due to dust build-up. You usually hear a large pop and then smell burning. That’s the dust cooking. Your power supply works hard to convert the ragged alternating current (AC) power in your house into the steady direct current(DC) needed by sensitive electronics, but this conversion creates a lot of waste heat, especially in powerful gaming computers.

I know some local computer guys can clean out your computer quite cheaply as it will take them only minutes to do. If you decide to clean dust from your computer yourself, always take the proper precautions and please wear a mask to shield your lungs from the harmful dust.

Don’t Ignore Junk Files

People are always complaining of a slow computer and want to know how to make their computer run as fast as it did when they purchased it. “It was so fast when I bought it, but now it takes 10 minutes just to start up.”

Ahh.. You could ask yourself this question: what has changed since you first bought the computer? For most people the answer is simple: “I installed a bunch of programs.” The problem is almost never hardware because it either works or it doesn’t. The problem is with you. You have let your computer get filled with junk files and programs you are not using any longer.

Each program on your computer takes up resources even when it isn’t running. If you think about it, they are checking for updates on the internet, competing with other programs, and even starting up when you start your computer. All of this is slowing your computer down.

Just removing unused programs can bring back much of that lost computer speed you had when you first bought your computer. It’s simple but great computer maintenance. Also running some computer maintenance software such as the award winning PC Pit Stop’s Optimize to get rid of hidden junks files will help with your computer maintenance.

Categories The Desktop Experience
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Apr

Buying the Right External Hard Drive?

by Mitz

There is no doubt that buying the right external hard drive is officially a nightmare. After all, there are so many different types, brands and features to choose from. Why can’t these manufacturers get their act together and stick to some basic guidelines? Well they simply do not have any guidelines or rules when it comes to manufacturing external hard drives and this is exactly why people are now searching for a good external hard drive buying guide.

At first glance, most external hard drives appear to look the same, but they are not. Apart from the obvious size differences, the hardware inside can greatly vary, the connections needed can be one of four, and the capacity is definitely always different.

Lets briefly cover some aspects you need to be aware of when buying the right external hard drive.

Size Does Matter

When it comes to buying an external hard drive size is a huge factor. We are not talking about the actual dimensions of the device but the capacity or files it will hold. Of course external hard drives are getting smaller in dimentions and larger in capacity.

To figure out what size hard drive you will need, you will have to ask yourself some questions. for example, what are you going to use this backup storage device for. If you plan to use it for a large amount of files, or even movies, then you will obviously need more storage space.

If you pan to use this external hard drive for computer backup which continually backs up over older files then the space you need would be smaller. Its all up to you.

Now days a 250 GB hard drive is considered small so I suggest you always go bigger than that.

What brand?

As I have said, the manufacturing of external hard drives is not regulated so the quality and features of any devices can vary greatly. The best way to judge which brand is good is to check out other buyers comments on sites like Amazon.com. I personally have purchased a western digital 3 TB external hard drive because of the reviews I read about on-line. Also this hard drive is compatible with an Apple Mac, which is important now days.

Connections

How do you want to connect your hard drive to your computer? Do you have a new or old computer? You will need to know these things as the answers might mean you need a different connection.

If you have an old computer you will need a connection that will be compatible with the age of your hardware. For example you might have a USB 1.1 or 2.0 connection on your computer. Therefore you need to make sure the external hard drive will be compatible with that USB type.

There is a new connection, eSata, which may not be right for your requirements, therefore this is why it is important to know what connection you have available.

A drive which supports USB 3.0 is probably your best bet—it has the speed of eSATA but is compatible with every computer made in the last 10 years. Many drives that support eSATA also have USB 2.0 plugs, which provide the same advantages.

External Hard Drive Power Supply

Smaller drives are usually powered by the Direct Current (DC) that your USB port can put out. That means you don’t need to worry about extra cords. But it also means that these drives will run down your laptop battery faster.

