A New Year’s resolution is a commitment that an individual makes to a project or the reforming of a habit, often a lifestyle change that is generally interpreted as advantageous. The name comes from the fact that these commitments normally go into effect on New Year’s Day. -Wikipedia
Now that I got the specific definition out of the way, let’s go with a few New Year’s resolutions for PC users, things that are computer related and things that don’t involve going to the gym, because who really wants to go to the gym anyways?
Security
Security on computers is rarely talked about anymore, everybody probably thinks that they are safe and sound and that they really don’t have anything to worry about behind their awesome router and awesome firewall, and their Windows 7. Sadly, that’s not always the truth and there are some people out in the world of the internet that will gladly destroy your entire life, for no reason. Please ignore the scare tactics, that’s not why I am writing this, and thankfully those type of things really don’t happen too often. It’s not a bad idea, however, to try to use some preventative medicine in these cases. There are several really great applications that you can use, but I will stick to the one’s that I know and love, I wont be telling you about random programs that I “think” are good, I’ll tell you about programs that I KNOW are good.
- AVG Free is a phenomenal Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware, since I installed Windows 7 back on that faithful day in October I have not had one problem what so ever with Spy ware, it has kept me clean as a whistle and probably even cleaner. I have not tried the full version of the software yet, but I can assume that if it’s any bit as good as the free version, it’s probably worth it. If you are paying hundreds of dollars a year for the competition, I suggest you save yourself a couple benjamins and go the free route, AVG Free.
- Another one of my favorites is Comodo Personal Firewall. Comodo has been fixing up their firewall all the time to make it one of the best on the market, and again, it’s 100% free, and just like AVG there is a paid version that offers more features, but for the regular home user it’s more than enough. At time’s it can get a bit naggy, for instance when installing some new software, or even when updating current software; but all that means is that it is doing it’s job, making sure that you know what you are doing. It also is a little bit annoying when you first install it, but at that time you are just training it, and usually after day two you barely even notice that it’s running, only when some crazy hacker tries to get into your computer to steal your Christmas pictures.
So there are two simple, free applications that can make the top of your new years resolution list and make your day easier in general. Both of these are worth the try, and if you need any help setting them up or making them work just let me know I’ll be glad to help!
Get rid of Adware, Spyware, and Malware
To further the protection of your Christmas photos, I suggest you get an up-to-date application to get rid of Adware, Spyware, and Malware. All are pretty much the same thing, they infect your computer and run in the background making your computer, and you, do pretty much everything you don’t want to do. My favorite would be Spybot Search & Destroy. It has been around for a long time now and I recommend it to everyone, it is always first on my list and has always gotten rid of what I wanted it to. It has a handy feature that will allow it to be the first application run on start-up, which will make sure it get’s rid of everything the first time, not the second or third.
Update Drivers
This is probably one of the simplest steps you can do, and honestly you might have been doing it all along without even noticing due to Windows Update being on top of things most of the time. Drivers are small “applications” that run in the background on start-up to make sure that certain things are working correctly, like the video card, processor (chip set), or even simpler things such as the mouse or keyboard. Usually the best place to check for updated drivers would be at the manufacturers website, such as Logitech for your mouse, keyboard, or even webcam drivers. Usually the first place to check for Video Card drivers would be at either nVidia’s website, or ATi’s (AMD) Website, if you aren’t sure which type of video card you have, you can check by going into your Control Panel, and looking under “Display”.
Clean out that dust
PLEASE don't let your computer look like this!!
If your computer looks anything like the one on the right, you should probably clean it. If your computer is still working and looks anything like the one on the right, I want to meet you. I would be a lot happier if you’re computer looked more like the one that was on the left, of course without the wires coming out of it and all that; at least it is clean. The best way to clean out the computer
This is hopefully what your computer kind of looks like!
I have found is taking it outside or in the garage or somewhere that you don’t mind blowing dust all over the place, because Compressed Air tends to do just that.. blow dust all over the place! If you don’t have any or don’t have any time to go and buy some, then you can GENTLY use a vacuum.. but I really do not like to give that sort of advice, mainly because if you break something off or something is loose, the vacuum might suck it up! If you are the LEAST BIT worried about doing any of this, just call me at (630) 363-1738 (if you are in the Naperville region of Illinois), I can help you out and get your computer all cleaned up without a problem. If you aren’t in that area, then I suggest finding your local computer guru and refer him to this article, he will know exactly what I am talking about.
I really hope that something up there will be your New Year’s Resolution, it’s a lot easier than saying “I am gonna lose 20lbs!”, you can do most of this without even leaving your computer chair. Besides these ideas, what are you New Year’s resolutions? I am actually pretty interested in this sort of thing..
