A Free Resource From: www.RemoteControlPcRepar.com
The “7 Habits of Highly Efficient Computer Users” is a free resource from www.RemoteControlPcRepair.com in conjunction with www.TheoloTech.com. You may freely email, make copies, or forward this resource to your friends, family and coworkers. The only prohibition is that you may not charge, alter, change, modify or amend to it in any way shape or form.
This resource is updated often. Make sure you have the latest copy by checking the version number. The version number is located on the bottom of each page.
To get the latest version of this resource visit: http://www.RemoteControlPcRepair.com/7habits/
If you would like to be notified when a new version of this resource becomes available email your request to: 7up@RemoteControlPcRepair.com
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________________________________________________________________ 1 7 Habits of Highly Efficient Computer Users (ver. 1A) © Copyright 2008 by Nick Gonzalez – All Rights Reserved. www.RemoteControlPcRepair.com.
1. Introduction
2. Do Not Open Email Attachments
3. Do Not Click on Email Links
4. Do Not Download Files, Applications, Music, Etc. from murky File-Sharing Web Sites.
5. Update your Anti-Virus Program
6. Update Your Operating System
7. Use a Firewall
8. Do Not Operate Your Computer as an Administrator
9. Conclusion
________________________________________________________________ 2 7 Habits of Highly Efficient Computer Users (ver. 1A) © Copyright 2008 by Nick Gonzalez – All Rights Reserved. www.RemoteControlPcRepair.com.
Introduction
Is your computer slowing down to a crawl? Does it take forever to start up and shutdown? Do you have to wait forever just to connect to the internet? Is your computer crashing and freezing? Are you getting tired of always waiting for your computer to complete a simple task? Got pop-ups? Do you notice several new little icons all over your screen that you’ve never seen before?
What’s the problem? Maybe you got a virus or spyware infection? Maybe you got hacked? Or just maybe you haven’t been practicing the seven habits of highly efficient computer users.
You will soon find out. Many times it’s just the little things that we do (or don’t do) that messes things up. It is my hope that after reviewing this material you will become aware of some of the best ________________________________________________________________ 3 7 Habits of Highly Efficient Computer Users (ver. 1A) © Copyright 2008 by Nick Gonzalez – All Rights Reserved. www.RemoteControlPcRepair.com.
practices that can help you to become more efficient and productive when using your computer.
Before I begin I need to let you know that I have some good news and bad news that I must share with you. Are you ready? The bad news is that as more and more people connect to the Internet to communicate, work, study, research, play, and share information, their computers become much more susceptible to viruses, security vulnerabilities, and spyware.
The good news is that there are several things you can do to help prevent just about all types of computer problems. What are those things? That’s the whole purpose of this book so let’s get started.
Did you know that a computer and Swiss cheese have something in common? They sure do. As a matter of fact all computers are like Swiss cheese. Why? Because all computers are full of “holes” that make it easy for viruses, spyware and hackers to infect your computer and possibly steal your information. I’m talking about security holes. The following habits, if diligently practiced, will help you to plug up those holes and become a highly efficient computer user. ________________________________________________________________ 4 7 Habits of Highly Efficient Computer Users (ver. 1A) © Copyright 2008 by Nick Gonzalez – All Rights Reserved. www.RemoteControlPcRepair.com.
7 Habits of Highly Efficient Computer Users
1. Do not open email attachments.
The very first thing you need to practice is not open email attachments. Why? Because your email attachment may contain a virus. Did you know that most viruses are transmitted through email? The sender of the email may not even know that the file he is sending you is infected.
The only reason to open an email attachment should be because you’re expecting one from a certain person at a certain time. That’s it. If someone you know has sent you a humorous email with an attachment, do not open it. If you must, download the file and scan it with your anti-virus program BEFORE opening the file. Make sure that your anti-virus program is up to date to ensure the best protection.
You may think this is a little over-kill but let me tell you, it’s not funny when your computer will not start due to a virus infection. I’ve been dealing with these types of situations for over 20 years now and it’s not getting any better. More and more people are experiencing
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virus and spyware infections. It even happened to me once and I’m an expert in computer repair, maintenance and virus control.