Larger drives and older drives require separate Alternating Current (AC) connections (although they use an inverter to convert it to DC). That means you’ll always need to find an extra plug for these drives, which can be annoying.

You will have to choose the right external hard drive power options to suit your needs. I personally like the (DC) direct current connections even if they are draining power from my computer. They are just easier to connect and use.

Buying an external hard drive can be a nightmare, however with a little education the buying process can become a lot less painful.

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Categories Hardware, The Desktop Experience
Comments (34)

Feb

How to Recover From Blue Screen Error?

by Mitz

How drastic will it be for you if you are doing some work on your system suddenly a bright blue screen with some text on it appears and then makes your system to reboot? This is Blue Screen of Death (BSOD). Blue screen of death is an error displayed by Microsoft Windows when it encounters a system error critical in nature. It can be due to corrupt registry, bad memory, antagonistic DLLs. Depending upon the reason it has different ways of recovery.

Blue screen sometimes can be handled easily and sometimes may lead you to fresh installation of your windows. Here are the basic steps you should perform when you encounter a BSOD on your system. These may help you solve your problem.

Backup

Blue screen of death or officially known as Stop Error can be very deadly sometimes. (may be a bit over exaggerated) If after encountering this error, you are not able to access your data, i.e. you are not getting to your desktop; you are likely to lose all your data. This is exactly why we talk about backing up your files all the time!

Last Known Good Configuration

To avoid this mishap, try your best to get to your desktop. If windows do not start in the normal mode, opt for starting in safe mode. In this mode, try for ‘Last Known Good Configuration’. This will roll back your system to this configuration and undo all the changes, including those which lead to BSOD. You can try this by hitting F8 key before the Windows loads. If your timing is correct, Windows Advanced Options menu appears. From here you can select any of the option from Safe Mode, Safe Mode with networking or Last Known Good Configuration.

Get The Stop Error Code

When the blue screen appears, it contains a ‘Stop Error” code that consists of figures and alphabets. You should try reading the code with care. This code is a reference to the problem that caused BSOD to occur. If problem is identified, it may be easy to tackle the BSOD.

Scan Your System

Free PC Matic Scan Sometimes a hardware or software may lead to system malfunctioning. If you encounter Blue screen error after installation of a software or hardware lately, it may be the reason of the trouble. Uninstall that software or hardware and check whether the issue is resolved. After uninstalling the hardware or software, put your system on a thorough scan.

Fix Registry Errors

Using registry applications, registry errors should be repaired because installation of software might have changed the registry values. You can also choose to restore the system to a previous point. This rolls back the system to position when it was working perfectly fine.

Research

If you are not able to identify the problem, you should try to figure out the problem by researching on internet. You can do it on some other PC like that of your friend or by visiting a cyber café. You need to know the stop error code for this. Type in the code in search engine and you will get to know about the cause of the problem and the possible solutions.

Ask Microsoft

You can visit the Microsoft Support website for required knowledge on the same. You will get all the solutions to your queries on BSOD there.

Try your best to get rid of this error because if ignored it may lead you to further serious trouble, such as a total black screen on your computer. Even a black screen with a blinking cursor can be serious, even though it shows some sign of life in your computer. Either way, neglecting the blue screen of death is a bad idea and only leads to more problems.

Categories The Desktop Experience
Comments (23)

Feb

Backup your Wireless Network Settings in Windows 7

by Mitz

Back in the old days, if I had any home network problems, I used to spend hours trying to recreate complicated networks and adjusting wireless network settings. I actually used to play with everything that had anything to do with computers, simply because I loved them.

When one of my networks crashed or had errors, I would always wish that I had backed up my network settings before the errors occurred. There were ways of doing this but not as easy as it is today.

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Well now with Windows 7, it is extremely easy to backup your wireless network settings, to save for the just in case times. Even know setting up a wireless network in Windows 7 is very easy, there are still things like a security key that you have to remember and typing manually. Therefore I like to save my wireless network settings and import them back in whenever I need them.

