If you have Windows XP, take a moment to see which service pack you have.

Find “My Computer” on your desktop. If you can’t find it there, click on start and find it on the start menu. Once you find “My Computer”, right-click on it and choose properties.

The window that comes up will tell you what version of windows you have and will say what the latest service pack that is installed on your computer.

If it says Service Pack 3, you’re good to go. If it says Service Pack 2, then we highly recommend that you upgrade to Service Pack 3 as soon as possible. Why, you ask? Well, for security reasons, of course. Microsoft has ended support for Service Pack 2, so if you have Service Pack 2, you won’t be receiving any more security updates until you install Service Pack 3.

To upgrade, click on “Start” and then click on “All Programs” and then click on “Windows Update”. Once Windows update comes up, click on the express button. If you are a little behind on updates, you might have to do this several times and you will probably have to reboot between updates. But keep updating until there are no more high priority updates. Service Pack 3 will be one of those high priority updates.

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Microsoft released Windows XP in October of 2001. 6 years later, Vista was released in January of 2007. And due to problems with Vista and a bad reputation, two and a half years later, Windows 7 was released in July of 2009.

As of June 2010, Windows is the operating system for about 91% of computers. Mac OS runs about 6% of computers and Linux about 1%.

56% of computers run Windows XP, 18% run Vista, and 16% run Windows 7. Windows XP is by far the dominant operating system. This is primarily because XP was around for 6 years before Microsoft released the next version of Windows (Vista). Vista had a lot of problems when it was first released which caused a lot of people to go back to XP. Windows 7 has done much better than Vista and should do a good job of replacing XP.

Even though Windows 7 has been out less than a year, it has almost caught up to the number of computers with Vista on them, and Vista has been out three and a half years! That says something right there.

“That’s interesting.”, you say, “But why are you telling me this?” I’m telling you because Windows XP has a limited life. Microsoft will stop releasing security updates for Windows XP on August 4, 2014. And that’s important because your security software can’t protect your computer on its own. You need those security updates to help keep your computer from becoming infected.

This message is primarily aimed at Businesses who have a lot of computers and need to plan ahead for replacing them. Four years may seem like a long way away, but it will be here before you know it. That means that in the next 4 years, 56% of computers will need to be upgraded or replaced.

Can you upgrade your XP systems to Windows 7? You can, but we don’t recommend it. Most systems with XP just don’t have the hardware to run Windows 7 well. It will run, but it will be slow. Why upgrade if it’s going to be slower? A few XP systems may be OK with Windows 7, but most will need to be replaced.

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You may be wondering what the difference is between consumer and enterprise security software. There is a big difference. The difference comes in how the software is installed, maintained, and monitored.

Enterprise Security software is targeted towards business and it makes it easy for one person to install, maintain, and monitor security software on many PC’s. In addition, enterprise security software is cheaper, per PC, than it would be to purchase a consumer license for each PC.

Let’s look at an example of the cost using Vipre Enterprise versus the consumer version of Vipre. Let’s say you have a small company with 10 PC’s. To purchase 10 individual licenses of the consumer version of Vipre for 1 year would be about $300. If you purchased a 10 seat license of Vipre Enterprise, it would cost $167.50. That’s about half the cost. In addition, the Enterprise version gives you a central place to install, monitor, and maintain Vipre on all of the PC’s. You don’t have to physically go to each PC to maintain it.

Now that you hopefully see the value in the Enterprise version of security software over consumer versions, you are probably expecting a list of Enterprise security software. But we aren’t going to do that. Of our recommended security software, only one offers an Enterprise version. Vipre. If you own or work at a business that has 5 or more PC’s, we recommend  that you switch to Vipre Enterprise as soon as possible. The security of the computers that run your business is nothing to fool around with. Do yourself, your business, and your employees a favor and switch to Vipre Enterprise as soon as possible.

We can assist you in the installation of Vipre Enterprise. If you don’t have  a server, we can even add  your computers to our Vipre Enterprise and we can also monitor and maintain the security of your system so you don’t have to worry about it.

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You may have seen Facebook in the news a lot recently. There was the announcement that Facebook hit 500 million users. That’s cool, but having that many users makes Facebook a target for scammers.

There have also been a lot of announcements lately about scams and security risks on Facebook. The most recent one is an app that will let you see who viewed your profile so that you can see who’s stalking you. At some point in the process of getting this app, they will ask you to agree to a $19.99 monthly charge to your cell phone bill.