When someone catches a computer infection, whether it’s spyware or a virus, most of the times it’s not instantly noticeable. You may not know you have an infection until a much later date. Many viruses are programmed to run after a certain amount of time or when you perform a certain action on your computer. Just because you did not notice an immediate problem does not necessarily mean your computer is not infected. Remember habit number one is not to open email attachments.
You may also want to turn off the HTML option in your email settings (in Outlook, Yahoo, etc.). Simply viewing email through HTML can spread infections. Although this may be an inconvenience, you will appreciate this in the long run. HTML email links can easily hide the actual destination site of an email link. A very innocent email link can effortlessly forward you to another location. You don’t want that to happen to you. Remember do not open email attachments.
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2. Do not click on email links.
Just because a link is included in an email addressed to you is not a good reason to click on it. Email links can install malicious software into your computer. It can also take you to a phishing site.
In computer security, phishing is a term used to describe the criminally fraudulent process of attempting to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details, by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication.
In other words, fraudsters send email pretending to be from your bank, your credit card company, your eBay and PayPal accounts, and even from your email service providers like yahoo or your school email system. They try to get you to send them your username or password. They are “fishing” for your private information.
If you reply and give them what they ask for they can use your personal information to commit identity theft, charge your credit cards, empty your bank accounts, read your email, and lock you out of your online account by changing your password. The easiest way to
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defeat this attack is to NEVER click on a link from an email you received asking for a response from you.
The following is an example of what a phishing scam in an e-mail message might look like: "Please Verify Your Account." "You have won the lottery." "If you don't respond within 48 hours, your account will be closed." "Click the link below to gain access to your account." When you receive an email requesting you to click on a link, just delete it. Most places also will never ask you for your password, not by email, not even by phone.
It’s easy to recognize a phishing email when you are asked to provide your username and password for an account that you know that you do not have. Again, just delete it. But when you receive an email from an institution that you do have an account with you should be very cautious. Instead of clicking on a link sent to you by email, type it in yourself by hand into your browser. If you bank at Bank of America, never click on a Bank of America link in an email. Instead type, bankofamerica.com in your browser.
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A month ago I received an email from the computer support dept of the university I recently graduated from. They were notifying me of an upgrade to their email server. The upgrade required that I login with my username and password. They also provided a link so that I could “easily” log in. I almost fell for it. It looked very authentic. I clicked on the link and it sent me to a web site that looked identical to the university email login site.
I was just about to reveal my login and password when I noticed that, while I was moving the mouse pointer over the link, (at the bottom left corner of the screen, where it always displays the web site address you are about to connect to when you mouse over a link) it did not display the university web site. “Ah ha!” I shouted. Busted. They almost got me.
What I ended up doing was forwarding the email requesting my username and password to the computer support people at the school. They thanked me for informing them and explained to me that there was an ongoing aggressive attack to get students private information. Remember, just because you are familiar with an institution that is requesting private information from you does not mean it’s legitimate. Remember, never click on email links. ________________________________________________________________ 9 7 Habits of Highly Efficient Computer Users (ver. 1A) © Copyright 2008 by Nick Gonzalez – All Rights Reserved. www.RemoteControlPcRepair.com.
3. Do not download files, applications, music, etc. from murky file-sharing web sites.
If you download files from obscure web sites you’re asking for trouble. Even though you are supposedly getting something for free, you will be paying much more than you would have if you had simply paid for what ever it is that you are downloading. Everyone that I have talked to who downloads files from any free file-sharing site has always experienced computer problems.
If you do not mind your computer not being able to start, loosing all of your documents, pictures, emails, (unless you backed up all of your files) disconnecting and hauling your pc to the repair shop for a complete reinstall of your operating system, (which wipes away all of your info.) keep doing what you’re doing (By the way you also have to pay for this too.)
Download files only from places you trust. These sites will most likely be places where you are actually paying for something. People who use Limewire, Morpheus, Kazaa, BitTorrent, Azureus, and
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Grokster are asking for trouble. It’s just a matter of time as to when (not if) your computer will be infected.
