User Education: How to Speed up your Computer

I found a very useful website (listed below) that offers many articles on how to make your computing experience better.  The following tips are based off an article from Microsoft.  If you have ever had a computer that is super fast the same day you bought it, and now it seems like it is real slow, follow these simple steps.

First, Free up some disk space.  Believe it or not, removing data from the hard drive will speed up the time it takes to read it all thus speeding up your computer.  This can be performed with Disk Cleanup which is found under Accessories, and System Tools.  If you are one of the smart people who back up their computer with restore points and Windows Backup, then you might want to delete old backups and restore points that are still saved on the computer.  If you are using Windows 7, you can also delete shadow copies.

What are Shadow Copies?  When you are working on a file, it is saved many times automatically.  If this file gets deleted, or you changed it to where you can’t change it back, then you can choose to restore from a previous version of the file.  (I’ll save this for another blog)  Shadow copies are the previous versions that are automatically saved.  Essentially, you have many files that are slightly different that are most of the time unnecessary. 

Second, you will want to run a disk defragmenter.  When you save something on the hard drive, it puts it in the first convenient space available.  A disk defragmenter will sort out the data and put it in the woodworks.  It is all still there, it is just organized a lot better.  You can access this under Accessories, and System Tools.

Third, you should run a disk checker to check for errors.  This will check the integrity of the files stored on your hard drive. 

Fourth, you should remove any kind of spyware and/or malware.  Spyware will slow your computer down because it is unnecessary programs running in the background.  You can use Microsoft Security Essentials.  Another program (which I haven’t looked into yet) is the PC safety scan from Windows Live OneCare.  This can be found at http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/default.htm.

Lastly, if you don’t have a lot of RAM (memory), and can’t afford it or can’t upgrade, and are using Vista, or 7, you should really look into ReadyBoost.  ReadyBoost is a neat tool that allows your computer to use a USB drive to act as memory.  I’ll save this for another blog.  If you want to know more about it, here is the reference website:  http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/Turn-ReadyBoost-on-or-off-for-a-storage-device. 

This blog was inspired by the following website:

http://www.microsoft.com/atwork/maintenance/speed.aspx

Patrick Meadows

A+, Security+

P.S.  One of these days I am going to put together a list of free software that will make your computing experience much more easier.

How To: Upgrading your memory or RAM

This can be a very simple task if you know exactly what to do.  The first thing you need to do is check to see what type of memory you currently have.  You can find this in the motherboard manual that came with your computer, or you can look it up online.  Go to the manufacturer’s website and find your computer model.  When you find the documentation on it, you will need to know a few things.  First, the type of memory, usually DDR2 or DDR3.  Second, you need to know the speed.  This will be in MHz.  You will need to know how many slots are available (either 2 or 4).  Lastly, you need to know the maximum capacity.

With this information in mind, you are ready to purchase your new memory.  I would recommend shopping around for different brands of memory.  One website I like to use is newegg.com.  Another good one is CDW.  There are many brands out there and some are better than others.  Most of them will offer lifetime warranties.  Kingston is a major player in memory.

Something to keep in mind is if you have 2 slots available, you can buy 2 different kinds of memory.  If you have 4 slots available, you can still only buy 2 different kinds of memory.  The trick is, with 4 slots, two have to be the same.  There are actually only two banks of memory with two slots in each bank.  Each bank has to have the same type and size of memory in each slot.  With that in mind, go ahead and purchase your memory.

Physically replacing your memory is really easy.  Turn off the power to your computer and remove the chassis.  Remove the old memory by flipping the levers on either side of it and pull it straight out.  I would also recommend grounding yourself to the chassis or a grounding outlet so that you don’t short out the new memory.  After you remove the old memory, place the new memory exactly as it was inside the slot.  Pull the levers back and push down on the memory to make sure it is fit properly inside the slot.  After your memory is installed, put your computer back together and turn on the power.  There should be a message that the system memory has changed.  To verify the change, go to your control panel, click on system and maintenance, and click on system.  About half way down the page with be Memory (RAM) and the amount you installed.

Congratulations, you just upgraded your memory.

User Education: Antivirus Software

One of the first things that people usually do when they purchase a new computer is buy an antivirus program.  This is generally good practice, but there is still a lack of understanding on exactly what protection you are getting, and what protection you need.

First off, if you are using a high speed internet service, they should supply you with a modem.  If is very bad to plug your computer directly into the modem.  Go purchase a router (which will run around $40 from www.newegg.com ) then plug the router into the modem, and plug your computer into the router.  What this does is sets up private IP addresses on each computer or printer connected to that router.  Your ISP will assign you a single IP address which will be assigned to the router.  This prevents a lot of intrusions because it is harder to penetrate a network with private IP addresses.

As far as the software is concerned, this all can be accomplished with a program called Microsoft Security Essentials.  (www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/)  MSE includes a virus scan, anti spyware, and malware, includes an IDS (Intrusion Detection System), and has very light footprint of most antivirus software. All of this combined will be more than enough to protect the average user and his home network.

There are plenty of other antivirus software that are available.  I have heard good things about Avast Antivirus (www.avast.com/index).  I personally don’t use this software but it is well known and the antivirus part of it is free.  There is also Norton Antivirus from Symantec (http://www.symantec.com).  The two major players in internet security are Symantec and McAfee.  (www.mccafee.com)  A lot of people refuse to use the free software.  If you insist on purchasing antivirus software, I would recommend using one of these.  (NOTE:  If you are a DoD employee, you can get both of these for free through AKO)  Another good product to use for detecting malware is Malwarebytes.  (www.malwarebytes.org/ )  This software is great to run on a computer that might be infected with a virus. 

Welcome to my new blog!

I think I am going to make an IT Security blog, not only becasue it is required to maintain my CompTIA Security+ Certification, but because people should know how to keep their information secure.  I have wanted to build a website with information and tools to do this same thing but I figured a blog will be less work and just as effective.  Anyway, content is coming soon.  Be safe and stay secure.

Patrick Meadows
A+, Security+