July 20, 2005
Before School Starts
Now is a good time to make sure your computer is ready for the coming school year. Make sure your antivirus is uptodate and run a full system scan. Run one of the tools for finding adware mentioned below. Backup all of your documents, music and pictures now. Develop a strategy for keeping your files backed up throughout the year. See if your computer needs defragging. Start>>All Programs>>Accessories>>System Tools>>Disk Defragmenter. If you decide to start from scratch and wipe your computer remember to turn on the firewall before going on to the internet. You can borrow a Service Pack 2 cd from us to make sure that your patches are fairly uptodate before putting your computer back online, too.
Administrator Password
It is also a good time to check to see that your Administrator account is passworded. Every PC has an Administrator account and leaving that password blank is an invitation for trouble. Make sure you choose a password that is 1) easy for you to remember in a time of stress and 2) hard for a worm or a hacker to guess. To change or add an Administrator password, start your computer in Safe Mode by hitting F8 as the computer boots. Select Safe Mode. Go to Control Panel>>Users. Change Account. Select the Administrator account. Create (or change) password.
Adware, Malware
Two programs that can help you control the annoyance
(and degraded performance of your computer) caused by adware and popups
are Lavasoft's Adaware Personal Edition
and Spybot Search
& Destroy 1.3. Both are free for personal use. The Licensing agreement
on Spybot is the cutest license ever.
If you try these products and are still having trouble
with adware and popups or a hijacked browser, bring your laptop in to
the Helpdesk.
Download Site for Students
Symantec's
Corporate Edition Antivirus is availabe for current students. Be sure
to uninstall your current antivirus before installing the new one.
If you have any questions please
call Joan Pope at 303-871-6464.
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