Whenever someone tells me that their computer doesn’t work anymore and all they see is a blue screen with a bunch of tiny characters on it (also known as the “blue screen of death”) I always ask, “What was the last thing you installed?” They always answer that they had just installed one of the popular file-sharing web sites.
If
they do not want the data on their hard drive it’s a simple reinstall of the operating system. If they do want the data on their hard drive then it involves a little more time to retrieve that information.
Many of my repeat customers are the ones who ignore my warning to not use file-sharing software. If you insist on using filesharing software (and I do not approve of this, at all) download the files, then quarantine them, then scan the files with your virus program. You will notice that many of these files are contaminated with viruses.
Make sure you have updated your virus program before scanning your downloaded files. You do have virus protection don’t you?
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Remember; do not download files, applications, music, etc. from obscure file-sharing web sites. It’s not worth it.
4. Update your anti-virus program.
Anti-virus software is a must-have tool for all computer users. Not only do you have the threat of actual viruses, but you also need to be protected from worms, Trojans and spyware. Updating your antivirus software is critical. If your virus program is not updated, it’s like you don’t have any protection at all.
If you have a virus program installed you should see an icon representing your virus program in the windows tray area, on the right corner of your screen, next to where the time is displayed. Click it to open it and look for something like an update now button. For windows users, you can also find the program by clicking on the start button then selecting programs. You should set it to update automatically.
Most new computers come with a free 90-day or a 1-year free virus protection subscription. What happens to a lot of people is that they forget to renew their subscription (usually it’s about $30. or so to ________________________________________________________________ 12 7 Habits of Highly Efficient Computer Users (ver. 1A) © Copyright 2008 by Nick Gonzalez – All Rights Reserved. www.RemoteControlPcRepair.com.
renew) until it’s too late. All is takes for your computer to get infected is for you to be without virus protection just one day, (many times it could be just a few minutes depending on your computer habits). Save yourself the trouble and always update your virus program.
I like using free virus software. This way you don’t have to worry about when your subscription ends plus you will always be protected (did I mention free yet?). free.avg.com is my choice for free virus protection. It will take care of all your windows computers. Make sure to remove your old virus program first before installing the new one.
Since most virus coders target windows computers, Mac users do not have to worry too much about viruses. But still, Mac users do need to be careful. Remember habit one, two and three? If you open email attachments, click on email links and download files from free file-sharing web sites, you are asking for trouble. Remember to update your virus program.
Make sure you click on the FREE version. Don’t download just any virus protextion Widows virus protection is a virus ________________________________________________________________ 13 7 Habits of Highly Efficient Computer Users (ver. 1A) © Copyright 2008 by Nick Gonzalez – All Rights Reserved. www.RemoteControlPcRepair.com.
atches & Updates -- Anti-virus software is only as effective as its most recent update because it is inherently reactive treating "known" threats. So when you install anti-virus software, go to the vendor's web site and update the program and virus definitions immediately and then turn on the auto update feature (if it has one). If you want to be ready for the next big bad thing before your anti-virus signatures can be updated, consider Zero-Day Protection.
http://antivirus.about.com/b/2008/09/15/the-69-worst-antivirus-scanners.htm
top online virus scanner http://antivirus.about.com/od/freeantivirussoftware/tp/aaonline.htm
5. Update your operating system.
Remember in the beginning we said that your computer is like Swiss cheese? Just like Swiss cheese has a bunch of holes in it, your computer also has many security holes in it as well. Plugging up those
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security holes helps to keep out viruses, spyware and hackers who are trying hard to infect your computer.
Since hackers are constantly creating new ways to infect computers, updating your operating system should be a regular habit. Updating your operating system is a key habit that helps to plug up the holes. When you update your operating system, you help to keep them out.
Your operating system needs to be updated on a regular basis. There are new updates that become available all of the time (almost weekly) so make sure your system is up to date. The good news is that you can set your computer to do this for you automatically. Here’s how to turn on automatic updates in OS X (Mac) and in Windows.
