Discount Computers

You’ve heard all kinds of terrible things about it, but just
what IS it – and how does it get on your computer in the first
place?

Spyware is a real pain in the arse, to put it bluntly. It bogs
down your computer’s memory, causes you to be spammed to death
with pop-up ads, and tracks everywhere you go while you surf the
web! Worst of all, 99% of all spyware downloads itself to your
computer without your knowledge – or your consent.

Can they do that? Yes, unfortunately, they can – but you don’t
have to sit back while your computer is destroyed with malicious
software. Spyware scanners and removal programs are a must on
any computer that gets online.

But, first, let’s talk a little more about spyware – and what it
truly is.

Broadbandinfo.com makes things a little clearer:

Spyware–gathers information about Internet users without their
knowledge or consent and delivers that information to
advertisers or others who have access to the information. Users
can get spyware in their systems by downloading certain programs
or in the form of a virus.

Sort of scary, isn’t it? There are two main ways to “get”
spyware:

It downloads itself into your computer, without your knowledge
or consent, when you visit a certain website or click on a
certain pop-up ad.

It downloads itself to your computer along with something you
chose to download, usually under the guise of “free extras” -
you may or may not (usually not) be notified that the extra
content is included with the download.

Short of never downloading anything, or ceasing to ever surf
online again, the only sure way to keep your computer clean of
spyware is to periodically “clean” it up with a good spyware
removal program. The only true, and reliable, preventative
measures that can be taken are to never click on pop-up ads and
to be careful of where you surf – regardless, though, you are
always going to end up with some spyware.

One of the things about spyware that people don’t realize is
that most of it is programs. That’s right, it’s a program
running in the background of your machine – eating up your
resources. You can imagine what would happen if you had hundreds
(and without a removal program, you will) – eventually your
computer would be inoperable – slow as a snail, for want of a
better term.

Since spyware is inevitable – as much so as taxes and death
these days – you’d best go ahead and download a few reputable
spyware removal programs on your pc.

About the author:
Professional i.t. tech & geeky-girl gamer who feels her duty to
warn the average user about the dangers of the Internet. Feel
free to use, please link back to homecomputersafety.com

Hackers, phishers, viruses, worms…simply having your computer
online can expose your data and personal information to all
kinds of malicious and worrisome problems. If you’re somewhat
new to the ‘net’ or to computers in general, these four tips
could help protect you from identity theft, credit card fraud,
or a complete computer takeover – all of which can happen
without you even knowing about it!

1. What’s in Your Inbox? – If your e-mail program allows you to
preview the entire message before or while it is being
downloaded, turn this setting off. Some e-mails can contain
dangerous code that could unknowingly compromise your computer
and leave you vulnerable to viruses, worms or worse! Check the
options in your e-mail program for a way to disable the message
preview pane.

2. Scrutinize Your Messages – Don’t ever respond to messages
claiming to be from your bank, credit card company, or other
financial institution, which ask for personally identifiable
information such as card or account numbers, passwords, or other
private information – even if the e-mail looks to have come from
the actual company. It may be a hoax designed to get you to
unknowingly part with crucial financial or private contact
information, leaving you vulnerable to credit card fraud,
identity theft or credit card theft. Contact the institution or
company that claims to be sending the e-mail and verify the
contents of the message with them. Chances are – they never sent
it. Only use the number on your statement though, and not the
number that appears in the e-mail message. It may direct you
right to the scammer, who will do everything they can to assure
you that nothing is wrong!

3. If it’s From a Friend, it must be Safe, Right? – It’s logical
to assume that a message from your friend or colleague is safe,
but that isn’t always the case! If you receive an email from a
friend or colleague which contains an attachment (could be a
media clip, a screensaver, a picture or anything else), call
them up to check and see if they really did send it. Many
viruses and worms can hijack your computer and blast out a
virus-ridden email to everyone in your address book, making it
appear that it came from you and therefore, making it appear
trustworthy.

