1) Current antivirus software - I recommend Symantec's Norton Antivirus, and use it on all my machines as well as all my clients' machines.  You can buy it for FREE or nearly FREE after rebates (see offer below that expires on Sunday, January 12th), and there is absolutely no valid reason for not running it.  With a high speed connection, you should set it to always update itself, with a dialup connection have it notify you of updates so as to not slow you down when you need good system response.  I have mine run weekly on all machines and scan everything.  Feel free to email me with any questions you have about NAV.  While writing this newsletter, my NAV updated 3 times!

2) Run Scandisk and Defrag - For non-XP machines, these should be run in Safe Mode (see instructions later).  For XP, to run Scandisk you go into Disk Management, and set it to run the next time you reboot.  For Scandisk on non-XP machines, and Defrag on all machines, boot into Safe Mode, accomplished by tapping F8 as the machine starts to boot.  Run Scandisk first, then defrag.  I run these at night before bed, check them 1/2 hour later, and then turn off the monitor and hit the sack.  In the morning, I reboot and everything is organized.  Feel free to email me with questions.

3) Don't accept unknown downloads or attachments - Pretty self explanatory.  Your mother told you not to take candy from strangers, why would you accept a download?  Never open any download unless you've scanned it first, even if it's from your mother.  AOL users can download files, locate them, and then right click on them (if you have NAV) to scan them for viruses.

4) Keep current with Windows Update and Office Update.  Windows Update is the LEAST used FREE feature I've ever seen.  What's amazing is that you can set it to run automatically in Windows XP, and people turn it off!  All Critical updates should always be applied!  If you don't have XP, go to Start, Programs, Windows Update.  If you have Windows XP, go to Start, Control Panel, Performance and Maintenance, System, Automatic Updates and set it depending on your connection.  For dialup, have the system notify of updates and notify you when ready to apply them.  For high speed connections, have the system download the update and then notify you when ready to apply them.

Office Update is run manually.  Go to Microsoft's Office Update site and run the update checker.  Read what the update is and decide if you need it.  All Security updates should be applied.

5) Restore Points - How often in life can you erase the past and begin again?  With Windows ME and XP you can, using System Restore.   It's turned on by default, and allows you to undo almost everything that's been done since the last restore point.  The number of restore points is defined by how much space is set aside for the tool.  The key is to manually set a point prior to installing anything, so you can recover if the system has problems.  To manually set a point, go to Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, System Restore.

6) Backup - 99% of computer users never do it.  Virtually no one does it religiously.  When should you backup?  Daily, weekly or monthly.  In other words, as often as you need to so you won't lose something irreplaceable.  What should you backup?  Documents, Quicken files, emails, ...  What software should you use?  Norton's Ghost, PowerQuest's Drive Image, and Iomega's QuikSync are all products I use.  I particularly like QuikSync, it copies files every time you touch them, and keeps as many versions as you want. 

7) Firewall - do you need one?  The easy answer is yes, especially if you have an always on connection like DSL or High Speed Cable.  I use ZoneAlarm (free version) on all my machines.  After a little bit of setup, it works easy as pie.  To see if you need it, go to Steve Gibson's site and run Shields Up, which tests your system's security.

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