Click for

Presentation Materials:

Computer Practices (ppt) (mht)

Computer and Technology
Group Meeting Highlights
February 16, 2006
by Jack Bevis (Branch 116), CTG Secretary/Web Correspondent 

               "Recommended Computer Practices"

            By Dean Steichen

Dean Steichen's (Branch 8) presentation covered a wide area of procedures that will improve and enhance your computing experience.  He started with advising the first very important thing to do is gather up all your computer documentation, software documentation and software CDs;  then place this material in a labeled container and keep it where you can find it!

Dean then covered Computer Protection such as password administration, firewalls, registry cleaners, use of routers, etc.  He then highly recommended  Getting Organized: partition your hard disk, consider using a second hard disk and/or external disk, use folders, etc.

Keeping you system Up to Date with the latest updates for Windows, Anti-virus problems, etc. is another piece of good practices as well as advising if you've Got Problems, he recommended using TUT (The Ultimate Troubleshooter) and regularly running Ad-Aware & Spybot programs.  He presented a list of computer “tune-up” routines which should be done on a regularly scheduled basis.

If you've Got E-mail, Dean presented some security and administrative recommendations such as never open attachments unless they have scanned, never run unsolicited executables, use folders to organize your e-mails, etc.

Backup:  backup all critical and important files regularly.

Other Suggestions:  Use a screensaver with a password, use “save as “ to save files in you folder of choice, consider saving Word documents in “rtf” format. 

As for Help links: See Dean's PowerPoint presentation noted above for a list of  help links.

Q and A Session by Dick Curry

Q: Can you Copy and Paste in a PDF file?
A:  Yes, but you can’t use Microsoft Clip Board.
      Dick then demonstrated using the right hand click feature of the mouse. 

Q: Bought a new thumb drive.  There were no setup instructions.  How do I set it up?
A: Put in the USB port, open Windows Explorer or My Computer.  It will show as a new device. 
     Dick demonstrated using My Computer. 

Q:  There was comment about having Internet access problems which was solved by purchasing a new router.
A:  Dick commented that computer equipment will eventually fail.  He also said routers will not protect you from outbound messages only inbound attacks. 

Q: Question regarding Astound computer users experiencing increased spam.
A: Frank Crua reported Astound has no spam filters.  He solved the spam problem by changing ISP for e-mail. 

Q: Comcast offers McAFee anti-virus.  Is it any good?
A: Dick recommended checking with PC Magazine reviews for anti-virus and anti-spam programs. 

Q: Getting e-mails with variable names.  Why?
A:  Dick said this is usually done by malware.  Uses your address book to send out multiple e-mails. 

Dean Steichen mentioned if you have the e-mail preview function activated, e-mails are automatically opened.  This could be a security threat.

Return to Home Page                                                                             Return to 2006 Presentations