April 2004 EduNotes

EduCyber is pleased to present the April edition of EduNotes. Read this issue to find out how to speed up your computer, some concerns about declining support levels, and what level of security your computer or network needs . Enjoy and as always, send feedback to edunotes@educyber.com .

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Traffic Jam

Is your computer running more slowly than it used to? Does it seem to run even more slowly when you're connected to the Internet? There are several things that may be slowing your computer down.

First, I recommend emptying your cached files from the Internet. In Internet Explorer, you just go to Tools, then click on Internet Options (you can also get here from the Control Panel). You should be at the right spot but if not, click on the General tab. Then click on Delete Files and check the Delete all offline content box and click OK. It may take a couple of minutes for this to finish. That is not unusual, especially if you haven't done it before. You should also click on the Delete Cookies button once the hour glass goes away.

Next you can take a look at what programs start up when you start your computer. Often there are many programs running in the background that you don't want or need to be running. Windows 98, Windows ME and Windows XP (but not Windows 2000) have a nifty little program called msconfig. To start this program, click on Start and then on Run. Type msconfig in the box and press Enter. Click on the Startup tab and you can see what programs are running from the time you start your computer. There are lots of programs that you do need to start. If you uncheck a box here and click ok, you'll be prompted to restart your computer. When it restarts, if you're missing something you need, then go back and check that particular box. As you may have guessed, this is somewhat of a trial and error procedure but here are a few tips: leave any program associated with your antivirus program running, a lot of printers have special files running that help them communicate with your computer so leave those, I've found RealPlayer and Quicken or Quickbooks to be regular culprits for having programs running ALL the time when the main program itself is only needed occasionally. If you find something you're not sure about, try turning it off and see what happens.

If there's lots of things you're not sure about in msconfig or if your computer is still running slowly after these tweaks, I highly recommend getting a spyware remover program. Ad-aware is free for personal use and not too expensive for professional use and has done a fine job for us. Other popular programs for stopping spyware include Hijack This and Spybot.

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Declining Support

One of the things that we at EduCyber have always prided ourselves on is our support. In lean times we rely on our high level of support to keep existing clients and add new ones. Apparently however, the major computer manufacturers have a different view.

Most of their systems work very well and are reasonably priced but you had better pray you don't ever have a problem with it. Take Dell for example. For awhile, I recommended their server products above all others (even Gateway, of whom I've been a big fan since their early years). But then they showed how they treat the “little” guy. One of our clients had a Dell laptop and the hard drive went bad while it was under warranty. I called and explained what I had done to verify the hard drive was bad and they quickly agreed to send out a new hard drive.

Several days went by and still the drive hadn't arrived. After a week we called. Apparently the hard drive had disappeared from their shipping dock. The person on the phone said they'd ship another one that same day. Two days later, still no hard drive. The next call revealed that some middle manager worried about losses refused to OK the shipment until they could track down the missing drive. Anyway, to make a long story short, Dell lost a customer when they showed that their customer was NOT number one and that internal processes took precedence over customer service. Three weeks went by before the laptop had a working hard drive.

I had been a fan of Gateway computers since the early ‘90s when they were still known as Gateway 2000 and the next millennia was far distant in the future. And I remained a fan, even buying some of their stock, until a few months ago when they, too demonstrated they didn't care too much about their customers. There were a series of incidents but the last was definitely the worst. When a hard drive went bad on a client's desktop, I contacted customer support online. No, they couldn't deviate from their script and no they couldn't just ship out a new hard drive.

So after about two hours of going in circles on line, we were told to take the computer to their Arvada store. Two and a half weeks later I got a call from a young technician who had just diagnosed the problem and was proudly calling to tell me. “The hard drive has died.” “Yes, I know that,” I replied. “Have you replaced it?” “No, but we'll order one today, sir.” Another week went by before they got it replaced and returned. How many of you could go for three or more weeks without your computer? (NOTE: After this article was written, Gateway closed ALL its Country stores.)

So what do we recommend? There is a small, local shop in Westminster (88 th & Pierce) called PC City. PC City has been around for more than 10 years which is important to know in dealing with independent computer companies. One client had a motherboard die and they replaced it the same day. When a client needed a new computer fast, they had it ready the same day. And the best part is their prices are competitive with big computer makers. You can find them at http://www.pc-city.com/ or call them at (303)421-0567.

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Levels of Protection

How protected is your computer / network? We've seen the complete range from wide open, come and see/take/steal anything I've got to “ain't no way you're getting here.” And still too many are nearer the latter. Here are some of our thoughts on protection, starting from the most basic:

• Any and every computer or computer network needs an up-to-date antivirus program.
• Any and every computer or computer network with an Internet connection needs to make sure all operating systems and software have the latest patches, service packs, and security updates. This is especially true with Microsoft products.
• It is a good idea to have some kind of spyware protection on your system as well. We recommend trying Ad-aware from Lavasoft or Spybot S&D from Patrick Kolla.
• Always on Internet connections should have, at a minimum, a router that uses NAT to keep internal IP addresses private. Linksys makes very nice, very affordable cable / dsl routers.
• A firewall takes your always on connection to the next level of security. Software firewalls require some understanding of what's happening but can greatly increase your security and, a minimum, make you aware of how often someone from the outside tries to get information from you. ZoneAlarm has a free product for home use.
• A hardware firewall is the best level of security. If you have any public IP addresses on your network (if your email is handled in-house, for example), we strongly recommend a hardware firewall. Sonicwall is one of the better known names in the firewall business and they have affordable solutions for small business.
• Wireless networks MUST have some form of encryption in use (we recommend at least 128 bit) or you are very open to the world (and hackers)

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© 2004 EduCyber, Inc. This newsletter is brought to you by EduCyber, Inc. EduNotes can be viewed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week online at http://www.educyber.com/edunotes/ . Visit us on the web at http://www.educyber.com or call us at (303) 268-2245. Permission is hereby granted to redistribute all or part of this newsletter as long as this entire copyright message is included.
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