ARK
Systems Newsletter
December 2000
|
ARK
Systems Newsletter
December 2000 |
PERIODIC MAINTENANCE
Just like your car, your computer needs a periodic tune-up. OK, it might be a little hard to determine how many miles are on your computer, but if it's been ridden hard, it will probably need a checkup more often. Every month, or at least once a quarter you should check the following items:
1- Check for low disk space. Open My Computer and right click on the C drive.
Free Space should over 20 MB (20,000,000 bytes).
2- Run Scandisk. Again open My Computer and right click on the C drive.
Then click on the Tools tab. Click 'Check Now...' next to Error-checking
status.
3- Defragment Drives. On the same screen, click 'Defragment Now...' next to Defragmentation Status. Note: Windows NT 4.0 does not have a defragmentation program included. You would need to install Norton Utilities for NT or a similar program to defragment the drive.
4- If necessary, update your virus checking software. If you are using McAfee VirusScan 4.0, you can download free virus data files at: http://download.mcafee.com/updates/updates.asp? . If you are using VirusScan 5.x or Norton AntiVirus, you should be able to automatically update your virus data files from within the virus program. You should reboot your computer once these files are updated.
5- Run a complete Virus Scan of drive C. Start your virus scanning software and select drive C for a complete scan. You can also have scans scheduled automatically with Windows scheduler. Give us a call if you need help setting up this option.
6- Check your server's backups. Review the backup log. Make sure that scheduled backups were run successfully. Also periodically run a compare of a small subdirectory on your server to test the last backup tape.
Rather than do your own tune-ups, you can schedule us to perform these (and some other more advanced tests) on your system periodically. Simply give us a call or respond to this email and we can set up a schedule.
Believe me when I tell you that running these tests will save you time and money in the long run. There's nothing worse than trying to recover critical data from a dead computer with no backups!!
THE BEST VIRUS PROTECTION WE'VE FOUND (and it's not virus protection software)
Most current viruses rely on emails to jump from
PC to PC. These emails include attachments ending in VBS or EXE that start their
destruction as soon as you double-click on them. By default, Microsoft Windows hide
the file's extensions to make the system look more user-friendly. With hidden
extensions you never know what kind of file you are opening. We recommend
changing this setting so that you can see the file extensions. To do this, go
to My Computer. From the View pull-down menu, select Folder Options. Select
the View tab and remove the check mark by 'Hide file extensions of known types'.
Then NEVER open a VBS file unless you are expecting one to be sent to you.
If you are using Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express, make sure you have updated the software to the SR1 release. As mentioned in our last newsletter, you can download this update at: http://officeupdate.microsoft.com/downloadCatalog/dldoutlook.asp - This update blocks most dangerous attachments from ever reaching your computer. It also stops any program from opening your address book to send emails in the background. It has saved my hide several times.
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