Tips and Tricks

This page contains tips on how to better use your computer or avoid common problems. If you have a specic question on how to do something, please send an email request to tips@citscentral.com

I will from time to time add new tips on how to get the most out of your computer, so come back from time to time to see what's new.

Tip #1

To avoid "most" virus infections, install a virus checking program such as Symantec Anti-Virus and keep the virus definitions up to date. Most anti-virus software has an automatic scheduler that you can configure to download up-dated signatures on a scheduled basis. Just make sure that you schedule it for a time when your computer is turned on.

Email has become one of the most common ways that people communicate in today's world. It also is the most common way that viruses are delivered.

So what is the "explicit action" required to activate a virus that arrives in an email attachment? It's as simple as clicking on the attachment. Depending on your email program, this will either save the file to your hard disk or activate the virus immediately. It really is that simple... don't click on an attachment and you will never get a computer virus.

If you get an email with an attachment from a friend, don't assume it's harmless! Many viruses spread by automatically sending themselves to the addresses found in the victim's address book, and they often include something in the message body that looks like a personal message from your friend.

Unless you are very computer savvy, and you can tell for sure from the name of the attached file that it's not a virus, then get in touch with your friend and ask if they meant to send you an attachment. If they say no, then obviously you should delete the message and let them know THEY are probably infected with a virus. If they say yes, AND they can explain what it is (photos of the family picnic, etc.) it should be safe to open the attachment.

As a matter of rule, never open any email up that has attachments with the extensions:
  exe
  pif
  com
  bat
  vbs
  scr
This is not a fool-proof way to prevent it, since Windows by default hides some file extensions. Virus programmers take advantage of this by naming a file with 2 consecutive extensions. (i.e - picture.jpg.scr) Windows shows this file as picture.jpg. To force Windows to display the entire filename, open Windows Explorer, click on View / Folder Options / View, then UNcheck the "Hide file extensions for known file types" option. Better yet, hire a qualified IT expert to come and analyse the weaknesses in your company's systems and to "harden" the defenses of the entire network.

To sum this all up, you can't get a virus just by reading your email. A virus cannot attack without your help. Never open an attachment unless you're sure it was sent on purpose, and the sender can explain what it is.

Tip #2

Make sure that the date and time are set correctly, you have the correct time zone selected and that automatic updating with daylight savings is enabled if necessary on all of your workstations and servers. You wouldn't believe the havoc that can be caused with some programs by having the date an/or time wrong. Even something as simple as trying to find a certain version of a document based on the time and date that it was last modified becomes impossible. Time does matter!