This is why it is so important not to just blindly click next or OK on every window. You could agree to something like this. And trying to get this type of monthly charge removed from your bill can be difficult. I know from personal experience. A couple of years ago a $20 per month charge started showing up on our cell phone bill. We tracked it down to my daughters cell phone, but didn’t know what it was for. We called the cell phone provider. The surprising thing is that they could not tell us what it was for or even the name of the company that was making the charge. I thought that was ridiculous.

After a lot of investigation, we discovered that our daughter had  accidentally signed up for a weekly horoscope that would be delivered to her cell phone via text message. She didn’t realize there would be a $4.99 fee each week for this which added up to around $20 a month.

By the way, the Facebook scam I talked about earlier has already conned 150,000 facebook users out of $19.99 a month. That’s a lot of money.

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This is a roundup of security software packages. For the purposes of this article, we are focusing on consumer versions targeted at residential customers and small businesses that do not have a server.

After reading this article, see what security software you have and where it falls on the list. You may also want to forward this to your friends and family so they can see where their security software falls on the list.

We evaluated based on our own tests, personal experience, and reviews by other credible sources. The criteria used to evaluate these products includes:

1. Automation. We want to set it and forget it. It should automatically update, automatically scan, and automatically clean.

2. Configuration. Can we configure it the way we want to?

3. User interface. Does it make sense or is it confusing?

4. How well it prevent infections

5. How well it removes infections

6. Annoyance factor. We don’t want any pop-up ads. We don’t want it to constantly talk to us or ask us a lot of questions. Does it cause problems on our computer?

7. Performance. Does it slow down our computer?

8. Price. Is the price reasonable?

No security software gets a perfect score because none of them can completely protect your computer. Thousands of new infections come out every day. They just can’t keep up. But the better the protection, the less likely your computer is to become infected. But you don’t want to go too far and make it harder to use your computer. Computer security is a balancing act.

When you purchase security software, they usually come in different editions. You can generally get a full security suite or just the more basic components. Most people don’t need the full security suite. It adds a lot of features you don’t need and slows your computer down even more. We generally prefer the more basic packages with a few free utilities added in for extra protection.

We have organized this list of Security software into 3 categories. Not recommended, Neutral, and Recommended. In addition to these three categories of software, we are also including a section of free security add-ons that you will want to check out to help keep your computer safe from infections.

So without further Ado, here is the list!

Not Recommended

We don’t recommend using these products. If you have one of these products on your computer, we urge you switch to one of our recommended products as soon as possible.

• Avast
  There is a free version of Avast that just includes basic protection. There is the paid version for $40and then there is the Internet Security suite for $60. We don’t recommend any of them, especially the free version. None of them provide very good protection and can cause problems with your computer. In addition, it slows down your computer more than our recommended products.

• Avira Antivir (Free Edition)
  It’s free. In the past, Avira has been pretty good, but they haven’t kept up with changes in the industry. It no longer offers good enough protection against viruses and spyware.

• Bit Defender
  Costs $50 but you can put it on up to 3 PC’s. Unfortunately, it slows your computer way down and only provides OK protection.

• CA Internet Security
  It costs $70, and you can put it on up to 3 PC’s, but that’s more expensive than a Vipre Home Site license which costs $50 and you can put Vipre Home Site on as many PC’s as you want. It doesn’t provide adequate protection against viruses and spyware. Slows computer down way too much.

• Comodo
  Comodo makes an antivirus, firewall, anti-malware, anti spam, and other security products that are all free. We like their firewall. The other components provide OK protection, but not good protection. The biggest problem with it is all of the advertisements. It will even install other products without asking you. A big no-no. It will even change your homepage. Way too intrusive.

• Kaspersky
  Basic protection for $60 or a full security suite at $80, it provides good protection, but has a crummy user interface, slows down your computer too much and is way too expensive.

• McAfee
  They have basic protection for $40, Internet Security for $70, or what they call Total Protection for $80. This is the second most popular security product, but it still has too many problems for us to recommend it. It provides OK protection, but the protection  you get isn’t worth all of the problems you have to deal with. It has a terrible user interface, isn’t very configurable, and slows your computer down, and is too expensive.

• Norton or Symantec (versions prior to 2010)
  Norton security products are the most popular ones thanks to their superb marketing department. Too bad their product isn’t superb. Although it provides pretty good protection, it slows your computer WAY down and will also cause all sorts of major problems on your computer. This only applies to versions prior to the 2010 version. The 2010 version is better, but still not recommended.

