Welcome to Volume 1 Number4 of Presidio Computer's Newsletter.
A. Mother Nature
As we enter Tucson's summer monsoon season, I think it is important for me to mention certain precautions that increase the likelihood that your PC is running, when October arrives.
Lightning is a great danger to all electrical appliances. This includes computers, monitors, printers, scanners and associated devices. A surge protector is often used, in the belief that a surge protector will prevent the passage of millions of volts to your PC, et al. Nothing could be further from the truth. Surge protectors are designed to prohibit a sudden surge of electricity, as often occurs when the power station powers up an additional generator. A surge protector is not designed to protect your equipment from the sudden electical surge that occurs when lightning strikes a power pole.
Another device often mis-used is a UPS (uninterrupted power supply). This is basically a battery, plugged into the wall. Electrical devices are plugged into the UPS. The purpose of the UPS is to give you time to close your documents and shutdown your computer (click "start", click "shutdown", click "ok"). Turn off your monitor, printer, speakers, scanner, etc, as needed.
Some UPS devices include software, which you need to install on your PC, so that you can backup the data on your computer.
I have a friend named Mike, who lives on a farm in eastern Nebraska. A few years ago, lightning struck a power pole that is located across the road from Mike's home. His computer, and several of his other electric appliances were scorched. Mike purchased a surge protector. Lightning again struck the same power pole. Again, Mike's PC, and several electric appliacnces were scorched. Mike then placed a UPS between his PC and the electric circuitry in his house. Amazingly, lightning again hit the power pole (actually its replacment). And, yet again, Mike's PC was toast.
Take Mother Nature's power very seriously, folks!
Your only real protection, against lightning,is to unplug your PC, monitor, printer, stereo, television, and other electric appliances that you value.
Also, be sure to unplug your telephone, DSL, satellite, cable and/or wireless internet connections during our thunder and lightning seasons.
Here are some useful sites:
http://nimbo.wrh.noaa.gov/Tucson/monsoon/monsoon_def.html ,
http://www.weather.com/weather/local/85730?y=11&x=6 ,
http://nimbo.wrh.noaa.gov/Tucson/climate/tus.html, and
B. Economic Downturn.
This summer, I have noticed many hardware and software items on sale. Check the Sunday ad inserts. A customer recently told me that a local appliance store is selling PCs for $500.00, with a monitor and printer. The PC has a 1.2 GHZ [gigahertz] processor and CD player. Most new PCs have a processor running at least 1.8 GHZ, and a CD burner (a device that can record, as well as play back CDs).
Last week, I purchased > $400 worth of sofware, with rebates equal to the amount of purchase. CompUSA has some amazing offers! When you purchase software that is "on sale", check the rebate requirements carefully. Some rebates are for "upgrades". This means you need to provide proof that you had previously pruchased a previous version of the same software. Some companies will accept "proof of purchase" of a competitor's product. Generally, you cannot use software which was installed on your PC, by your big box PC manufacturer, because you didn't pay for the software. For example, Norton Anti Virus [NAV] software is given to the big box PC manufacturer by Symantec [the manufacturer of NAV]. That's why a 1 year subscription to this type of NAV software will cost you $20.00. If you purchase NAV, the 1 year subscription price is $10.00. Before you purchase any hardware, or software, be sure that it is compatible with your PC's OS [operating system, the main program that runs your computer, such as Windows 98 or Windows 2000].
LCD [Liquid Crystal Display] monitors have risen in price, during the past 6 months, but I've seen rebates that bring the price of a monitor down $100.00.
A couple of weeks ago, I purchased an LCD monitor @ Fry's Electronic Store, in Tempe. There, I was able to visually compare Sony, Samsung, NEC models, as well as some lesser known brands. I suggest that you do a lot of research before your purchase any product, but base your purchase, at least in part, on your interaction with the device/program.
Be careful of installing "trial version" software on your computer. In order to "upgrade" to the retail version, you may have to uninstall the "trial version". Be sure you have backed up your system before installing any sofware. Uninstalling it may not be possible. Buyer beware. There is no such thing as a free lunch!!!
