Day 5. (A relatively shorter session.)

And a final really, really important point…

VII. Back-up of Files & Automated Back-up @

In spite of your best efforts, it is possible that your computer will have problems. If it’s your hard drive that crashes, you will doubtlessly lose data, though it is sometimes possible to restore some data by taking it to a computer repair shop. But one way or the other, you should be backing up your hard drive regularly. There are several destinations to choose from for your backups: you could create an extra hard drive partition at the time you purchase your computer*, you could purchase an extra hard drive, you could simply burn CDs & DVDs, or use on-line back-up. On-line backup is similar to on-line storage of photos and music on sites like Picasa and Facebook, only you do it for all your important files, not just media files. "Time Machine" on Macs is ideal for backup, as long as you have an external drive.*

With Time Machine, you can revert the state of any file or folder to the way it was in the past. And if your whole hard drive crashes, you can restore the entire contents of your hard drive. When you plug in a new external hard drive, you can very easily choose it to be your Time Machine drive. The best advice would be to get a large capacity hard drive, partition it in two with Disk Utility, and then set up Time Machine manually on one of the partitions - go to the Time Machine System Preference to do that (it's easy).

An easy low-tech route would be burning back-up CDs or DVDs. This is fine as long as you remember to do it. So best of all would be to have a backup utility - as is included in most maintenance suites (like Norton 360) - prompt you, or even automate the process. Doing it this way, you may find it most convenient to keep all your most important stuff up in one folder that you’ll back up - you can sub-divide that folder as you wish. Note that Blue-ray disks have even greater storage capacity than DVDs, if you’ll be backing up big files like videos, and have access to that kind of drive. Meantime, if you have a newish Mac, and an extra hard drive, using Time Machine is perfect for regular, complete, scheduled backup.

And definitely back-up your Flash drives regularly. They are generally poor quality, and prone to going bad.

*Time Machine and Mac OS 10.5+.

If you have a Mac and your hard drive was formatted with the Mac operating system 10.5 (Leopard) or 10.6 (Snow Leopard), you can actually partition the hard drive at any time. This means you could make a Time Machine partition right on your one and only hard drive. This is not the best solution, since, if that hard drive crashes, you lose your Time Machine data too. But if the main reason you like to use Time Machine is so you can go back to earlier versions of documents, and re-set applications that stop working correctly, this solution can work. Still, the best solution would always be to get a separate external USB or Firewire hard drive for your Time Machine backup.

Plus, to be added to later on:

Network security, wireless etc.

Importance of logging out… clear cache/personal information, can do the same thing.

Top 11 “To Do Now” – Windows XP Maintenance Summary

With XP, you can do a quick check to see the state of your security by going to the Control Panel, and selecting Security Center. All three: Firewall, Automatic Updates and Virus Protection should be on (green). If not, do a quick fix if you can, but look at the suggestions below, regardless.

1. Auto updates: @

Go to the Control Panel, Classic View, and select Automatic Updates. Select Automatic, and have it occur Every day at a time that your computer is most likely on.

2. Check Hard Drive Free Space: @

Check the amount of free space you have on your hard drive. Just hover the mouse over the hard drive in My Computer to see free and total space. If you have more than 80% of the hard drive full, you need to delete big files, or get another hard drive.

Big files to consider, in particular, are movies; why not just back them up to DVD. And/or, for a second hard drive, the easiest way to go is an external USB hard drive, and put all of your video, music, and image files there.

3. Clean up your disk: @

Go Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk Cleanup. Do this in the case that your hard drive is almost full, and there are some items in the list which are taking up many hundreds of MB. Check all the items, unless there’s an obvious reason not to, like you’re not sure you want to delete the recycle bin just yet. This is not an urgent task, but it's easy, and could free up significant hard drive space, and so it is especially useful in a situation where you don’t have a lot of free space available.

4. Use Disk Quota: @

To prevent your hard drive from becoming too full in the first place, right-click your hard drive (in My Computer), go to Properties, and the Quota tab. Then click Enable quota management, and Limit disk space to be around 80% of your hard drive’s size.

5. Defragment: @@

First remember that you always should BACKUP YOUR IMPORTANT FILES first - burn them to CDs or a DVD if you have no other means of backup; on occasion de-fragmenting can actually cause problems. But you should defragment occasionally, so go to My Computer, right-click on your hard drive, and select Properties. Click the Tools tab, and select Defragment Now. The other thing to keep in mind is if this has not been done in a while, the defragmentation will take a long time; let it work away at it over night – and DO NOT interrupt it.

6. Anti-virus: @

Make sure you have Anti-virus software installed. And make sure it is scheduled to update the virus definitions frequently; once every day at least. Also make sure that it is scheduled to regularly scan your computer for viruses, at least once a week.