• Panda Internet Security
  Basic protection for $50. Internet security suite for $80. You can put it on up to 3 PC’s, but again it’s more expensive than a Vipre Home Site license. Provides good protection but too intrusive and annoying. Slow performance too.

• PC Tools Spyware Doctor
  The basic version only protects against spyware, but it is only $30 and can be used on up to 3 computers, which is a very good price. There is a version that adds virus protection for $40 and can also be put on up to 3 computers. Although it offers excellent protection against spyware, the virus protection just isn’t very good.  The biggest problem with it, however, is that it slows your computer way down.

• Trend Micro Internet Security
  Only comes in an internet security package that costs $50. Slows your computer way down. Too intrusive. Not very good protection.

• Spybot Search and Destroy
  There was a time when we recommended Spybot Search and Destroy, but times have changed. This product is not kept up with the times. It only provides mediocre protection with an antiquated user interface. We do not recommend the free version or the paid version.

• Ad-Aware
  The story for Ad-Aware is similar to Spybot Search and Destroy. There was a time when we recommended it, but not anymore. Although Ad-Aware’s user interface is much better than Spybot’s, like Spybot, it only provides mediocre protection. We do not recommend the free or pro version. 

Neutral Products

These products offer pretty good protection, but have some other issues like user interface problems or slowing your computer down. If you have one of these products, then you probably don’t need to switch right away. You might want to wait until it’s up for renewal and then switch to one of our recommended products.

• ESET
  ESET’s antivirus/antispyware product which is called NOD32 provides very good protection at $40. They also have a product called Smart Security which, in addition to NOD32, adds a firewall and anti-spam. It costs $60. ESET didn’t make our recommended list for two reasons. First, we simply don’t like the user interface. And second, this product tends to slow the computer down more than our recommended products. It provides good protection, though. If you don’t mind their user interface and your computer doesn’t seem slow, then keep it. Otherwise, we recommend replacing it with something else when it expires.

• Norton Internet Security 2010
  It costs $70, but can be installed on up to 3 PC’s. It’s the most popular security product, and has moved up from Not Recommended to Neutral  with their 2010 version thanks to their efforts to improve the product. In the past, Norton has severely slowed down computers and caused a lot of issues. They still have some work to do, though. In addition, we don’t like the user interface. It provides pretty good protection, though. If you have an older version of Norton, we recommend dumping it as soon as possible for a better product. If you have the 2010 product, replace it when it expires.

• AVG Free Edition
  Good basic protection. Some nagging about upgrading to paid version, but not much. If your computer gets only light use, this package might be OK. But if you surf to websites you aren’t familiar with or get a lot of spam, you may need better protection. When major revisions of AVG come out, the free version won’t automatically update to it. You will have to manually download and upgrade.

• Microsoft Security Essentials (free)
  Microsoft bombed with “Windows One Care” security product which was a terrible product in all respects. They discontinued that product and have now released a free security product called Security Essentials. Sounds very basic, doesn’t it? The jury is still out on this product as it is still very new.

Special note about free versions of security software
Free versions of security software usually suffer from one of two problems. The most common problem is that they just don’t have the funding to keep up. The second common problem is that free versions are stripped down version of the paid version. They just don’t have the features needed to provide adequate protection. That’s why free security software is not a good idea for most people.

The one caveat to this is Microsoft Security Essentials. Microsoft certainly has the funding to make Security Essentials good. It’s not a security suite, so it doesn’t have features like a firewall, anti-spam, and so forth, but it has the basic features that are needed. The biggest problem with it is that it’s so new, we just don’t know yet. Given Microsoft’s track record with Windows Defender and OneCare, it’s hard to be optimistic. However, we are optimistic at this time. But we can’t yet recommend it until more testing is done.
 

Recommended Products

Although not perfect, these products are the best available in our experience. These are the products we use on our systems and the products we recommend to all of our friends, family, and customers.

They are in order starting with our highest recommendation

• Vipre
  Vipre comes in two flavors. For $30 you get Vipre which protects against viruses, spyware, and rootkits. For $40, you can get Vipre Premium which adds a firewall and other protection. For $50 you can get a Vipre home site license which lets you put Vipre on as many PC’s in your home as you want. You aren’t limited to 3 like many products. The Home Site License for Vipre Premium is $60. Like anything, it’s not perfect, but it provides the best protection for the money and the best features. The only feature it doesn’t include is anti-spam. The makers of Vipre, Sunbelt Software, stand behind their product too. If your computer gets infected, you can call them and they will help you remove the infection at no charge.

