Dust, the silent killer
I don't care how clean your house is, your computer is full of dust, and it's killing the poor thing. You would be positively appalled if you knew what I see when I open them up - so get proactive right now!
Here's what you need to do. March down to Staples or OfficeMax and pick up a can of compressed air. Choose a nice bright sunny day, disconnect your computer, take it outside and open up the case. Don't be scared, that part is easier than you think, there are just a couple of screws or a push button latch, you can do it! After you get the case open, spray the inside with compressed air until the dust stops flying.
http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4608492_dust-affect-computer.html
Laptops are more problematic as it's not nearly as easy to get into the case. Make sure you unplug your laptop and remove the battery first. If your system has a removable bottom take that off, otherwise just blow compressed air through all the vents. You can damage the fan by forcing it to spin too fast, so hold the blades in place temporarily with a paper clip or toothpick to stop the fan from spinning while you are blowing the dust out. Your computer will thank you!
http://www.laptoptips.ca/general/heat-and-dust/
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Problems you might not know you have - how old is your . . .
I'm always surprised by how many older wireless routers I see in my travels. Even though it appears to be sitting there doing nothing but blinking at you, your router is taking constant hits from electrical surges, is full of dust, and can corrode internally due to humidity. If you find your wireless network connection has become unreliable, look into a new router - my personal experience is that I have to replace my router every 2-3 years.
How to buy a wireless router
On a similar note, how old is your surge suppressor? Do you know if it's still providing protection? Just think about how many hits it's taken over the years - if you can't recall when you bought it it's definitely time to replace it! How often should you replace a surge supressor |
College student complaining?
May is the month a lot of college students return home from school, and from my experience a lot of them return with "slow computer syndrome". I've even seen some convince their parents that only a brand new computer will fix the problem! Before you reach that point try some of the easy fixes in this article, or you can always drop that computer off with me and I'll see if it can be returned to its former glory.
http://blog.contactpointe.com/2011/04/4-reasons-for-slow-computer-syndrome/
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Check your system for Trojan DNS Changer
I cleaned this virus off of a lot of systems in its day - the main symptom was internet redirects, i.e. you typed in one internet address and your browser went somewhere completely different, generally a web page advertising Viagra or some other sort of male enhancement! The FBI actually tracked down the culprits and neutralized the threat, but millions of computers worldwide were infected so they have been maintaining a server farm to keep the infected systems working on the internet. That server farm is scheduled to shut down on July 9th, effectively turning off the internet for infected systems. You can check your system for infection by following this link:
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You Mac users need to consider antivirus solutions
There have been several articles recently about the increasing incidence of Mac viruses. Most of the people I see with Macs are using no antivirus at all. If you are a Comcast customer you can get a free version of Norton Internet Security for the Mac - if not you might want to investigate the pay alternatives. I personally use the Comcast Norton, but I'll do some investigating for you, so look for some Mac Antivirus reviews on my Facebook page and in this newsletter in the coming months.
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