Backup your wireless network settings

Follow the steps below to backup your wireless network settings and have the freedom to know that your wireless network can be re-set up within seconds.

Go to the network and sharing Center in Windows 7. You can find the network and sharing Center by clicking on the network icon in the notification area, or by going to the Control Panel in the start menu and clicking on the network icon.
In the network and sharing Center, you will see a link that says “manage Wireless networks”. This link will be in the left sidebar. Click on this link.
A new dialogue box will open showing the wireless networks you have connected to in the past.
Double-click on the network that you want to backup. This will open up the properties of this network.
Go to the connection tab and click on the link that says “copy these settings to a USB flash drive”. You will find this link at the bottom of the dialogue box.
The Copy Network Settings wizard will open. Insert your USB flash drive into a spare slot in your computer. When your USB drive has been detected, click on the next button to start the copying process.
This process will only take a few seconds and when it is finished you can press the cross button to close the window.
If you go into your USB flash drive you will now see a new folder called SMRTNTKY and a setup file SNK.exe that was automatically created for you.

Import your wireless network settings

To import the settings that you previously backed up, simply put your USB drive into a USB port on the computer that you want these settings to be installed to. Then all you have to do is locate the file SNK.exe and double-click on it to start importing the settings. That’s how easy it is.

Now with this fantastic feature that Windows 7 includes, there is no need to try and remember any authentication keys or extremely long numbers to set up your wireless network settings. This is a great help when your network settings have mysteriously changed or disappeared.

Categories Microsoft, The Desktop Experience
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Feb

3 Online Backup Websites You Should Know About

by Mitz

In recent years, computer backup and disaster recovery services have become increasingly important as more and more business owners rely on computers for running their companies. For the home users, things like family photos, videos, and music as well as documents are sometimes irreplaceable. Online data backup is easy secure backups and is like having an insurance that protects your data against viruses, theft, or accidental deletions.

The conventional backing up systems uses Tapes (obsolete now), CDs, DVDs and personal Hard drives. Unlike the conventional system, the online backup services securely store your files away from your premises at off-site server locations, which might be some hundreds or thousands of miles away. The best part is you can have 24/7 access to your files from any internet connected computer, smartphone, or tablet style device. A new word “Cloud Storage” which is a synonym of online data backup is being increasingly used nowadays and has almost became mainstream.

The following are the top 3 online backup websites and their main features:

#1. Mozy

The combination of cheap storage space with useful features and strong security make this service the perfect place to store files, photos, videos, documents and anything you want to safely store outside of your home computer. This service is currently being offered under two products, “Mozy Home” for home users and “Mozy Pro” for business users.

Mozy home has the following features:

Encryption
Data centers highest security standards and are SAS70 or ISO certified.
Near-continuous data protection which automatically detects and backs up new and changed files.
The ability to pause and resume uploads easily
Multiple restore options
Bandwidth throttling
Excellent customer support via live online chat

Pricing:

Trial version is free, but limited to 2GB.
Mozy Home:
50 GB – $5.99/month (for a single computer)
125 GB – $9.99/month (for 3 computers)
A 1 year plan gives you 1 month of free subscription and a 2 year plan gives you 2 months free
Mozy Pro Accounts can be billed monthly, annually, or biennially.

#2. Livedrive

What you have with LiveDrive is an interesting offering in this increasingly crowded space of online backup, online storage. LiveDrive Backup is a previous winner of our coveted Best Buy award, thanks to its reasonable prices, excellent interface. This service is currently being offered under three products, “Backup”, “Briefcase” and “Pro Suite”.

LiveDrive has the following features:

Add additional computers at any time for just $1.45 per month.
Sync files between your computers
Access files on your mobile
Send files to your favorite social networks
Restore deleted files
Military grade AES-256 encryption to keep your files safe.
Stream your music and movies straight from Livedrive
Share files with friends and family
Works on Mac and Windows
Outstanding support

Pricing:

Backup: $7.95/mo or $79.95/yr (if paid annually)
BriefCase: $15.95/mo or $159.95/yr (if paid annually)
ProSuite: $24.95/mo or $249.95/yr (if paid annually)
2 week free trial on any product.