  You can purchase Vipre or Vipre Premium from us or from sunbeltsoftware.com.

• AVG
  AVG comes in several different flavors. There’s AVG ($35), AVG plus Firewall ($50), and AVG Internet Security($55). AVG offers very good protection, but it’s a little more expensive than Vipre and a lot more expensive than SuperAntiSpyware and Malwarebytes. However, AVG’s Internet Security includes anti-spam protection which is not included with Vipre Premium. There is no equivalent to Vipre’s Home Site License, but you can purchase multiple computer licenses at a discount. For example, AVG Internet Security for 3 PC’s is $70.

  You can purchase AVG products from us or at avg.com.

• SuperAntiSpyware
  The interface isn’t as nice as other products. It’s not as polished and is lacking some minor features. But although it’s not fancy, it does an excellent job of protecting and cleaning. At $30, the price is nice. Even nicer is the lifetime subscription you can get for an additional $10. No more annual renewals! There is a free edition, but it doesn’t provide active protection and can only scan for and remove infections after the fact. So the free version should not be your primary protection, although it can help remove infections should your computer become infected.

  You can purchase SuperAntiSpyware from us or at superantispyware.com.

• Malwarebytes
  There’s a good chance you never heard of this one, but its good protection. They don’t offer a full Internet Security Suite, but for good basic protection, it’s very good. And at $25, it’s one of the cheapest ones out there. There is a free edition, but it doesn’t provide active protection and can only scan for and remove infections after the fact. So the free version should not be your primary protection, although it can help remove infections should your computer become infected.

  You can purchase Malwarebytes at malwarebytes.com. 

Free Add On Products

These are free products that you can add to your system that boost your security.

• Threatfire
  Threatfire is totally different from every other security product in this article. It does not use virus definitions. It tries to detect infections based on behavior. This product is not good enough protection on its own. Their website shows how running Threatfire in addition to your regular security software will make your PC more secure. Our testing has indicated that it may help, but may not be worth the performance hit you take. If you want the extra bit of protection and don’t mind a little degradation in performance, you might want to give it a try.

• Ad Blocking Software
  Some security software includes ad blocking functionality, but most don’t. None of our recommended security products include it. We recommend blocking ads because many infections get on computers through third party web banner advertisements. But never fear, you can get free ad blocking software for your browser. Another benefit to this add-on is that it will speed up your web surfing.

  For Internet Explorer, we recommend Simple Adblock which you can get at simple-adblock.com.

  For Mozilla Firefox, we recommend Adblock Plus which you can add from the Firefox add-ons window in Firefox.

  For Google Chrome recommend AdBlock by Gundlach which you can add from the extensions window in Chrome.

• Website Rating Software
  Website rating software will put an indicator next to each website in your search results to let you know if a website is generally safe. This will help keep you from accidentally going to an infected website that may attempt to infect your computer. One of our recommended products, AVG, includes this functionality, but most security software does not. But there is a very good product that we recommend that does this and it’s free. It’s called Web Of Trust (WOT). You can get it by going to mywot.com.
   

Computer security is a balancing act. Not enough security and your computer can easily become infected. Too much, and your computer can become slow and hardly usable.

The bottom line is that we recommend you use one of our recommended products and then add on ad blocking and website rating software. Alternatively, you may want to add on Threatfire if your system can handle the extra load.

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One of the great things about having a laptop is being able to connect to public wi-fi and get online when you are at the airport, the coffee shop, hotel, or many other places. But like many great things, using public wi-fi has risk.

When you are at home or work and you use wireless your wireless connect is (or at least, should be) encrypted. If you have any kind of wireless security in place, then the information flowing to and from  your laptop over the wireless connection is encrypted. However, when you use public wi-fi, this is not the case. That means that anyone with the right software can intercept your wireless signal and read the information flowing to and from your laptop.

Internet Explorer can transmit and receive information securely, but when it does this is up to the website you are on. Most websites use encryption when you are entering your login name and password or when you are entering sensitive information like credit card numbers and personal information. But pretty much all other cases are not secure. For example, if you use yahoo mail, when you enter your login information, that is secure, but once logged in, it’s not secure so someone could intercept that and read your email.

This is one webmail provider that does keep it secure while you are reading your email. That’s Google mail. So if you use Gmail, it’s encrypted the whole time. If you use an email client like Outlook, Outlook Express, Windows Mail, Windows Live Mail, Thunderbird, Incredimail, and so forth, those are not secure over public wi-fi.

