Cedar Valley Tech

Never, never, never plug your thumb drive (a.k.a. usb drive, flash drive) into a system that you’re not 100% sure is virus-free. Unless your drive has write protection, and not many do, it’s completely vulnerable to infection and total data loss.

Don’t get cheap when it comes to choosing the bandwidth of your internet service! A slow connection can make a killer system run like a dinosaur. Dial-up is dead so don’t even consider that! A minimum of 512k is a good start but you’ll want a 1.5M or faster connection to really enjoy sites like Youtube, FaceBook and media-rich news sites.

All electronic devices need some room to breathe to dissipate heat! The problem I come across most is people who stack up their network equipment to save space. But many don’t realize how hot some of these devices (cable modems especially!) can get. And if you stack something, say…a router on top of a hot cable modem you can bet you’re headed for trouble. Take a minute to arrange your computer or laptop, cable/dsl modem, router and other devices so their intake and exhaust areas are open and have plenty of room to dissipate all the heat they create.

Here’s a neat little project for parents and kids. A homemade parabolic antenna template to help boost signal strength on a wireless router. Paper, tin foil, scissors and glue…it’s fun and it works!

A “basket case” laptop is one that your techie friend tried to fix but then returned it to you in pieces. It’s not too late to save. Gather up whatever pieces and screws your buddy brought back and bring it in!

If you ever get an email asking you to verify your password or personal account information, delete it because it’s fake!! No financial institution or any reputable organization will ever request this information by email or other electronic means. Most often these messages appear to come from your bank, paypal, insurance companies and others. The best defense against fraud and identity theft is good old common sense!

Having a weak or intermittent wireless connection can cause all kinds of strange behavior in internet-enabled software like browsers and email clients. But how do you know if your connection is good? Netstumbler is a free tool for windows that gives a real-time signal strength display of your wifi connections. Great for troubleshooting problems and repositioning antennas and wireless equipment for better performance. Try it out!

An internet ‘piggy-backer’ is somebody who connects to their neighbor’s wireless network to steal internet service. How would you know if somebody was piggy-backing on your wireless router? It’s not always easy to tell but the quickest way to kick off all piggy-backers and secure your network is to enable encryption on your wireless device. Refer to your router’s manual or user guide for steps.

If your hard drive crashed today what would you do? Do you have a reliable backup of your vital documents and pictures? Many people don’t think about backups until the unthinkable happens. Don’t wait for disaster to strike! A USB external hard drive or an online service like Mozy are all you need to ensure your files can be recovered if your computer system fails.

Zero-day (0-day) viruses are totally new viruses that are almost impossible for antivirus software to detect. Peer-to-peer file sharing sites like BearShare and Kazaa are the most common place for these 0-day infections to begin. Be very cautious if you use peer-to-peer file sharing sites and never assume your antivirus gives 100% protection!