#3. Mypcbackup

This cloud storage company has a one click solution to backing up files so that their customers can get back to their busy lives and not have to worry about complicated backup routines. MyPCBackup claims that with just three easy steps – join for free, download, and then backup – the information on your PC will be safe even if it is stolen or your hard drive crashes.

Mypcbakup has the following features:

Backup Photos, Emails, Documents and More
Hands-free data backups
Get File from Anywhere
Secure and Encrypted Software
Synchronize Multiple Computers
Unlimited Storage Space
Free Online Backup
Automated Backups

Pricing:

Monthly: $9.95/month
6 Months: $6.95/month
1 Year: $5.95/month
2 Years: $4.95/month

Online backup services securely store your files away from your premises at off-site server locations, therefore reducing the need for your own computer backup storage. Your data will stay intact and available even if your local disks are stolen or your premises suffer some disaster. Even external hard drive security is not that great and with online backup you don’t have to buy and maintain or upgrade your hardware.

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Categories Security, Technology, The Desktop Experience
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Feb

3 Types Of Computer Security

by Mitz

Computer security experts recognize three different types of computer security—physical security, network security, and executable security. Each different type has it’s own risks and it’s own implementations.

It All Starts With Physical Computer Security

Physical computer security is the most basic type of computer security and also the easiest to understand. In short, anyone who has physical access to the computer controls it. Passwords, hidden files, and other safeguards can’t keep out a determined attacker forever if he can physically access your computer.

Computer hosting companies take physical computer security very seriously—they hire guards, use secure doors, and even put computers on military bases or deserted islands just to keep them safe.

But most average people pay very little attention to physical computer security. For example, they put private files on their office computers—computers they leave unattended for 16 hours every weekday. Or they hand their computer with illegal files over to a computer repair technician without thinking that anyone who can fix a computer can access all of their files.

The same applies for External Hard Drives Security. It is ignored completely but people continue to store precious files on these devices and then proceed to leave them laying around for anyone to grab.

What You Can’t See Can Hurt You—Network Computer Security

Everyone today knows that the firewall is an essential piece of computer security. The firewall provides network security by blocking unauthorized network access attempts to your computer.

But the firewall only protects home computers. Servers on the Internet can’t use firewalls—their whole purpose is to accept access attempts from random strangers. This makes network security tricky.

Trickiest of all is the home computer that wants to be a part-time server. For example, you want to send a file or a print document to another computer on your home network.

Because network security is so complicated—and because networking itself is so important—most major computer security failures today are the result of network security problems.

Executable Security—What Happens When Things Go Wrong

But probably the security type we’re most familiar with is executable security—otherwise known as anti-virus security.

Blocking viruses is important, but it’s also big business, so it often gets hyped over the other types of computer security. Any half-way decent programmer can write a network computer security firewall, but most anti-virus software is written by teams of hundreds or even thousands of programmers due to its complexity.

We call this executable security because that’s what computer scientists call programs—executables. On Windows, especially older versions of Windows, an executable could do almost anything it wanted, so running a virus even once could ruin your computer.

Current versions of Windows include some protections against that, although the system isn’t perfect. Yet Microsoft’s progress has significantly increased executable computer security in the last decade, so we can only hope that it will continue to make our computers more reliable in the years to come.

My name is Mitz Pantic and I’ve been working with computers for over 25 years and love to teach people how to use their computers. If you need any more information about computer security, I have hundreds of computer tips available for free on my website.

Categories Security
Comments (48)

Jan

Scanner And Printer Computer Maintenance

by Mitz

Scanner and printer computer maintenance can be among the most annoying of all computer maintenance tasks. Not only do you often need to get your hands dirty, but each different device requires different computer maintenance. The first step is to make sure your scanner printer is installed correctly. After that, it is now time to see a few simple things you can do to make your life easier.

