Careful Downloading Saves Headaches

Just got the umpteenth email about someone downloading something they didn't want from the Internet.

I can't stress enough how careful you need to be when downloading and installing software.

99% of the problems are user error. Most DO NOT read information on what they are about to download.

"It sounded like what I wanted" or "The name is similar" are some of the excuses. Most of the time, it's because we want to DO IT NOW! Quick, fast, right now... not good attributes to have when downloading software.

My advice: Take your time, make sure you are on the correct website, read the instructions carefully... when in doubt, DON'T!

Also, I've heard from people who downloaded a program they wanted, but also got additional programs installed they didn't want.

That happens because people will FLY THROUGH the installation procedure. Rather, you should carefully read each screen and be careful of boxes with check marks for Adding a Toolbar, etc.

Take your time, avoid problems later.

Catching Spyware

Spyware is just what it sounds like... software that spies on you. More exactly, it can keep track of what you do, from keystrokes on your keyboard to passwords to visited websites. And it can report that information back to someone else.

That's the trouble. So what can you do?

Anti-spyware is the answer. It looks for various spyware and malware on your PC.

But do you need to pay money for this protection. Quite simply, no.

There are several free anti-spyware programs available and I can suggest using both of these to keep your PC spyware-free.

Ad-aware by Lavasoft and Spybot-Search & Destroy are both free of charge. Run them both once a week. Don't forget to download upgrades first before scanning your PC.

Networking PC's

I ran into a problem over the weekend when I had to move my computers away from the router/cable modem.

I have one PC that can only access the LAN with a cable. I have another PC that has wireless LAN capabilities.

I needed to access the Internet with my LAN PC. So I ran a network cable from one PC to the other and utilized the PC's WLAN to access the Internet.

There were two things I needed to do, though. On my WLAN PC, I had to check a box that allowed other PC's to access the Internet through that PC.

And on my LAN PC, I had to go through the Network Setup Wizard and check the box saying I want to access the Internet through another PC.

After a restart, all was good :)