Computer Repair Specialists

It’s easy to become busy these days and forget about the simple things that have the potential of leaving us vulnerable to our own devices later down the track. Before we talk about how to prevent a virus I would like to cover what a virus is and the various different types of viruses. Defining a Computer Virus. A virus is a piece of software that is installed onto your computer directly or from another piece of software’s installation. A virus usually can manipulate your computer into doing illegal and potentially harmful things for the benefit of the person who infected you. Usually a Computer Virus is spread by mass emails, infected illegal downloads or even from some websites. A lot of the times the virus will be disguised as something funny or legitimate that the user can’t help but click on leading them to infect their machine. Usually once a user has been infected with a virus they require the services of Auckland Virus Removal expert to clean and reinstall the devices operating system. Trojan Horse. Trojan horses are typically found embedded inside a legitimate piece of software like a trial installation of software, a ringtone for your cell phone, or perhaps even a “free download” you have found on the internet. Once installed the Trojan horse gives the hacker access to your computer to perform illegal and harmful actives. Worm. A worm is typically a piece of computer code that spread within your computer from email attachment, greeting cards or other methods as mentioned above. Once inside the computer the worm scans for things like address books and credit card details. Generally, a worm is not as harmful to the computer as a Trojan horse. However, the risk is still great as your data is under the eyes of the hacker and generally you will notice the performance of your machine slow right down. Spyware. Whilst not overly harmful to your computer this one is still a very nasty thing to have on your machine as it can collect your personal information and habits and send them back to the hacker. Occasionally you will see your browser redirect to spam websites and other advertising. Generally, most people know they have spyware installed Rogue Security Software. This is one of the most common ones that we frequently see people paying big bucks to find out exactly what happened. Majority of the time people will be on the internet browsing and will see a message that they have become infected with a virus and need to download a scanner to fix it right away. Problem is that scanner is a malicious piece of software that can appear as a security application whilst bringing your beloved device to its knees. It’s very important to have an anti-virus software installed so you don’t need to ever even be tempted to click on these adverts. Virus Prevention. Believe it or not Microsoft actually supply an out of the box anti-virus tool free to use for all Windows customers. However, we find that the protection it proved is not quite as good as it could be. Our recommendation for all home and business users is ESET Security. This provides multi-layer support for both your files and your browser. Keeping Safe. Once you have your chosen anti-virus system its incredibly important that not only keep it up to date but that you perform regular scans. Whilst most applications have real time monitoring as pick up on things straight away its good for peace of mind knowing that every Sunday or whichever day you pick your computer will give your that glorious message that there have been no infected items found.

As we move into a digital world we rely more and more on things such as computers, laptops and other devices to store our precious content. Content can come in the form of many different things, such as family photos, business projects, university papers, accounting documents & so on. I would like to talk today about the importance of backing up your data and how to avoid costly exercises such as having Data Recovery services performed. The tools and tips mentioned in this article require just some basic computer knowledge and a “can do” attitude. Avoiding Expensive Data Recovery. In the unfortunate event your Computer or Laptop crashes suddenly and all of your data is lost not only is there no uncertain guarantees that you will get it back but there is also likely to be a rather high price tag attached. Data Recovery is a very technical process which involves trying to extract any data from the damaged device. This is generally only performed by trained professionals as to not compromise the data further. By setting up a schedule to make regular backups you can avoid the potential of being in this situation. Loss of Important Time and Money. For those who work in a business environment will know that time is money. If you find yourself in the situation where you have not backed up your data and need to have technical data recovery serviced performed this could potentially set you back a matter of days or weeks. By following one of the below techniques should you ever find yourself in a situation where you need to quickly access another copy of your data you will be able to get back up and running in no time. Make Regular Copies. The easiest way for you to back up that precious content and data is to purchase an external hard drive and regularly copy your most recent data across on a regular basis. Ideally you want to be performing this on a regular basis so in the unfortunate event your computer crashes and your data is lost your most recent copy of your files is not too old. Syncing to the Cloud. Another common option among users who backup their data is using a cloud sync system. What this is does is makes an exact copy of your data and places it in the internet for safe keeping. Whilst this is slightly more technical than performing a simply copy and paste to your external hard drive the security and level of protection is much greater. There are a range of providers that can be easily found on google that provide easy to use and affordable cloud storage for this exact purpose. Some of the more common providers are Google Drive, Mediafire, Dropbox & One drive just to name a few. Software Backup Solutions. The last option I am going to mention today is much more technical than the first too but can really save you a lot of time and money further down the track. Software Backup Solution is a tool that is installed onto your computer and takes an exact copy of your operating system, files, application preferences and everything else you have configured. In the unlucky event that you find that your operating system has crashed or your hard drive has become faulty this backup will allow you to restore your system back to its original state once the required computer repairs have been performed. This is similar to the first option and will require an external hard drive or some other sort of removal storage so you can securely store the backup. Set Yourself Regular Reminders. Its very easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of daily life and forget to perform the above tasks. The benefits of both the cloud and software-based solutions is that they can be scheduled to run automatically. If you are opting to go with the first method and want to just copy and paste your newest and greatest files and content then perhaps set yourself a week or fortnightly reminder to perform your backup task.