The Absolute First Computer Maintenance You Should Do

Right now, before you do anything else—even before you continue reading this article—stop and make a reference printout and reference scan.

I’ll tell you how to make these reference documents in a moment—first let me tell you why you need to make them.

A year or two from now, you may start to think that your device isn’t working as well as it used to. Your scans aren’t as crisp; your printouts don’t have the right colors. When that happens you’re going to need a reference document for comparison to see if quality really has gone down or if you’re just imagining things.

To create a reference printout, use the sample sheet your printer probably prints automatically when you press a particular button. (Consult your manual if you don’t know what button to press.) Or, and I prefer this option, print out a nice photo of a family member such as the baby in the family. Save this printout in a climate-controlled location such as your file cabinet.

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To create a reference scan, scan a colorful document or photo. You can even scan your reference printout. Save the resulting file somewhere on your computer where you can find it again. Also save the document you scanned so that you can re-scan it later.

Computer Maintenance With Reference Documents

If you reprint or rescan your reference document and identify problems, then it’s time to perform actual computer maintenance on your printer or scanner.

Scanner maintenance is usually the more difficult—cheap scanners have few or no user-serviceable parts except the glass document bed which you can usually clean with ordinary glass cleaner. (If the surface is plastic, check your manual to make sure glass cleaner is ok—otherwise you could ruin the plastic.)

For this reason, I highly recommend buying a scanner that isn’t part of your printer. Multi-function devices are convenient and they save space, but when one device fails you either have to replace both devices or use even more space for the partial replacement. Of course most come together now so you might not have much choice.

Computer Maintenance For Printers

Many printers, even some of the ultra-cheap ones, can be maintained at home. The basic maintenance is simply replacing the ink or toner—I assume you know how to do this; if not, consult your user manual.

There are other parts in your printer which can be replaced. Every printer is different, so I don’t know what parts are in your printer, but your print manual probably lists them. The manual probably also tells you how often they should be replaced.

For best performance, you should replace printer parts when your manual says to replace them—but I’ll tell you a little secret: printer manufactures want you to buy replacement parts. It means more money for them. So if you think you can delay buying a new part, I suggest you do so. Instead of buying the unnecessary part, buy yourself a treat instead.

This is another reason I highly recommend using quality reference printouts—you can use a printout comparison to see if your printer is still performing well. If it is, then there’s probably no reason to waste computer maintenance time and money replacing still-useful parts.

Performing regular computer maintenance is something that everyday computer users often neglect. I have had thousands of customers that do not perform any computer maintenance and sometimes wait until they see a black screen with a blinking cursor , before they finally realize that looking after your computer is IMPORTANT! This goes for your external hardware and peripherals connected to your computer. My name is Mitz Pantic and I’ve been working with computers for over 25 years and love to teach people how to use their computers. Be sure to visit me at my computer tips website and say hello in the comments section. Also do not forget to sign-up for my free computer tips newsletter and receive a free 59 page Computer Terms Dictionary!

If you have any tips for computer or printer maintenance please share them with us by leaving your comment below.

Categories Hardware
Comments (24)

Jan

Computer Maintenance That Kills!

by Mitz

Most people don’t do enough computer maintenance—but a few people get overzealous in their computer maintenance and start to do things that are harmful to their computer. Here’s a list of a few things you shouldn’t do if you want your computer to keep running smoothly.

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Computer Maintenance Doesn’t Require Memory Optimization

There are a bunch of programs out their that claim that they’ll optimize your memory. Other programs claim to defragment your memory. All of these programs imply that they’ll make your computer run faster.

I’m not sure that claim is correct. Even if they do optimize your memory, the speed increase is probably quite small.

But if the gain is small, the risk is high. Messing with computer memory puts every program on your computer at risk. That’s why, in normal operation, only one program is allowed to allocate computer memory—the operating system, Windows.

