James Derk -- CyberDad

Merry Christmas... Now What?

So you’re one of the lucky ones who had a shiny new PC under the tree...congratulations. Before you fire up your new copy of “Call to Glory 2” or “Halo”, you need to do some maintenance.
The first, if you have a Windows PC, is antivirus software. Really. Before you do anything.
I know...you think your PC came with antivirus protection. It may have but your work is not done. If it came with Norton antivirus, you need to double-click on the icon and complete the install process. Then run Live Update to get the latest virus definitions. Then note the date of expiration (most PCs come with 90 days of coverage.) About a week before that date you need to decide if you’re going to keep it or install one of the free solutions out there. (If you decide to keep Norton you may be better off buying a complete version in the store...with rebates they often are much cheaper than renewing.)
If you have McAfee preinstalled on your new PC, I would uninstall it immediately and install a free product. It’s not just a bias...in my computer repair business I have seen dozens of PCs with McAfee installed that are riddled with viri. Something either about McAfee’s online-only product or the configuration just lets viruses pass through.
For a free product I would use AVG (free.grisoft.com). Update it every week or so and you’ll be fine. (There are other free antivirus products available too, including Avast. You can see a selection at File Hippo, (www.filehippo.com) While you’re there, get the excellent CCleaner, a free app that cleans Windows hard drives of junk.
The next step is to uninstall all of the applications you don’t want. (I was hired to set up a new Dell the other day and it took me 30 minutes to remove all of the stuff on the hard drive the customer didn’t want, including a pesky “free” trial version of Quickbooks.
Next? Run Windows update (update.microsoft.com) and install all of the current Windows patches and set your PC up to receive automatic updates.
If your PC came with a trial version of Microsoft Office, your next decision is whether to fork over the dough for a full version. If you have a student in the house you can qualify for a cheaper Academic version but if you can’t make yourself pony up the dough you can consider the Word Perfect suite or Microsoft Works, which offer enough performance for most. If you want to spend nothing, get OpenOffice, a powerful office suite for free (www.openoffice.org)
Next, download Firefox (www.mozilla.com) which is a much better browser for both Windows and Apple computers. (If you own a Mac I would forget internet Explorer completely...not only is it inferior but Microsoft has announced it is stopping development of it for the Mac.)
Now that we have software covered, see if your Windows computer has a digital output (usually labeled DVI. If so, check for a matching socket on your flat panel monitor. If you have both (and you’re using the blue-ended cables instead, get a DVI cable and use that instead of the blue one. (Order it online...the major retailers kill customers on the price of these.)
If you plan to plug your computer into the wall for power (a GREAT idea) then buy a surge strip (not a power strip) to plug into the wall first. Spend about $20 now and you won’t have to hire me later to replace your power supply and motherboard after a power spike from the utility company. Another option is a battery backup unit, which you can get for $50 and up from Sam’s or Costco.
Lastly, if you have kids get Parental Control software. We like Cybersitter 9, which does a good job of filtering out Internet porn and notifying parents of what’s going on online.
WEEKLY WEB WONDER: Check out all of my columns for the year at www.cyberdads.com/blog.html

James Derk is co-owner of CyberDads, a computer repair firm, and computer columnist for Scripps Howard News Service. His e-mail is jim@cyberdads.com

posted by James Derk @ 9:56 AM