Tips to proactively protect your computer

[longknife]

What are the important things to do to protect your computer?

(1) Have a copy of Windows.
(2) Have a copy of your computer's drivers. You can get drivers from Dell or you can sometimes get them by searching online from your manufacturer. You need these to rebuild your computer if you are damaged by a virus.
(3) Have anti-virus / malware protection. I recommend Malwarebytes but it is important to have protection that is proactive and not just re-active. Scan your computer and make a backup.
(4) Have backups and have a backup plan.
(5) Do you have an external case for a hard drive if you were ever hit by a computer virus? Sometimes it is easier to diagnose from a second computer what is wrong. It is also good to know where to get compatible parts. I use Dell because they sell compatible parts and they have supported me in the past with free drivers.
(6) Have you ever practiced going into safe mode with your computer?
(7) Have you vacuumed the dust out of the fan in your computer or used compressed air?
(8) Have external storage for emergencies.

Go through the list and do it. And if you have any tips, contribute them here, please.
This is a list to keep your computer up and running as well as safe.

some of this I new and some not. Both my computers right now are infected with some thing I don't know what. this forum is hard for me to get on. Its either that or our satellite internet service slowed down again .

Try the Malwarebites program - it's free and always clears up a lot of junk I had no idea was there.

It's also important to frequently blow air through your tower to clean it out.

 

[Chuckt]

Well, as some of you know, my pc is spankin' new today, lol. However, I have one question for now:

Do you turn your pc off at night? For many years...I NEVER turn mine off. It goes to sleep but is never off. The only time I turn it off is when I am cleaning the fans or the keyboard, etc. Otherwise, it is on. All the time. Unless there is a power outage in the winter (yes, it is on a surge protector, and no, we don't usually have outages anyway).

So the question is...is it better to turn it on when using it, turn it off completely when you think you are done, turn it back on if not, turn it off when you go to bed? Or do you leave yours on all the time?

I turned off sleep mode because Windows updates use to get messed up when the computer went into sleep mode. We also have a computer that wouldn't come out of sleep mode so whatever circuit controls that may be going bad.

There is always a chance of anything happening when you leave your computer on. My wife's computer was through several power outages and we feel it damaged the motherboard in some way. We also lost a copier at work due to lightning so when there is really bad thunder, I unplug the computers from the wall because there is no surge protector in the world that can stop lightning.

I went to the kitchen once and when I turned my head, my router was turned on looking like a Christmas tree and my computer was being hijacked so I turned the router off and not only did I roll Windows back but I also ran some Virus protection. An unattended computer is a target for people wanting to break in.

I also feel that the electricity I'm saving will pay for a new computer so I turn them off.

It was also important for me to change my email over time to throw the bad guys targeting my email address off my trail. I also banned email from domains like Yahoo and Hotmail and there are some message boards that do the same to keep spammers out.

Don't leave sensitive stuff on your computer so use a secondary external hard drive or thumb drive for personal stuff in case people break in.

 

[Chuckt]

Another tip is to get a surge protector that is rated for computers. One of the guys at work went out and got cheap power strips with a circuit breaker. We lost a computer or two from it. Surge protectors have to be rated for protecting a computer from electrical surges.

 

[XPostFacto]

Surge suppressors won't protect from lightning, though. I have my PC, monitor, and printer plugged into a command center, and then I plug the command center into a very good surge suppressor. I am well isolated in that respect from spikes and such, and getting back to electrical storms. I shut off everything and turn off the surge suppressor. You can't be too careful.

 

[XPostFacto]

My wireless router is password protected and I turn off the guest function. I took my laptop out to the barn and tried to get an internet connection from my indoor router, and couldn't pick up anything. My barn is a good quarter mile from the house as is my closest neighbor, so I don't have to worry anyway about anyone hijacking my router for nefarious purposes.

 

[Chuckt]

My wireless router is password protected and I turn off the guest function. I took my laptop out to the barn and tried to get an internet connection from my indoor router, and couldn't pick up anything. My barn is a good quarter mile from the house as is my closest neighbor, so I don't have to worry anyway about anyone hijacking my router for nefarious purposes.

There are antennas people can put on the house to pick up Wifi signals far away. I did a post on it.

So how do you power up your wifi to get connected and share someone's internet? There is a provider of high powered wifi antennas:

WiFi Antenna | Yagi Antenna | Wireless Antenna | L-com.com

You can get a 24 db gain WiFi dish antenna and they come with an RG8 cable with rp-sma termination which work with half watt USB adapters. They cause a lot of RF so I'm not sure how much they would heat up something with water but they should probably be mounted high up on a wall or a roof if you want to share someone's wifi signal. This will also increase your chance of having your computer hacked unless you are in a rural location.

Then you can get a second antenna and aim them in different directions but you have to spend some time aiming the antennas.

Someone is going to ask what db gain is and I believe that 24 dB is the maximum allowed in the United States by the Federal Communications Commission:

dMystifying the dB
dMystifying the dB (decibel)

 

[XPostFacto]

My wireless router is password protected and I turn off the guest function. I took my laptop out to the barn and tried to get an internet connection from my indoor router, and couldn't pick up anything. My barn is a good quarter mile from the house as is my closest neighbor, so I don't have to worry anyway about anyone hijacking my router for nefarious purposes.

There are antennas people can put on the house to pick up Wifi signals far away. I did a post on it.

So how do you power up your wifi to get connected and share someone's internet? There is a provider of high powered wifi antennas:

WiFi Antenna | Yagi Antenna | Wireless Antenna | L-com.com

You can get a 24 db gain WiFi dish antenna and they come with an RG8 cable with rp-sma termination which work with half watt USB adapters. They cause a lot of RF so I'm not sure how much they would heat up something with water but they should probably be mounted high up on a wall or a roof if you want to share someone's wifi signal. This will also increase your chance of having your computer hacked unless you are in a rural location.

Then you can get a second antenna and aim them in different directions but you have to spend some time aiming the antennas.

Someone is going to ask what db gain is and I believe that 24 dB is the maximum allowed in the United States by the Federal Communications Commission:

dMystifying the dB
dMystifying the dB (decibel)

I don't have WiFi. I did a study on it as well and decided that if I have to buy an antenna, I might as well get a satellite system. I have Exede now, much faster than my old Hughes system. I just have an indoor wireless router that I have for my wife when she wants to turn on her laptop. That way, I don't have to constantly unplug the lan cable from the tower and move it over to her laptop. Like I told Gracie, I don't leave my system on too long. If I play a game where I need online access, I log on to Steam, start the game, and then turn off the satellite modem. Like I said before, I'm password protected. Some people just set up their routers and don't even password protect it.