Tag: firewall
November 30, 2008 by
Jason
The moment has come once again to pimp your Windows XP with the skills of a power user and the tool that will always be at your disposal, Notepad. This article, along with the previous ones (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5), will allow you to enhance and customize your operating system with advanced IT knowledge. Are there advantages to it? Of course there are. For one, the procedure is very fast, easy to perform and, in most cases, the result cannot be obtained through the “standard procedure” – Control Panel, Folder Options, Performance Options etc.
However, before getting started, if what we’re talking here is not something that you’re familiar with, or if you have not read yet the first article in the tweaking series, please do so now, because, otherwise, what is about to follow may not make any sense at all. Without a single trace of a doubt, that’s not something that we would want, is it now? This is all the more true since, as long as we are here, you will probably notice that, as promised above, the tweaks I’m about to present cannot be made using the old-school methods. It would be a pity to pass up this chance just because you’re not familiar with a few basic rules. Read More»
Posted in Windows XP | No Comments »
November 20, 2008 by
Jason It’s been estimated that over 60% of all computers have some kind of spyware installed and most of their owners are unaware! If you are tired of your PC running slow and filling your screen with those nasty pop-up then you will want to read the 10 warning signs listed below.
Afterwards check out my “action plan” and what you can do to rid yourself of your spyware infestation.
1. Browser Hijacks - When I used to get a call from a customer saying that their homepage had suddenly changed, without them doing anything, I knew to bring my anti-spyware fighting software. Malicious programmers love to change your browser settings to transfer your homepage to their “client’s” websites.
2. PC is Crashing - Without warning, your PC starts crashing, freezing or locking up, but you haven’t added any new software or updated anything recently.
3. Pop-Ups - You open your browser to visit your favorite blog site then “WHAM!” You are suddenly drowning in pop-ups! Your screen is full of brightly colored lures to porn, gambling or gaming websites. You click on the “Close” or the “X” to shut it down…uh, oh something is downloading to your machine! Read More»
Posted in Computer | 1 Comment »
November 18, 2008 by
Jason A few months ago, my PC took over 10 minutes to start up. Now it just takes about a minute. Want to know how I did it? Here’s how:
1. Upgrade Your RAM
Yeah, the most obvious tip but people hardly upgrade it. RAM these days is very cheap, especially if you buy it through Amazon or eBay. When I checked Amazon, the price of 1 GB RAM was around $20-$30.
2. Get Rid of Unneeded Software
Most PCs come shipped with unneeded software. Uninstall all of them. I’m sure there are better alternatives to those software. For example, my PC came shipped from hp with lots of bloatware such as HP Image Zone, Norton AntiVirus 2004, Record Now! CD & DVD Burning software etc. I uninstalled all of them and replaced them with better software like Picasa and Nero.
3. Keep Only One Browser
This is part of the getting rid of unneeded applications but I decided to separate it because so many people have 3, or even 4 browsers installed on their computer. I used to do this; I used to have Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, and Safari. Now I only have Mozilla Firefox. Yes, I even removed Internet Explorer! Read More»
Posted in Computer | 1 Comment »
November 09, 2008 by
Jason Worms, Trojans, adware, spyware, key loggers and viruses are all types of malicious code that may invade your computer, seriously harming your system and data while also hogging system resources or reducing PC performance and Internet bandwidth. Here are seven ways to protect yourself against malware.
1. Update your operating system regularly
The first step in protecting your PC, and your valuable data, is to ensure that the operating system (OS) is updated with the latest security patches. This is critical as OS manufacturers, such as Microsoft Windows, update the security features of their products continuously to cover any potential and actual loopholes.
2. Buy good anti-virus software
Secondly you should have updated anti-virus software running on your system. This software must be able to scan email and files, as they are downloaded from the Internet, to help prevent malware reaching your system. It is also important to make sure that this anti-virus software is updated frequently, with fixes to the actual engine and to the database files, ensuring they contain the latest cures against new viruses, worms and Trojans. Read More»
Posted in Computer | No Comments »
I’ve just seen your video Optimize Your ISP’s Slow Internet Connection, and I’m kind of an expert on this subject because I have been using dial-up and slow speed connections for all my life and I have only recently updated to a wireless HUAWEI 2G and 3G connection. Anyway, during my time using dial-up I came up with different ways to speed up my connection and here are some of them. By the way, these can also be used for any slow connection speed. I used these techniques when I “upgraded” from dial-up to GPRS via cellular Bluetooth, which was 1KB faster than dial up. Anyway, here we go.
