I used to write this stuff when I was admin on another forum to help the members keep safe back in the days when a desktop was the real deal and laptops were the new kid on the block.

I used to build pc's years ago and at one time lots of years ago had a home network of 16 pc's that rivalled in output the power of a small company...........anyway I digress ..............

I had an eye pad once but the doctor cured it and tablets are good for a headache I never have had a mobile phone and have no intention of getting one

So this is intended to deal with things like the desktop I'm sitting at now and the laptop I take with me in the van.

Security programs

First and most important is anti-virus software ...........there are some free ones that do a "reasonable" job if you are short of the readies and don't stray too much into "the dark side" of the big wide wonderful web or you can buy one for not too much dosh I use Panda anti-virus at the moment but I buy it from my local computer shop for less than the "online" price you can get it online here

http://www.pandasecurity.com/security-promotion/antivirusoffer/uk/?track=109054&gclid=CPiMseKV9LoCFfMdtAodHnUATA

Or there are lots of others that do a similar job.............look for one that does "real time scanning"

Other scanners

Other useful programs that are free include

.malwarebytes.

there is a free version here be careful not to agree to the trial version and don't install any other options
http://www.malwarebytes.org/lp/lp4/?gclid=CPX59d2f9LoCFc7JtAodSFsA1g


Spybot search and destroy .............a great free program for home users

http://www.safer-networking.org/private/

Also well worth a mention is SpywareBlaster a program that if I understand it correctly alters the windows "hosts file" to block unsavoury sites this program does not run in the background but needs updating about once a month and enabling of the protection after an update

http://www.fileparade.com/listing/120859/SpywareBlaster?gclid=CJ-N7pqV9LoCFYgKwwodihsAJQ

Important note

Most of these programs need updating and running on a regular basis ................just having them is not enough ............a good antivirus should update automatically

Firewalls A good antivirus should have its own firewall ................if not recent versions of windows have one built in if you are running anything after windows XP it will be called windows defender .................some broadband routers also have a firewall ................it is important to only run one as there may be a conflict between them..............most good antivirus programs will automatically turn off windows defender

I don't pretend to know all the wrinkles or have knowledge of the latest technology but these programs keep me safe and on the big www on my equipment

Ok next in this tutorial comes backup .................If you are unlucky enough to be hit by a catastrophic virus or a hard drive failure you will lose all your data including all your music and image files and personal stuff saved in Microsoft word and excel and notepad form

I understand there is something called the cloud where you can store these things and "synk" to them but I'm too old for that stuff and don't trust that stuff not to be hacked so here is my solution ..........................

Talk to your local computer shop about an external hard drive ...............these can be bought along with connecting lead to a usb port for less than £100.00 and can hold hundreds of gigabytes of information or even terabytes if you need them I backup most things on a monthly basis and use a usb card reader more often for my spreadsheet that I keep my finances on

Its not hard to backup your data it just needs you to remember to do it the intervals between backups is up to you this is the equipment I use ............cost less than £100.00 "how much do you value your data?"

Zitat

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I used to build pc's years ago and at one time lots of years ago had a home network of 16 pc's that rivalled in output the power of a small company.

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one of my homebuilds