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Easy Steps to Improve Your PC’s Performance
Unless your computer is fresh out of the box, it’s probably not running as fast as it used to. Our PCs fill up with all sorts of good stuff — documents, music, videos, programs, games, downloads — and bad stuff like viruses and spyware, too. Over time they can get bogged down.
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Much like oil changes for your car, a little periodic maintenance can help extend your computer’s lifespan. And in a tight economy, it’s smart to take a few simple steps to help keep your PC running like new, instead of buying a new one.
We’ve collected a series of tips and tricks to help your computer run more smoothly and broaden its useful life. They are easy enough that anyone, even a novice, can run them — but they can all help bring that “new car smell” back to your computer.
Computers with Windows XP and newer operating systems come with several simple utilities to check, clean and de-clutter your hard drive. Doing so will free it up to access your programs and files more quickly. Disk Check identifies and removes hard disk errors caused by crashes or power failures. It’s a good idea to run it every few months to make sure the drive itself is functioning properly.
- • Click on
My Computer
- • Right click on
C drive
- • Choose “
Properties
- ”
- • Select the
Tools
- Tab
- • Click the “
Check Now
- ” button under “Error Checking”
- • Check
all
- the boxes
- • Click
Start
Disk Cleanup removes temporary files and unnecessary detritus from your hard drive, freeing up space. For example, when browsing the Internet your computer collects thousands of temporary files to help Web sites load more quickly. But over time these files create clutter, so it’s a good idea to clean them out. We recommend running this around once a month.
- • Click on
My Computer
- • Right click on your
C drive
- • Choose “
Properties”
- • Select
Disk Cleanup
The Disk Defragmenter improves hard drive performance and speed by piecing together parts of files that have been broken apart. As you use your computer, files are constantly added, changed and removed. Over time, these files and folders are broken into chunks of data, so when you want to access the file your hard disk has to work harder and look in more places to find all of its contents. This is known as fragmentation. The more full your hard drive becomes, the more likely it is your files will be fragmented. The Defragmenter pieces those chunks of data back together, so your hard drive can load them more quickly.
We recommend using this utility at least once a month — and it’s best to run when you’re finished using the computer for the day, as it can often take over an hour to complete.
- • Click on
My Computer
- • Right click on your
C drive
- • Select
Properties
- • Choose the
Tools
- tab
- • Click “
Defragment Now
- ” button under “Defragmentation”
Windows XP and higher can automatically check to see if it needs to be updated. Microsoft often supplies patches, updates and security fixes for Windows (as well as Office and other Microsoft programs) that should always be installed to keep your PC up-to-date. The beauty of Automatic Updates is that it checks with Microsoft on its own and lets you know when you need to do something. So just make sure that Automatic Updates are on:
- • Click
Start
- , and then click
Control Panel
- • Click
Automatic Updates
- • Choose
Automatic (recommended)Though it sounds counterintuitive, dropping an unwanted file in the Recycle Bin doesn’t actually remove it from your hard drive. To prevent accidental deletion, a file can remain in the Recycle Bin and continue to take up space. Periodically emptying the Recycle Bin helps free space for the files you want to keep.
By the way, if running all these individual fixes doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, there is software available that can optimize your computer in a few simple steps — cleaning our your hard drive, speeding startup and shutdown, and repairing errors. AOL offers two that are worth checking out: PerfectSpeed and System Mechanic.
Finally, perhaps the most common causes of computer sluggishness are viruses and spyware. You may already have computer security software installed on your computer, but with so many new threats created every day, it must have updated definition files to be of any use.
If you don’t already have security software on your PC, make sure you install it and keep it updated. Paid AOL members can download security software from McAfee for free, as part of their membership, at safety.aol.com. If you’re not a paid AOL member, you can still find special deals on McAfee software at this site.
6 Tips To Secure Your Facebook Account
Jun 27
Posted by Nikesh Jain
1. Enable HTTPS
Using HTTPS instead of simple HTTP means that you are securing your communication between the server and your computer. No one will be able to hack between your computer and the server so you can be sure that all the information delivered to and from your computer is completely safe. Modern browsers can highlight the secure URLs with the information about the certificate issuing authority.
To enable HTTPS, you can login to your Facebook account and go to “Account -> Account Settings“.
Select Account Security under Settings tab and check the box beside Browse Facebook on a secure connection (https) whenever possible
2. Use Facebook two- step authentication (Login Approvals)
Like Google, Facebook has also introduced two-step authentication service called Login Approvals. This service lets you login to your Facebook account by using your password plus a security authentication code sent to your mobile device. By enabling this service, you will no longer be able to login to Facebook by only using your password. You will always be required to use the password and security code sent to your mobile device.
3. Check for Facebook email phishing attacks and scams
While you are in Facebook, you should never click on suspicious links even if the messages were sent from your friends. Most Facebook scams spread by posting messages to walls of all friends of the infected user. The best place to get updated news about Facebook scams is Facecrooks.com. This site will give you details about all the recent scams and other threats spreading on Facebook. Visit Facecrooks.com frequently to find out more about Facebook threats.
You should also take extra care when reading a message from Facebook. Always double-check the email address of the sender before taking any action or clicking on any link in the email. All the emails sent from Facebook will originate from facebookmail.com domain. Emails from any other domain claiming to be from Facebook will be scam and not legitimate.
4. Enable login notifications
Enabling login notifications in Facebook will notify you when someone logs in from a suspicious location or computer. This is important if you always use your Facebook from the same computer and same Internet connection, Facebook will know your location and will trust the computer you’re working on. If you or someone else logs in from another location, you’ll get a notification from Facebook about the suspicious account activity.
To enable login notification, go to “Account -> Account Settings“.
Under settings tab expand “Account security -> Login notification“, check the following two boxes:
§ Send me an email
§ Send me a text message
You should also check Facebook Login history regularly and see if any suspicious person has logged into your Facebook account. Facebook history will tell you the recent IP addresses and devices used to login to your Facebook account.
5. Use Facebook one-time password service on public computers
Like Hotmail, Facebook also provides the facility of one-time password. One-time password is a temporary password which can only be used once and expires within 20 minutes of creation. To enable this service, you’ll need to activate a phone number so that Facebook can send messages to your mobile. To register and activate a phone number you can go to “Account -> Account settings”.
Under Mobile tab, you can activate your phone to use Facebook one-time password service. The temporary password will be sent to your mobile and you’ll be able to login to Facebook once using that password.
6. Check Allowed Applications Frequently
You should always keep an eye on which application you have allowed and what that application is doing. You should never install an app that looks suspicious. Always search the Internet for its reviews and install the app only if it has good rating.
I hope following all these points will give you a better and secure experience with Facebook. Last of all I would like you to attempt a security quiz from Facebook. In this quiz you’ll be asked questions about security and you can see how informed you are regarding Facebook security. You may also take a look at managing Facebook privacy options.
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Posted in How to, Tips & Tricks, Security & Antivirus
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