Rules to Surf By

Most home PC users surf the web and write e-mail. Yet performing these seemingly harmless activities can result in cluttering up their computer with malicious software. Most all this bad software comes from visiting web sites and not from email. Some simple guidelines can help prevent bad software from taking over your PC.

When surfing the Internet and visiting web sites, you should remember:

• No Free Lunch. There are only a few free things on the Internet. If you find “free” or “helpful” programs, download, and install them, they usually come with embedded malicious software. Sometimes you are warned that installing the free/helpful software is an approval for installing other software that spies on you. If you do not permit the added malicious software to be installed, then the free/helpful software does not work.

  I use several pieces of free software. Some of it (like the ATOMTIME program) is old and no longer published on the Internet in a form that is free. The current form published is shareware – free to try for a short time, but disabled if you do not pay for it at some time. Many truly free programs ask for contributions. When they are helpful like Spybot Search & Destroy, I do contribute. General Public License (GPL) software like Open Office, Mozilla, and Firefox is free.

  Some free versions have reduced features, or the key feature is disabled. Recently, I tried a new spyware detection and removal program only to find that the removal part was removed unless I paid for the program.

• No Programs Speed Up Windows. Programs that offer to speed up Windows use some minute feature that when changed improves Windows performance. However because these programs often run in the background on your PC, they slow down Windows as much as they speed it up. The net result is no performance gain.

  I run a program that keeps Windows memory organized, stops memory leaks and performs other outstanding tasks. The program runs constantly. I see it cleaning and organizing my memory, like a mother cleans and organizes a kid’s bedroom. This does not make my PC faster. I feel satisfied having the cleanest memory in Columbia, but I could do an equally (and perhaps a more) effective job of cleaning my PC memory by shutting the PC down and restarting it.

  Do not download and install any programs professing to speed up your PC. The more programs running in the background, the less reliable your PC becomes.

• Avoid Search Bars or IE Tool Bars. When a search bar is added to your Internet Explorer it filters the content of the Internet presented to you. The best of IE search bars can block popup ads and help you get quickly services provided by the search bar developer. The worst search bar can make it nearly impossible to login to your PC. When encountering a search bar, just remember that most all search bars do not improve your searching. Only search sites like Google, Vivisimo, and Ask Jeeves improve searching the Internet,

Keeping these simple rules in mind to keep your PC functioning smoothly