If you don't have Anti-virus software, you need to go the computer store and buy some, or download a good brand-name anti-virus package (like Norton, McAfee, or AVG anti-virus software). Alternatively you can download a free anti-virus application; two I’d suggest for XP are Avast! and Avira (log on to download.com and go to the Security & Spyware category).

7. Check RAM Amount: @@

Check to see how much RAM your computer has. Go to the My Computer window, click on View System Information, and then select the General tab. You should consider upgrading to at least 512 MB if you presently have less. For Windows machines I would suggest getting someone who is tech savvy to do the RAM replacement/upgrade.

The following 3 items in this list can be covered by a for-purchase, all-in-one utility program, or they can be handled separately by free applications. I’ll list them separately with free solutions first, and then offer an all-in-one suggestion.

8. ***Registry check: @@@

You should check/optimize your hard drive’s registry regularly. Registry Mechanic and WINASO Registry Optimizer are both proven, and though no longer free, are reasonably priced. Meantime the one free one I’d suggest is Glary Utilities. For any of these go to download.com and do a search for them.

9. ***Firewall: @

First of all do make sure your Windows firewall is on; go to Control Panel, Classic View, and Windows Firewall. But I’d also suggest for Windows XP that you get another, good third party firewall, like Norton Personal Firewall. A slightly cheaper download possibility is ZoneAlarm, and the totally free download I’d suggest is PC Tools Firewall. Again, download.com is the safest place to be looking for downloads such as these.

10. ***Adware/Spyware: @@

Adware/Spyware software isn't as important as the above two categories, but it’s easy to obtain, and running it will almost surely make your Internet access much faster. The good free one we use in the lab is Ad-Aware (once again, use download.com and look in the Security and Spyware category.)

***All-in-one-alternatives:

The last three utility categories are possible to get all together by buying an all-in-one maintenance and security suite. And these suites will also have additional categories of security software not mentioned here. The all-in-one I’d suggest (summer 2009) is Norton 360, available from www.symantec.com for a yearly cost of $79.99.

11. Uninstall Limewire @

And finally, in spite of doing the above, you should consider uninstalling LimeWire. Much of the adware, spyware, and viruses that you need to combat come through files downloaded from peer-to-peer applications like Limewire. Furthermore you are very much opening yourself up to hacking, in spite of your Firewalls best efforts, through the use of such applications. Go to Control Panel, Add or Remove Programs to uninstall Limewire.

And one final coda: Here’s what I figure are the top 3 reasons kids have problems with their computer:

- Full hard drive

- Not enough RAM memory

- The use of Limewire etc., and the resulting malware

Top 11 “To Do Now” – Windows Vista Maintenance Summary

With Vista, the one place to go for a lot of the following suggestions is Control Panel, Security. There, you can do a quick check to see the state of your security by going to the Security Center. All four: Firewall, Automatic updating Malware protection, and Other security settings should be on (green). If not, do a quick fix if you can, but look at the suggestions below, regardless.

1. Auto updates: @

Go to the Control Panel, Security, Security Center, and click Turn automatic updating on or off. Select Install updates automatically, and have it occur Every day at a time that your computer is most likely on.

2. Check Hard Drive Free Space: @

Check the amount of free space you have on your hard drive. When you go to the Start Menu and Computer, all the drives will appear. Your main one is most likely named C. You’ll see the graphical representation as a blue bar, and it will list the amount free of the total GB. If you have more than approximately 80% of the hard drive full, you need to delete big files, and/or get another hard drive.

3. Clean up your disk: @

Go Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk Cleanup. Do this in the case that your hard drive is almost full, and there are some items in the list which are taking up many hundreds of MB. Check all the items, unless there’s an obvious reason not to, like you’re not sure you want to delete the recycle bin just yet, or you use Hibernation mode, so need the Hibernation File Cleaner. This is not an urgent task, but it's easy, and could free up significant hard drive space, and so it is especially useful in a situation where you don’t have a lot of free space available.

4. Use Disk Quota: @@

To prevent your hard drive from becoming too full in the first place, right-click your hard drive (in Computer), go to Properties, and the Quota tab. Then click Enable quota management, and Limit disk space to be around 80% of your hard drive’s size.

5. Defragment: @@

First of all, remember that you always should BACKUP YOUR IMPORTANT FILES first - burn them to CDs or a DVD if you have no other means of backup; on occasion de-fragmenting can actually cause problems. But you should defragment occasionally, so go to the Start Menu, and Computer, right-click on your hard drive, and select Properties. Click the Tools tab, and select Defragment Now. The other thing to keep in mind is if this has not been done in a while, the defragmentation will take a long time; let it work away at it over night – and DO NOT interrupt it.