1. Firewalls:
Blocking some programs from connecting to the Internet (like WinAmp player, which automatically tries to check for updates). You’d be surprised how many applications try connecting to the Internet behind your back. I’ve caught my Windows Explorer connecting to the Internet; after looking up the IP thinking it was some Trojan, It turned out to be windows.com. Many people have complained about this, claiming it’s spyware. This is one reason I think Open Source operating systems are much better! Read More»
Posted in Internet | 1 Comment »
PWN to OWN. This is the name of the contest that made most Mac users worldwide seriously think about reading a security book or two to learn about securing their Macs ASAP. During the aforementioned contest a Mac running OS X Leopard was the first to give in to the intrusion attempts. It may not have been the brightest day in Apple’s history but it surely was the one when every Mac owner out there gave a second thought to the “Macs are the most secure” theory.
So, if Macs aren’t as secure as we have previously thought (I did too and even bet on the Vista computer that it would be the first to be compromised), what can we do to defend ourselves against attacks? One way would be to fire up the old integrated Mac OS X firewall and configure it to accept only incoming connections from IP addresses we know.
Although this is a good thing to do, the integrated firewall doesn’t do as good of a job as Apple would want us to believe. If you are not a very experienced user you’ll probably end up just enabling the damn thing and what protection do you think you’ll get? I’ll tell you: not very much because the machine that got “owned” at the PWN to OWN contest had the default settings and it went down pretty fast. Read More»
Posted in Mac | 1 Comment »
PC security starts with an assessment of the security risks. The security of your computer depends on the operating system you are running. If you are running one of Microsoft’s Windows versions, then you are probably familiar with the security issues of earlier Windows versions. With the increased use of the internet, security has become an even more important issue. As such, it is no surprise that regular updates and patches to Windows XP and Vista are still released.
Obviously there is more to security than just the operating system. Every PC that is connected to the internet requires a firewall to keep out undesired internet traffic. Next to that, a good antivirus program is essential to keeping your PC safe.
But where do you start if you want to find out how secure your system is? You may think that you have all the required PC security in place, but how can you be sure? Well one of the first steps is to check the baseline security and Microsoft has a great free tool that enables you to check your system security. Read More»
Posted in Computer, windows vista | 1 Comment »
These days, security becomes a problem to more and more people. I am not talking about terrorism as we all know it, but you can consider this a form of terrorism too, because computer viruses are surely a tool of terror. Why do I say this? Well, the less you know about computer security, the more likely you’ll get frightened when your antivirus will detect “something,” or when your operating system will display error messages. Since knowledge is power, today I’ll provide you some valuable computer security advice, because that’s what you need, before anything else.
While most of you are probably using Windows, most of these tips apply to other operating systems, and some of them are also useful in real life situations, like interacting with people your don’t know if you can trust or not. All right, these being said, let’s see today’s 10 security tips, shall we? Read More»
Posted in Computer | 1 Comment »
This guide shows you how to allow computers to connect to a computer and use it remotely via Remote Desktop.
The only Windows Vista versions than can be connected to via Remote Desktop are Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions. All versions of Windows Vista can use Remote Desktop to remote to another computer though.
Enable Remote Desktop
1. Right-click Computer in the Start menu and then select Properties.
2. Click Remote settings in the Tasks list on the left side of the System window.
3. Select Allow connections from computers running any version of Remote Desktop if computers connecting to it will only be from within a local network or are running versions of Windows other than Vista. Select Allow connections only from computers running Remote Desktop with Network Level Authentication if computers connecting to it will connect from the internet or all computers connecting will be Windows Vista. Read More»
Posted in Internet, windows vista | 1 Comment »
Both Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 include the next-generation of Windows Firewall, which has become a standard aspect of Microsoft’s client and server operating systems. Windows Firewall with Advanced Security, although not marketed as a replacement for more complex solutions designed to manage network traffic, has the advantage that it ships as a default component integrated with the platforms. On top of this, Windows Firewall with Advanced Security is not as simplistic as it might appear. This is why Microsoft has made available for download a complex design guide of the product.
Windows Firewall with Advanced Security “can filter the network traffic permitted to enter the computer from the network, and also control what network traffic the computer is allowed to send to the network. Windows Firewall with Advanced Security supports IPsec, which enables you to require authentication from any computer that is attempting to communicate with your computer. When authentication is required, computers that cannot authenticate cannot communicate with your computer. By using IPsec, you can also require that specific network traffic be encrypted to prevent it from being read or intercepted while in transit between computers,” revealed Microsoft’s Dave Bishop. Read More»
Posted in Software, Windows XP, windows vista | 5 Comments »