C. Firewalls
How safe is your neighborhood? Do you leave the doors on your vehicle and/or home open or unlocked?
When we are on the internet, we are vulnerable to computer hackers. A hacker is someone who tries to gain access to your computer. The hacker "Jo" may be like Goldilocks, just wanting to snoop around, not intent on doing any damage. Jo may want to be mischevious, planting a joke on your computer, such that when you start up [boot] your PC, you see the message "Joe Smith is a big fat jerk." Jo may be more destructive. Jo may erase the contents of your hard drive. Jo may gather information about you, such as your social security number, bank account information, your credit card number, your internet service provider [ISP] logon name and password. Jo may work for the CIA, FBI, or some foreign government agency, which thinks it is important to know every keystroke on your computer. It is possible to gather all of this information without physically entering the location of your computer.
Jo and her/his pals have successfully hacked into the Pentagon, which is probably the most secure entity in the world. If Jo can do this, Jo can hack into your PC and my PC. What can we do? We can DETER Jo by placing a firewall between your computer and the internet.
A firewall can be a software program. A firewall can also be a physical device. There are some free software firewalls available. Zone Labs [ZL] (www.zonelabs.com) makes Zone Alarm Basic, which is free for the home user. ZL also makes and sells Zone Alarm Pro. Tiny Software (www.tinysoftware.com) makes "Tiny Personal Firewall", which is available, free, for the home user.
The following site provides a review of many firewalls: http://www.firewallguide.com/software.htm . Their home page, http://www.firewallguide.com , provides some solid information about computer security.
To test your PC's vulnerability, you may want to visit Steve Gibson's site, www.grc.com , and run his "shields up" probing program.
I've tested firewalls from Symantec [Norton], Zone Labs and Sygate. I recommend Norton's for a number of reasons, not the least of which is their tech support. What good is a product if you don't know who to use it, and can't locate that information?
The problem with "free" products is that tech support is incomplete, or difficult to find, or expensive to obtain. You may have to call a "900" number, for a fee of $3 or more per minute.
For most of us with high speed internet connections, when our PC is on, it is connected to the internet. For this situation, I think a firewall (or combination of software and hardware firewalls) is mandatory. For those of us with a dial up account, I think that the use of a firewall is a very prudent idea.
Personally, and professionally, I prefer a hardware firewall. I'm a nuts and bolts kind of guy. If I can touch it, I can understand it.
Here's a link to a review of software and hardware firewalls: http://www.pcworld.com/features/article/0,aid,97430,pg,4,00.asp .
Here's information about some of the damage a firewall can deter: http://www.pcworld.com/howto/article/0,aid,48365,00.asp .
I router can also be used to share high speed internet connections. For more information, see: http://www.pcworld.com/howto/article/0,aid,48365,00.asp .
D. Troubleshooting
When your computer fails to preform, write down the error message, and the cirucumstances. Click on the "details" button, if available.
If you run Millennium, press "alt" key and the "d" key, simultaneously. Or, you can check the file "faultlog.txt". See: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q264938 .
Here's a usefull site, which I recently found: http://www.windows-help.net . Scroll down, about 1/2 way. On the left hand side, look for "windows-help.net. You'll find links to OSs, from Win 95 through Win XP.
E. Privacy
I've tried some software, recently, that is supposed to suppress "popup" ads, as well as some software that is supposed to detect and remove programs that gather information from our PCs, about our surfing habits. "Ad-aware", from www.lavasoftusa.com , seems to work well for spyware. I haven't found effective popup protection, yet.
Unrelated link:
http://www.anywho.com/rl.html for reverse telephone lookup.
The information contained in this newsletter is provided for informational purposes only. No guarantees nor warranties are expressly given nor implicitly implied.
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Sincerely,
Ed Sloup
Presidio Computers, LLC
520 731 6446
www.presidiocomputers.com