Computer Repair Knoxville

Prevention

• Use Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware Software.

  Protecting your computer and your personal files.
  
  While talking with other computer repair technicians, the most common discussions we have is about techniques for preventing malware infections from hitting our customer’s computers.
  
  “Malware” is kind of general term for all of the viruses, Trojans, Spyware, and other kinds of infections that are waiting for you when you surf the Internet.
  
  There are 2 steps that everyone should take to help protect their computers.
  
  1. Name brand anti-virus/anti-spyware application. You MUST HAVE "On-Access" scanning going on for any file you open and any connection you make to the Internet. You cannot open a file that you brought home from the office (or any other source) and you cannot open an attachment in an email message, and you cannot connect to a website - unless you have some protection running that is going to "On-Access" scan the file, the attachment, or the connection.

  I currently recommend ONLY Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) to all of my customers. It is free to anyone using it on 10 or fewer computers. This is a personal preference and a personal recommendation. It is fairly intuitive for set up and configuring and you can 'throttle' the amount of process capacity it uses. The user can initially schedule it to AUTOMATICALLY run all updates and scans and never have to configure anything again.

  There are different download sites for different areas, but you should be able to use Microsoft Security Essentials and provide real-time protection for your home or small business PC.

  I also install Malwarebytes (Pro) on all computers that come through my repair shop and this will give you on-access, 24/7 protection and augment the protection of MSE. The cost of your lifetime license is only about $25.00 and it is well worth the money for you to install it.

  2. Install Microsoft Patches and Updates. In virtually all instances, Microsoft is well ahead of the curve on protecting against new malware before it is on the Internet. If you - as the owner of your computer - will consistently load the patches, updates, and Service Packs as they are released, you will be taking a giant step toward protecting your system(s).

  Summary: I urge anyone reading this to consider the cost of their computer, the value of their time - if they have to spend the hours needed for disinfection - and the value of all the data (pictures, movies, songs, documents, etc.) on their computer.

  Weigh those costs against the steps I have described above and decide if it is worth it!

• Secure Your Network.

  Most people with wireless networks in their home or office have not configured the basic network security needed to protect their computers from outside intruders. The fix is simple and usually only takes a few minutes for ComputerDoc to set up.

• Make Backups.

  Routine backups are essential so that they can be used to restore your data following a disaster like the catastrophic failure of a hard drive. Backing-up is often inconvenient but ComputerDoc has a range of solutions to make it easy and simple to do.

• Routine PC Maintenance.

  As your PC gets older more files will accumulate on your hard drive and your computer will start to temporarily hang or run slowly. For example it may take longer for your computer to start up, to load a program or open a file. Performing Defragmentation and Disk Clean-up on your hard drive and limiting the number of programs that open at Start-Up are all part of routine maintenance. Let ComputerDoc advise on the best plan for your particular PC.