7/31/11 : Welcome to the Internet!! Watch your step!!

The internet is nothing new.  We have been using it in our mainstream lives for the past 15 years.  Even befroe that it was used in government agencies since the 1960's called ARPAnet.  Yes, the internet is about half a century old already!!  Hard to believe, isn't it?   At our homes we have gone from the slow dialup 28.8K serial modem to Lightning fast DSL and cable.   Even phones are using the internet to allow people to send email, and  chat on social networks.

Even though the Internet has been around for a long time, some people are just now landing into the fast lane without a parachute, and they have no idead where to go, who to trust, and what to do.   It can be confusing for the average computer user.  If they wander around the wrong websites, open up an email from someone they don't know, or post something on a social network that can get them in toruble at work, their online experience will be  anything but fun

For thsoe  newbies, I am going to give you some advice, and  as long as you have some common sense 101, then you will be able to stroll through  the information superhighway without being ran over.


1.  Never give out your passwords to anybody, not even tech support.  Legit tech support people have teh remote tools to help you out without needing your credentials.  Some hackers will call or email and say they're someone they're not and get what they want from an unsuspecting victim.  This is called  social engineering.

2.  Make sure your internet connection is secure.  This includes getting a router, whether you're wired or wireless.  Routers have options, such as firewalls, which will block  your internet address on your computer.   No need to share your computer with everybody  out there, right?''  Also, if you're  using wireless routers, make sure to setup a password on it.  That way, no one can stand outside, or drive by your hosue and pick up a  signal off your router, and have unnoticed internet access.  You don't need feds knocking down your door because some guy two houses over is downloading  things they shouldn't .

3.  Never open up an  email from someone you don't know;.  Many viruses have spread from this case.  The Melissa Virus , (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melissa_(computer_virus) back  in 1999, caused total email catrosphe for consumers and businesses alike.  As abd as it was, there have and will always be a bigger threat out there at any given moment in time.  Most email providers have a built in Spam or Junk folder that filters out the garbage and malicous looking email that comes into your inbox, but curiousity always kills the cat when people look in those folders and decide to check out the email regardless.  Don't be that condemned kitty.

This friendly advice should help you out.  If you need anything else, please feel free to ask away in the comment section below.  When it comes to internet safety, there is never a dumb question.




God bless and have a great week!


Patrick

Melissa Virus sample

Disk Fragmentation: The silent killer

So here you are,  loading your computer up for the first time today.  You open up your favorite program, or you start to get back to that memo thats due in 20 minutes.  No big deal, right?  Well seconds go by, then minutes, as the file you're trying to open takes forever to open up.  Whats even worse is that there's a big open window on where your file should be.   Frustrated, you keep clicking on the  icon and the computer finally..finally opens up your file.  by then, your coffee is cold, your head is fried, and your boss is yelling for that memo..  What a freaking nightmare!!!


There is a simple explanation for all of this.  Some people will tell you its your system memory, and how you need more.  While this may be a helpful solution, 9 times out of 10, it doesn't matter.  What you really have my friend, is something called disk fragmentation.   If you just asked yourself "What the hell is Disk Fragmentation?" then you already have taken the first step towards resolving the problem at hand.

When a disk loads or saves a file, it does its best the store it in  clusters next to each other.  A good example is a filing cabinet.  At first, the folder in the cabinet, or clusters, are all nicely arranged and organized.  However, once a file is removed, it leaves a big open space.  You would think that the next file saved would go into that empty space, right?  Nope!!! The computer will have the file stored right at the end of a line, leaving that big open space still intact.   Now when you have that open space, it puts a lot of overhead on the disk when it has to go backwards to find parts of a  file and they end up being all over the place, like chips on a choclate chip cookie. the more fragmented files, the more work the hard disk has to do.  I have seen cases where the hard drive had to work so much it literally burned out the drive.

You want to turn that chocolate chip cookie into an Oreo,  so it can be whole and not bits everywhere, but how do you do such a thing?  Its quite simple really.  You just have to look for a program that does disk defragmentation.  Windows has one built into many of its operating systems, and is quite simple to use.  It may  take some time, depending on how big your hard drive is , and how badly fragmented it is. be aware it may even take up to a couple of hours if need be.

Another program that is good for disk defragmentation is called Auslogics Disk Defragmenter.  it is a free software program that not only defrags your files, but also optimizes them as well.  Personally i think it does a better job than the standard one that comes with Windows, but thats just me.

Also another tip:  In order for your hard drive  to benefit from the fragmentation, it should have about 15% of its free space cleared up.  If you have less than that, it will still process, but it wont be as clean.


Disk fragmentation is like getting an oil change for your car.  If  the hard drive seizes, there goes your memories.  Back up  on a regular basis and disk defrag at least once a week/


Till next week,

Computertechie80

Techie Topic of the week:7/16/2011

First and foremost, welcome to my Blog.  Even though Ive been in the IT industry for quite some time in my life, I have never been on a blog site. NEVER!!! Well, I mean there was Myspace, which i did write on a few blogs of my moods, but it wasnt a truly dedicated site like this one.   HOLY COW I LOVE THIS!!! Anywho,  I have been certified in Comptia and Microsft as a certified technician as well as a system administration.  I have worked for such high companies such as Merck, Pfizer, and Fujifilm, as well as doing side projects for the friends and family aspect.  If you are a fellow techie or an auto techie, you know how the drill is.  You get that call at 6 pm from Mom or Dad, or even Uncle Dave, asking you what that noise is  thats coming from their computer.  (Somehow I have a sixth sense that i can use through the phone and tell you what the nosie or message is, or so these end users think.)    Hey, because of me, my dad is the only one he knows that has a laptop running vista for the past 5 years and it still runs. with little to  no issues.  You wanna know why?  Thats right, , because of yours truly, me:)

Which brings me to my Techie Topic of the Week.   We all know how we get sick.  We cough, we sneeze, and we feel like absolute garbage.  We dont feel like working, and when we are working, we just want to throw up.  Well folks, thats what can happen when your computer gets a virus.  It can run slow, hang up on you, make you take forever to get to a webpage or  run a program.  And what do most people do about it? Nothing.  Well except for cursing at it, clicking on something over and over agin, and borderline laying the smackdown on it.  Then they try to bring it to Geek Squad or Easytech, who will rob them blind and lose their data in the process.  Way to Go!!!  

You can avoid this by getting  yourself some antivirus software and updating it  at least once a week.  If you hzve money to spend, go wit Norton 360.  For around 60 bucks, you can have it installed on up to three PCS and be covered for at least one year.  Thats a lot better than spending close to 500 dollars on a store just because a high school kid dressed up like steve urkel  at one of those stores said it was "absolutely necessary"

Now , if your light or have no money, then I strongly recommend using a free software called Avasti Antivirus.  Its free to download, free to register, and updates itself everyday, which is pretty sweet considering the price (Did I mention that its free, BTW?)  This should provide well enough protection from viruses for the average user.  I say average user because we got those people out there that like to download illegal stuff and get hacked beyond control and not even Norton could help those fools from losing their data...well those kind of people deserve what they get, in my opinion.

I hope this blog opened a lot of eyes and ears, and I would like to thank you for taking the time to read this.  Stay tuned for my next blog when I discuss about disk fragmentation, the silent killer.

God bless

computertechie80