Memory optimizers may make your computer unstable. I’d especially mistrust shareware memory optimizers or those produced by a non-brand-name company.

You don’t need memory optimizers to perform good computer maintenance, so I suggest that you just avoid them altogether.

Good Computer Maintenance Gone Wrong

One very useful type of computer maintenance is cleaning your Windows Registry. Back in the Windows 95 and Windows 98 days, registry cleaning was practically mandatory at least once a year. These days it’s optional, but I still recommend it.

What I don’t recommend is using a disreputable registry cleaner. There are hundreds of registry cleaners on the market and the vague generic ones often can’t be trusted.

Cleaning your Windows Registry is a lot like purging old records from your home file cabinet. You wouldn’t let some random stranger clean out your file cabinet—he might get rid of something that’s very important to you.

Likewise, you shouldn’t use random registry cleaning software—not even if it’s a free download. Many major and reputable software companies produce top-notch registry cleaning software. It costs a little more money, but it can save you from having to reinstall all of your programs.

The Top Computer Maintenance Mistake

A tiny little mistake can kill your computer. That mistake is misreading or not following the version instructions for your computer maintenance software.

Software which fixes your computer on one version of Windows can easily break your computer on another version of Windows. Newer software is usually smart enough not to run on older versions of Windows, but older software might break modern versions of Windows, so be very careful.

How To Ruin Your Hardware

In most cases it’s nearly impossible to ruin computer hardware using software. In the typical worst case scenario, when you break your computer with software you just need to reinstall Windows and restore all of your data from backups.

But I can think of at least one case where routine computer maintenance can ruin your hardware—when you excessively defragment a Solid State Drive (SSD).

Most solid state drives are small and portable. They’re the Secure Digital (SD) cards or the USB thumb drives. Some larger SSDs are used in netbooks and small portable drives with between 32 gigabytes and about 500 gigabytes.

All disk drives wear out, but solid state drives wear out quicker if you write to them a lot—and defragmenting your disk drive requires a lot of writing operations as it moves data from one part of the drive to another.

If you use solid state drives, be careful. Don’t defragment your drive more than once a month, or you could perform the kind of computer maintenance that kills your computer.

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Categories Software, The Desktop Experience
Comments (32)

Jan

External Hard Drives Security Warning

by Mitz

You could be wrapping up your external hard drives, putting a bow on top, and then handing them to a thief. One of the top problems with external hard drives is that they’re very easy to steal.

But when external hard drives are stolen, you don’t just lose the drives—you also lose all of the data on them. Some thieves won’t care about the data; they’re just going to replace your data with their data. But some thieves will look through your data for anything else they can steal—passwords to your PayPal account, credit card information, even your home address so they can steal your identity.

How To Keep External Hard Drives Safe

You can do two things to keep your external hard drives safe: prevent your external hard drives from being stolen and prevent your data from falling into the wrong hands.

Physical security can be easy or hard depending on your situation. If you travel around a lot, the best option is to lock your external disk drives to something solid—like a desk. Most external hard drives include hardware that lets them use $20 laptop security chains.

Admittedly, locking down your external hard drives looks lame, but if you’re a poor college student, it’s a lot better than losing your external hard drives—and your almost-finished term paper.

You can also enhance the security of your external hard drives by permanently labeling them as belonging to you. Use cheap engraving tools from the dollar store and make sure thieves will see your mark before they steal your external hard drives.

Keeping Stolen External Hard Drives Secure

But if your external hard drives are stolen despite your protective measures, you don’t need to despair of handing your most sensitive documents over to some random thief.

You can secure your external hard drives by installing basic encryption software on your computer. The encrypted external hard drives can’t be read by anyone without your password. (Short passwords can be easily cracked, so make it a long password.)

Why doesn’t everyone encrypt their external hard drives? Three reasons stand out:

1. It requires special software—and that software needs to be installed on all the computers that use the external hard drives.

