How Well Do You Know Your Computer?

If you are on your computer several hours a day, for most days, you should know your computer reasonably well. To the extent that if it started doing something strange or out of the ordinary you would notice it. This helps to protect your system – don’t trust that all those programs you have installed such as virus protection, spyware protection, firewalls, etc are infallible – things could still get through before updates are processed on your computer to combat new things being launched every day.

Don’t assume you were imagining things and take the time to notice – it could save you a lot of time, effort and money.

What kind of things you ask? Well, these for example:

1. A small window pops up and then suddenly drops down or disappears again and you thought you were seeing things. Minimise all the screens you have open and check to see if something else is running in the background – or Ctrl+Del should bring up the task list so you can see if something else is running that shouldn’t be. If that is the case see if you can stop it running but probably best to disable your internet connection right away before doing anything else.
2. Spam email comes in with topics similar to email you’ve just sent out – or items you’re typing at the time. I recently had this happen to me and am still researching this one.
3. Things aren’t working as they should be but you can’t put your finger on it.
4. Your internet connection keeps disconnecting every few minutes. You’ve checked your modem, cables, your ISP says everything is ok, but it still keeps happening. Chances are you have a program installed that is trying to dial out to connect to a number that will charge to your phone bill.

There may be all sorts of other things but those listed above should alert you to some things. Do some research on the web if you can’t find the cause to see if anyone has posted a solution anywhere. If the software you have installed hasn’t protected you, then you might need to run an external program (online) to help scan your entire computer. Trend Micro has such a program and because it’s not on your computer it won’t be affected by whatever could be on your computer. There’s a link for it bottom right menu at acswebservices.

If you still can’t get to the bottom of the problem and am concerned, then perhaps it’s time to call in a technician and get them to sort it out for you. Your computer, and the data on it, is your business, and your income, so it’s worth doing all you can to be observant and protective of it. KMT

virus protection, spyware, Trend Micro