4. Read Your Messages in Plain Text – Some e-mails written in
HTML (the coding language that makes up many web pages) can be
harmless. Others can contain malicious code that can hijack your
e-mail program, browser, or your entire computer – and send your
personal and financial information out to a hacker or scammer
without you even knowing about it! Stay safe by setting your
e-mail program to only show messages in plain text format (often
in the options or settings section of the software). This will
prevent threatening code from installing itself and compromising
your system and private information.

Possibly one of the best ways to protect your e-mail is simply
by exercising common sense. The Internet is a lot like a crowded
plaza. Would your banker or credit card lender walk out into the
middle of the throng of people and shout out to you to ask for
your account information? Would you tell him where everyone
could hear? Definitely not! The same caution should be exercised
when checking your e-mail. These tips can help you stop scammers
dead in their tracks while keeping you from becoming another
victim of fraud or theft.

About the author:

Jay is the web owner of http://www.dsl-in.com DSL, a website that provides
information and resources on DSL, DSL Service, and DSL Service
Providers. You can visit his website at: DSL Service

Many of you who are reading this article are using Windows as
most of the other internet users do. There is a huge difference
between the number of users of LINUX and Windows. Some say
Windows is much better than LINUX because it gives you an easy
handling of the hardware and software. Some say LINUX is much
better because it started as Open Source software and that’s why
it is much more flexible than Windows. Then why there is a huge
market difference between these operating systems?

The answer to this question is quite easy. Since 1985, computer
users and programmers became so accustomed to using Windows,
even for the changing capabilities and the appearances of the
graphical interface of the versions, therefore it always stayed
as the product of Microsoft. On the other hand, LINUX has so
many different versions from a variety of companies some of
which are namely Lycoris, Red Hat, SuSE, Mandrake, Knoppix,
Slackware, Lindows. These companies release their own versions
of the operating systems with slight changes, and yet always
with the same kernel. This variety and the fact that none of
these companies are even close to competing with Windows, mostly
causes the difference in the market. Nevertheless, this reality
might drastically change after Novell’s purchase of SuSE.

Linux and Windows differ in many aspects. First of all, the
Linux GUI is optional while the Windows GUI is an integral
component of the OS; speed, efficiency and reliability are all
increased by running a server instance of Linux without a GUI,
something that server versions of Windows can not do. The
detached nature of the Linux GUI makes remote control and remote
administration of a Linux computer simpler and more natural than
a Windows computer.

Secondly the command prompts of these operating systems are
quite different. In general, the command interpreters in the
Windows 9x series are very similar to each other and the NT
class versions of Windows (NT, 2000, XP) also have similar
command interpreters. There are, however differences between a
Windows 9x command interpreter and one in an NT class flavor of
Windows. Linux, like all versions of UNIX, supports multiple
command interpreters, but it usually uses one called BASH
(Bourne Again Shell). Others are the Korn shell, the Bourne
shell, ash and the C shell (pun, no doubt, intended).

The costs are amazingly different. While you have to pay some
hundred dollars for a new version of Windows, you can simply go
and download Linux. As it comes from the nature of Linux, there
are no manuals or simple installers for the free version,
however. You really have to know what you are doing while using
this free package. There are also some easy automated packages
of Linux for low prices, as well.

The security issues with Windows, as most of you already know,
are the biggest cons of Microsoft. Most of the malicious files,
spyware, adware programs deal with Windows. You generally do not
deal with these kinds of unwanted circumstances unless you are
working with Windows. The user-id and password protection for
Windows can also be easily bypassed, whereas Linux offers a
strong protection.

The only area that Windows beats Linux in this “competition” is
the software availability. As it was mentioned above, most of
the software releases are configured for Windows. If you are
using Linux, you have to emulate Windows with a special software
and then you can use your windows based programs. Another option
can be to install Windows as a subsystem to Linux which takes
all administrative abilities of Windows and gives them to Linux.

After mentioning some of the different aspects of these
operating systems, it can be said that all Linux needs to
compete with Windows is some user friendly interface and a
strong company support which can provide the users with
technical information and user manuals.

About the author:

Jay is the web owner of http://www.dsl-in.com DSL, a website that provides
information and resources on DSL, DSL Service, and DSL Service
Providers. You can visit his website at: DSL Service