PCTips Box

There is no way to guarantee complete security on a wireless network. However, there are precautions you can take to help minimize security risks when you use a wireless network.

• Whenever possible, only connect to wireless networks that require a network security key or have some other form of security, such as a certificate. The information sent over these networks is encrypted, which can help protect your computer from unauthorized access. When you view available wireless networks in Connect to a Network, you’ll see text indicating if a wireless network has security enabled or not. (more…)

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. (more…)

This second and final part of our quick tour through the world of portable applications will focus mostly on programs that are not necessarily needed by the common user, but may come in handy in certain situations or to the more experienced Windows fans.

Compressing and decompressing files may be a very easy task, but things change when you have to use another computer that doesn’t have a compression utility installed, so here are some of our suggestions. You can try using the trial version of popular archivers WinRAR and PowerArchiver, or consider giving 7-zip, IZArc2Go and PeaZip a go, which are free for both personal and commercial use.

An organizer is not very helpful if you need to access your agenda from more than one computer. To overcome this inconvenience, feel free to install any of the following portable organizers and personal information managers: Sunbird, EverNote, EssentialPIM Pro, Avignon Concept or MSD Organizer. (more…)

I use firefox web browser every where, at my office pc, on my home desktop pc and as well on my laptop.

I always wanted to sync up my firefox on all these locations automatically, including my firefox bookmarks, browser settings ,add ons so I don’t have to configure my firefox at all these places etc.

So. I decided to google out the ways for syncing up my firefox browser with my google account.

Basically there are certain things which needs to be in sync like firefox settings , its bookmarks, browsing history etc.

Let’s cover them one by one

Following are the firefox extensions required in order to sync up your firefox with your google account. (more…)

1. How to Clean the Start Menu
The start menu of the Windows XP is populated with the number of shortcuts and newly installed programs. If you want to remove any of the programs from the start menu just right click on that program and click “Remove from this list”. The program will be removed from the start menu. Additionally, there are certain programs at the right side such as My documents, Run, Search etc and if you want to customize this list then right click on the empty place > Properties > Start Menu > Customize.

You will see a number of options there such as Large Icons, Small Icons and number of programs in the list. In the advance tab you will see the three options such as 1. display as a link, 2. display as a menu and 3. Don’t list this item and you can choose these options for the control panel, my documents, my music and my computer etc. (more…)

WIndows Vista includes a file encryption technology very similar from a user perspective to the one that existed in Windows XP, but Vista makes it very easy to make a backup of the file encryption key. In XP, your encrypted files would be lost if you changed your password. In Vista, an encryption key is used to sign the encrypted files, which also means it can be backed up.

It’s critically important that you make a backup of your encryption key if you decide to use the encryption features. Thankfully Vista reminds you immediately after the first time you encrypt a file. (more…)

Files that have been protected using EFS are encrypted at the file-system level. The benefit of this is that the files can only be opened by the user with the appropriate private key and certificate. Even if you were to reinstall the operating system, the files would still be inaccessible.

You can encrypt a file using the steps listed below. An important point to remember is that a file can not be both encrypted and compressed. If compression is enabled, it will be disable when encryption is enabled.

(more…)