Worse, you can’t store the software on typical hard drives because you need the software in order to access the external hard drives. It’s a chicken-and-egg problem.

2. Encryption slows down the drive a little bit.

3. You lose all access to the data on the drive if you forget your password. There’s no password recovery service. (Although you can download free password cracking software that will slowly try to break your password.)

Still, I highly recommend encryption to anyone who keeps secure files on their external hard drives.

A Hidden Security Risk On External Hard Drives

You probably know that Windows will automatically run a program installed to a special file on external hard drives. Viruses install themselves into this special file so that they can spread to all the computers you use your external hard drives on.

This is one of the most common ways to get a virus these days because most anti-virus software can’t block these autorun applications.

Any virus on any computer you use can infect your external hard drives, and any computer you connect to can catch a virus from your external hard drives, so be extra careful about connecting to strange computers.

There is no doubt that we all need an external hard drive to use as a backup storage device for all of those important computer files we need to keep safe. An external hard drive is not the only way to save your files though. Here are 5 backup storage devices, but keep in mind that they all have their own unique security risks.

If you have any tips to make your files more secure please share them with us by leaving your comment below.

Categories Hardware
Comments (40)

Dec

Computer Maintenance Tools Available In Windows 7

by Mitz

Windows 7 comes with a bunch of built-in system computer maintenance tools that helps you can maintain your computer, speed up your computer, and help keep it running smoothly. Below we have covered few built-in system maintenance tools included with Windows 7.

Disk Defragmenter:

The Disk Defragmenter was also available in the older versions of Microsoft Windows, but Windows 7 has enhanced it to a great extent. The most important feature of the Windows 7 defragmenter is that it lets you safely terminate the defrag process at any time without any adverse effects and it can also defrag multiple volumes at the same time. Disk Defragmenter can be launched from:

Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter.

System Restore:

System Restore allows you to roll back (restore) system files, registry keys, installed programs, etc. to a previous state in case of any disaster. Windows 7 has provided an enhanced and improved version of the System Restore feature.

Control Panel System Maintenance Tool:

You can also perform many common system maintenance tasks from the Windows 7 Control Panel.

Open the Control Panel and go to System and Security .
Find and Fix Problem.

Now the Troubleshooting option will be displayed and you can troubleshoot any problem relevant to the system, network, internet etc.

Remove spyware, and help protect your computer from viruses:

Download Microsoft Security Essentials for free to help guard your computer from viruses, spyware, adware, and other malicious software (also known as malware). Microsoft Security Essentials acts as a spyware removal tool and includes automatic updates to help keep your system protected from emerging threats.

Free up disk space:

The Disk Cleanup tool helps you to free up space on your hard disk to improve the performance of your computer. The tool identifies files that you can safely delete and then enables you to choose whether you want to delete some or all of the identified files.

To use Disk Cleanup, Click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, click System Tools, and then click Disk Cleanup. If several drives are available, you might be prompted to specify which drive you want to clean.

Detect and repair disk errors:

In addition to running Disk Cleanup and Disk Defragmenter to optimize the performance of your computer, you can check the integrity of the files stored on your hard disk by running the Error Checking utility.

To use Error Checking Utility:

Right-click the hard disk you want to search for bad sectors, and then click Properties.
In the Properties dialog box, click the Tools tab.
Click the Check Now button.
In the Check Disk dialog box (called Error-checking in Windows 7), select the “Automatically fix file system errors” and “Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors” check box, and then click Start.
If you see an error message saying “Windows can’t check the disc while it’s in use” you will need to tick the box that says check next time you start your computer.

My name is Mitz Pantic and I’ve been working with computers for over 25 years and love to teach people how to use their computers. Be sure to visit me at my computer tips website and say hello in the comments section. Also do not forget to sign-up for my free computer tips newsletter and receive a free 59 page Computer Terms Dictionary!

If you have any tips for computer maintenance please share them with us by leaving your comment below.

Categories Microsoft, The Desktop Experience
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