Hints and Tips

Never ignore the warning pop-up windows which tell you that your anti-virus protection has expired.  With a broadband connection, infection by a computer virus is likely within a few minutes!

Maintain your firewall. If you are using Windows XP, service pack 2 includes a very good one.  If you are using another operating system, then either buy one, or look on the internet for a free one.  Whilst free programs are not as good as commercial releases in most instances; they still offer reasonable protection against most attacks.

Keep your computer up to date with Windows Update. Threats and vulnerabilities are fixed regularly and can be automatically installed on your system.

Defragment your system regularly.  This will tidy your files and generally improve system performance.

Perform a full system scan, using your up to date anti-virus software at least once a week for added security.

Watch for strange computer behaviour.  This is normally a sign of impending component failure or uninvited software doing unwanted things.  Getting advice quickly can save both time and money.

Encrypt all data stored on removable media such as pen-drives and CDs. PGP Free for Win XP can be downloaded from http://www.pl.pgpi.org/products/pgp/versions/freeware/winxp/8.0/ /

It can encrypt hard-drives and DVD's as well, so even if they do get lost your data remains your business.

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