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THREE BIG
COMPUTER RULES
1. BACKUP
everything that is important to you.
It is certain that sooner or later your hard
drive will fail as a result of: mechanical failure, virus, power
surge, spillage, fire, theft, registry errors, etc.
You will probably lose all your non-backed up data –
documents, pictures, music, E-mail, etc.
Inexpensive solutions include: thumb/flash drives, external
hard drives, CD’s, DVD’s, other computers, Internet storage
sites. Ask us if you would like detailed instructions.
If you have a question or would like a free consultation
please call. The only
time your external hard drive or thumb drive should be plugged
into your computer and on is when you are copying “to” or
“from.” (Note: CD’s and DVD’s WILL go bad with time.)
2. Every
time before you go on the Internet (checking mail or surfing)
you must check for anti-virus updates.
Most anti-virus
programs check for updates every day but a virus may hit the
Internet at any time. Anti-virus
program companies mostly do not update “real time” or the
millions of computers using their service would crash their
servers. Get into the
habit of checking for updates each time before you go to the
Internet and you will not even think about it: just like putting
on your seatbelt in your car.
This way you KNOW that you have the latest anti-virus
patterns. You KNOW it
is updated.
You can periodically run the Scan but
this is really not necessary if you check for updates each and
EVERY time you go to the internet.
The problem with a scan is that is slows computers down to
a crawl and takes a long time. Comodo Antivirus has ad and spy removal
protection tools in the free version. Don’t
download the trial version as it will expire and require a credit
card after the trial version has expired.)
Periodically Comodo may ask you if you want to “sign
up” for their paid version.
There is no real benefit to the paid version. If you are interested in being on our advisory email list
please send an email to RTP@RTPinternet.com
or call 919-303-5626, asking to be added to our list.
(We will not share this list with anyone or send any spam
to you. We are
offended by spam)
3. Don't
load programs on your computer unless:
1.
You intend to use them.
2.
You know what they are and they are “safe.”
3.
Don’t ever download a program offered to you by your
computer. Only
download those programs you are familiar with and trust.
For example if a Quicktime update offer pops up then close
the offer and proceed to the Apple.com website to download the
update. If you don't know what it is then call 919-303-5626
or research it by "googling" it.
4.
When installing programs please remember to do a custom
installation (or call and ask us.) Uncheck all
items/programs you do not need.
Many people will purchase a device like a printer, insert the CD that
comes with it and load all of the programs.
They load programs that they will never use. This takes up hard disk space, makes registry changes, and
will likely slow down your computer.
Try the “Custom Installation” and you will find that
you can exclude many unnecessary or offensive components. For
example the HP printer software installs many items you will never
need: OCR (optical character recognition), customer satisfaction
program, photo essentials, offers to buy cartridges from HP when
it is less expensive to buy them from a
local “super store,” etc.
(We
also sell used computers with lifetime warranties.
Don’t buy a new computer until you have talked to us.
Repairs and Reloads almost always get you a faster
computer. We HATE
Vista and don’t trust Windows 7 yet, and there ARE better
alternatives (XP Professional.)
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