In Windows click on Start, Control Panel, Automatic Updates. Ensure that “Automatic (Recommended)” is checked. On the Mac click on the Apple logo on the top left hard corner of the screen. Select System Preferences and Software Update. Ensure that “Check for Updates Weekly” is selected.
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You should also update your OS manually every once in a while to make sure you are receiving all of the updates successfully. It is extremely important that you do not neglect this habit
6. Use a firewall.
A firewall protects your computer from several types of network traffic like which would love to infect your machine. Some of this traffic includes people trying to access your computer remotely, viruses, worms and Trojan horses.
Firewalls can either be software or hardware that is in between your computer and the internet.
The good news is that Windows XP
already has a firewall built-in. All you have to do is just turn it on.
Here’s how: Go to your control panel and look for the windows firewall icon. Double click and make sure it’s on. On the Mac, (Ver. 10.5 –Tiger) go to Preferences, security, allow only essential services, advanced, and enable logging and stealth mode.
The best types of firewalls are hardware firewalls. Talk to your Internet Service Provider to see if you already have one. There are ________________________________________________________________ 16 7 Habits of Highly Efficient Computer Users (ver. 1A) © Copyright 2008 by Nick Gonzalez – All Rights Reserved. www.RemoteControlPcRepair.com.
also software firewalls but sometimes they can cause problems.
7.
Do not operate your computer as an administrator.
Whether you use a PC or Mac make sure that you have not given yourself administrative rights. Administrator privileges allow you to do anything on your computer. The bad part is that it also allows a virus or spyware to do anything to your computer as well. The solution is run as a limited user.
Limited user accounts will not allow anything to be downloaded to your computer plus it protects your computer from attacks. When you need to download something just log in as an administrator. When you are done, log out and then log back in with the limited user account. Although this may be an inconvenience it is well worth the time this takes.
Limited user accounts are also an excellent solution for computers that are used by multiple people as well as for children. A limited user account is the best and safest way to work on your computer. ________________________________________________________________ 17 7 Habits of Highly Efficient Computer Users (ver. 1A) Š Copyright 2008 by Nick Gonzalez – All Rights Reserved. www.RemoteControlPcRepair.com.
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Conclusion Now that you have become exposed to the 7 habits of highly efficient computer users you can now become more efficient and productive when using your computer.
Remember, Do Not Open Email Attachments. Do Not Click on Email Links. Do Not Download Files, Applications, Music, Etc. from Obscure File-Sharing Web Sites. Update your Virus Program. Update Your Operating System. Use a Firewall and Do Not Operate Your Computer as an Administrator.
Start practicing these 7 habits today. You can save yourself hundred of dollars in computer repair not including the downtime you could loose by not having access to your computer. If at any time you do need computer support I invite you to contact us by visiting our website at: RemoteControlPcRepair.com.
We would be honored to assist you in any way possible. If you have any questions, comments, complaints or compliments, please send them to: info@RemoteControlPcRepair.com
________________________________________________________________ 19 7 Habits of Highly Efficient Computer Users (ver. 1A) Š Copyright 2008 by Nick Gonzalez – All Rights Reserved. www.RemoteControlPcRepair.com.
I hope you enjoyed and have learned something from this book. If you diligently follow these 7 habits, you will be well on your way to becoming a highly efficient computer user.
This resource is updated often. Make sure you have the latest copy by checking the version number. The version number is located on the bottom of each page. To get the latest version visit: http://www.RemoteControlPcRepair.com/7habits/
Happy Computing!
Nick Gonzalez “Your Information Technology Specialist” Owner of: www.RemoteControlPcRepair.com & www.TheoloTech.com
P.S. #1.
Feel free to email, make copies, or forward this resource to your friends, family and coworkers.
P.S. #2.
To eliminate vicious unwanted programs that can destroy your PC and steal your sanity check out “PC Safety 101”. Visit: www.RemoteControlPcRepair.com/pc
P.S. #3
Get the latest updated version of this book, absolutely free, visit: www.RemoteControlPcRepair.com/7habits
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