Another risk of using public wi-fi is that someone might be able to directly connect to your laptop. Another risk, although low-tech, is that someone could be looking over your shoulder to see what you are doing.

Below are some safety tips for using public wi-fi.

• We recommend a good software firewall. If you have XP, the firewall built-in to XP isn’t good enough for public wi-fi. Get yourself a good firewall like Sunbelt Firewall. Vipre Premium includes Sunbelt Firewall. Some versions of AVG have a firewall. A good free firewall is Comodo Firewall, but installing it is tricky or you end up with a lot of software you don’t want. If you have Vista or Windows 7, that firewall is fine.

• Turn off peer to peer (also known as as-hoc) wireless connections. How you do this depends on what version of Windows you have, which wireless card you have, and which wireless utility you are using. There are too many different combinations for us to include instructions on doing this for all of them. If you want instructions for how to do this, let us know. We can remote into your computer and show you how to do it. 

• Turn off File and Printer Sharing.
  This will help prevent someone from snooping around on your hard drive. The instructions for doing this will vary depending on which version of Windows you have. If you want to know how to do this, reply to this email, let us know which version of Windows you have (XP, Vista, Windows 7) and ask for instructions and we will email them to you. 

• Many companies use VPN. VPN is a way to connect to a remote network. VPN connections are encrypted and secure. If your company provides  you with VPN access to their network, connect to it when you are using public wi-fi and that will secure your wireless.

  If your company doesn’t provide VPN, or you want the same protection for your personal laptop, then go to hotspotshield.com. This free service uses VPN to provide this type of security.

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When Windows boots up, depending on how it’s configured, it may show a list of users that you can login as. If you only have one user on your computer, you may prefer to skip that step and just have Windows automatically login to that user and go directly to your Windows desktop.

If you would like to set Windows up so that it automatically logs in, here’s how.

Click on start and then click on run.

If you have Vista or Windows 7 and the run option may not be on your start menu. If that’s the case then, do the following:

1. Right-click on the start menu and choose properties.

2. Click on the Customize button.

3. Find Run Command on the list and click in the square next to it to place a checkmark next to it.

4. Click ok and then click OK.

5. You should then be able to click on start and then run

Once you have clicked on Start and then Run, type: control userpasswords2
and then hit enter.

A window will pop up with a list of users. Click once on the user that you want it to automatically login as. At the top of the window, there is a square and next to that square it says “Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer”. Click in the square to remove the checkmark and then click OK.

A window will pop up asking you to enter the password for that user. If the user has no password, just click OK. If the user does have a password, enter it. You’ll need to enter it twice. Then click OK.

From then on, any time you turn on or reboot your computer, it will automatically log in and go to your Windows desktop.

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Laptops are a special breed of computer. They have a lot in common with desktops, but they are quite a bit different too. There are quite a few things all laptop owners should know in order to keep their laptop safe and in good working condition. The usual recommendations that we make for desktops apply to laptops. This includes things like having good, unexpired, up-to-date security software, applying all of the latest Windows updates, and keeping other programs up to date that can cause a security risk. But in addition to those types of things, there are additional recommendations that apply only to laptops.

So, without further ado, here are some tips and recommendations that we hope will help make your laptop experience a better one and will also extend the life of your laptop.

• First of all, don’t get a laptop unless you need one. Laptops cost more to purchase, their performance isn’t as good as comparably priced desktops, and laptops cost more to repair. They also don’t last as long primarily because they take more physical abuse than desktops.
  You should only purchase a laptop if you need portability.

• Keep it cool!
  One of a laptop’s biggest enemies is heat. The cooler you can keep it the longer it will last. To keep it cool, don’t set the laptop on soft surfaces (beds, carpet, overstuffed furniture, or your legs). Putting the laptop on a soft surface blocks vents and fans and makes your laptop hot. I know it seems silly to tell you not to put your laptop in your lap. But if you want your laptop to last, this is a good rule to follow. Get yourself a lapdesk or some other hard surface to put your laptop on. Then you can have it on your bed or in your lap. A lapdesk will also keep the laptop from burning your legs.

• Be careful how you pick it up and carry it.
  NEVER PICK YOUR LAPTOP UP BY THE SCREEN! The screens are the most fragile part of the laptop. They are easily broken. If the laptop is open, carry it with two hands, one on either side of the laptop, in front of you. If the laptop is closed, you can carry it under one arm for a short trip between rooms. For longer trips, put it in a laptop bag.