6. Anti-virus: @

If you don't have Anti-virus software, you need to go the computer store and buy some, or download a good band-name anti-virus package (like Norton, McAfee, or AVG anti-virus software). Alternatively you can download a free anti-virus application; two I’d suggest for P are Avast! and Avira (log on to download.com and go to the Security & Spyware category).

7. Check RAM Amount: @@

Check to see how much RAM your computer has. Go to the Start Menu, and Computer, click on System properties at the top, and you will see Memory (RAM) listed under System. You should consider upgrading to at least 2 GB or more if you presently have less. For all Windows machines I would suggest getting someone who is tech savvy to do the RAM replacement/upgrade.

The following 4 items in this list can be covered by a for-purchase, all-in-one utility program, or they can be handled separately by free applications. I’ll list them separately with free solutions first, and then offer an all-in-one suggestion.

8. ***Registry check: @@@

9. ***Firewall: @

First of all do make sure your Windows firewall is on; go to Control Panel, Security, and click on Turn Windows Firewall on or off. The Vista firewall should be good enough, but you might want to get another, third party firewall, like Norton Personal Firewall. A slightly cheaper download possibility is ZoneAlarm, and the totally free download I’d suggest is PC Tools Firewall. Again, download.com is the safest place to be looking for downloads such as these.

10. ***Adware/Spyware: @@

Adware/Spyware software isn't as important as the above two categories, and the Windows Defender should be enough. So in Control Panel, Security, click on Windows Defender to make sure it’s on. But another good malware application is easy to obtain, and running it might help make your Internet access much faster. The good free one we use in the lab is Ad-Aware (once again, use download.com and look in the Security and Spyware category.)

11. ***Internet Options: @@

Also in Control Panel, Security, click on Internet Options, and check the following two areas of security: under the Security tab, have the security level at Medium or High, and under the Privacy tab, select Medium-high or High for the Internet zone. Applications such as the afore-mentioned ZoneAlarm and Ad-Aware will help with these security measures as well.

***All-in-one Alternatives:

The last four utility categories are possible to get all together by buying an all-in-one maintenance and security suite. And these suites will also have additional categories of security software not mentioned here. The all-in-one I’d suggest (summer 2009) is Norton 360, available from www.symantec.com for a yearly cost of $79.99.

12. Uninstall Limewire @

And a summary of the top 3 reasons kids have problems with their computer: à Full hard drive à Not enough RAM memory à The use of Limewire etc., and the resulting malware.

Top 7 “To Do Now” – Mac OSX Maintenance Summary

1. Auto updates: @

Go Apple, System Preferences, Software Update, and make sure both buttons are checked in the Update Software section. You should check for updates weekly.

2. Firewall: @

Make sure your Mac OS X firewall is running. In the latest Mac OS (version 10.5) you go System Preferences, Security, and choose the Firewall tab. Select “Set access for specific services and applications”. Then, whenever a site or application tries to access your computer, think about whether you trust it before clicking “Allow” on the message that comes up.

(In the Mac OS 10.4 and before, you go to Sharing, and the Firewall section. The only thing that should be allowed is Personal File Sharing.)

3. Check RAM Amount: @@

Check to see how much RAM your computer has. Go to the apple in the corner of the screen, and select “About this Mac”. If you are running Mac OS version 10.5, you should consider upgrading to 1 or 2 GB if you presently have less (as of summer 2009). The safest way is to have a tech-savvy person install more RAM, though on many Macs, it can be quite easy – see your instruction manual, if you dare.

4. Check Hard Drive Free Space: @

Check the amount of free space you have on your hard drive. Depending on your Finder preferences, the total space, and free space might show right below the hard drive icon on your desktop. Otherwise, go Command (Open-Apple)-I with the hard drive selected. If you have more than 80% of the hard drive full, you need get more free space. One way is to delete, or move to DVD, big files, especially movies. The other alternative is to buy an external USB or Firewire (depending on the ports you have on your computer) hard drive.

5. Permissions Check: @@

On a Mac you should check and repair the “permissions” regularly. Go to Applications, Utilities, and run “Disk Utility”. Select your hard drive, and under the “First Aid” tab, which should be selected, click the “Repair Disk Permissions” button.

6. Anti-virus: @

You should have Anti-virus software installed, even though Macs are less prone to viruses than PCs. With anti-virus software, make sure it is scheduled to update the virus definitions frequently; at least once a day. And make sure that it is scheduled to regularly check your computer for viruses; once a month should be sufficient for a Mac.

If you don't have Anti-virus software, there are free alternatives, but I’d suggest a proven one like Sophos, or McAfee, which can be downloaded from the Internet.

7. Directory Repair: @@

You should regularly check the directory (registry) of your Mac. There is not much to choose from that is free, and there’s only one for purchase I’d recommend, but I do recommend it strongly: "Disk Warrior". You'll need to insert the CD and re-start the computer from the CD (hold down the alt key when starting up) in order to fully take advantage of it.