• AC plug/power jack
  A common problem we see with laptop is that the power jack inside the laptop breaks off the motherboard. When this happens, you can’t charge your battery or run off AC current, so it’s not long before your laptop won’t work at all. Repairing this problem is expensive. To avoid this problem, avoid allowing any side pressure on the plug. When you unplug it, pull it straight out. Don’t wiggle it side to side. Don’t transport the laptop with the ac plug plugged into the laptop.

• Clean the Screen
  If you want to clean the screen on your laptop, be careful. You can easily scratch it and ruin it. Don’t use a harsh cleaner like a glass cleaner. If it’s just dust on the screen, take a very soft cloth and fold it in a square. Then take one flat side and brush it back and forth across the screen gently to get the dust off. If you have more than just dust, we recommend purchasing a screen cleaning kit specifically designed for computer screens. They don’t cost very much.

• Battery
  In the early days of rechargeable batteries, you were told to occasionally let the battery run totally down before charging it. With today’s Lithium-ion batteries, that’s no longer the case. In fact, the opposite is true. Don’t let your battery run totally down. Plug your laptop in and run off AC whenever possible. When running on battery, keep a close eye on it and don’t let it run all the way down. 

• Beverages
  Keep beverages away from your laptop! Because of the design of laptops and because they are often used in places like kitchen tables, restaurants, coffee houses, and so forth, laptops are much more likely to have a beverage spilled on them. Spilling a beverage on a laptop can have devastating results and will most likely be an expensive repair. So keep your coffee as far away from your laptop as possible.

• Maintenance.
  Your average desktop is on all of the time. At night, it does all of the maintenance like windows updates, security software updates, scan for infections, defrag, and other maintenance activities. These types of activities keep the computer safe and in good running condition. But your average laptop only gets turned on when they are being used and then shut down. The result is that the laptop never gets maintained or it tries to do the maintenance when you are using which will slow it way down.

  That’s why we recommend that you leave your laptop on overnight at least once a week. Or, if you don’t want to do that, turn it on and manually perform all of the maintenance. If you leave it on overnight, make sure it’s plugged in and make sure it’s not set to go to sleep or hibernate when plugged in.

  The day before you leave on a trip where you will be taking your laptop with you, boot it up. Update everything. Do a scan with your security software and make sure everything is up to date and working.

• Power
  Many buildings, especially in certain countries, have crappy power. Best case would be to take a UPS with you and use that, but that’s not practical for air travel because of their size and weight. You could do that when you are travelling by car, but it’s still big and heavy. A small surge protector, however, isn’t too heavy and doesn’t take up too much space. Consider taking one with you and plugging your laptop into that instead of straight into the wall.

• Laptop Bag
  Anytime you transport your laptop, we recommend that it be in a good carry case that was designed for laptops. There was a time when laptop bags were pretty standard (and boring). Nowadays, there are lots of options. Backpacks and designer bags are common now. A bag that doesn’t look like a laptop bag is a plus as it is less likely to be stolen. But don’t purchase a bag strictly on how it looks. Make sure the bag has good firm padding all around the laptop and there is some sort of restraint like Velcro that keeps the laptop in the bag so it doesn’t fall out.

• Turn off peer-to-peer (ad-hoc) wireless connections.
  Normally when you make a wireless connection for internet access you are connecting to a wireless router or access point. But it is possible to connect two computers directly together using wireless. This is called a peer-to-peer or ad-hoc wireless connection. When in a public place, you don’t want others connecting directly to your laptop, so configure the wireless on your laptop so that it does not allow peer-to-peer or ad-hoc wireless connections.

• Using public Wi-Fi.
  This is a large subject all on its own. In fact, we are going to devote an article to this subject in an upcoming article. Until then, you should know that since public wi-fi connections are not encrypted, they are not safe. Anyone with the right software can intercept your wireless signal and read the information flowing to and from your laptop. So be careful what you say and do when in this situation. Make sure you have a good firewall. Keep an eye on your surroundings and make sure someone isn’t trying to see what you are doing. Do not access financial or other sensitive or identifying information. Make sure file and printer sharing is turned off.

• Password protecting your windows logon won’t stop someone who knows anything about computers from getting to your data if they get their hands on your laptop. If you really need to protect your data in case your laptop is stolen, encrypt your sensitive data using encryption software.

• Etch your driver’s license number on the bottom of the laptop, and somewhere under an access door as well so your laptop can be identified and returned to you if recovered.

• Consider laptop recovery software. Similar to LoJack for a car. If your laptop is stolen, it can help locate and recover your laptop. It’s not perfect, though. Professional experienced laptop thieves can get around it.

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