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Shortcuts on your computer are just like shortcuts in everyday life, the aim being to provide a faster way to get to where you are going, accomplish a task quicker etc. Each day on your computer you use shortcuts and probably don’t even realise it, there are shortcuts you use with your mouse and shortcuts you use with your keyboard, shortcuts that are standard and those you can create. When you click on your Start button you are presented with shortcuts to folders such as My Documents and programs through the All Programs menu. This saves you the hassle of navigating your computer’s file system to find the file or program you want to use. On your computer’s main screen, which is called the “Desktop”, you have several (generally many) shortcuts. On your Desktop have a look at the icon’s which have a small arrow on the bottom left hand corner, these are not the real file or program that you want to access, but instead a shortcut to the file or program. To illustrate this, find an icon on your Desktop which
has an arrow on the bottom right corner. With your right mouse button
click it once, a selection menu will appear. Now with your left mouse
button click on the word Properties, a new window will open titled “Shortcut
to ……….”. If you have a look you will see the
entry “Target” highlighted in blue, this is where the file
or program actually resides. If you now click once with your left mouse
button on the Cancel button the window will close. Keyboard shortcuts are generally presented in the following
manner It is quite understandable that if you are not accustomed to this representation, you might just press them one at a time or wonder how on earth you will manage to hold all these keys down at once. The simple answer is you don’t. What this means is that you press and hold the Ctrl key, whilst you are holding down this key you also press and hold the Alt key, whilst holding both keys down you then tap the Tab key and then you can release all keys. See image below for example.
Another common shortcut is Ctrl +P where you merely hold down the Ctrl key whilst you then tap the letter P then release. Yes, it sounds complicated at first but once you nimble up your fingers you will find that it becomes second nature. This too is why we feel it is best to learn one shortcut at a time and practice it otherwise you will generally find that you give up on the whole shortcut thing because it becomes too confusing. Here's a few common shortcuts to get you started. You will find that most of these will work in virtually any Windows based program; CTRL-X - Cut Top^ If you are reading this, Malware may have already been introduced to you, although you may not have been properly introduced to Malware. This is Malware: Malware generally includes Spyware, Trojans, Adware, rootkits, dialers, Keyloggers, denial of service attacks, botnets, Crimeware, Badware, viruses worms and any other types of unwanted or potentially unwanted software. However, in the strictest sense, the term "Malware" expresses its purpose rather than any particular characteristic. Unlike Spyware, a type of Malware that is written and installed strictly for financial gain or espionage, Malware can be written for any malicious purpose. In addition to financial gain or espionage, the creator of Malware may be motivated by revenge, anger, notoriety. Or, the creator might only care to see how widespread the infection could become, with little concern about the damage it could cause. Malware is NOT: This is what Malware does: Changes system settings. For example, Malware can "hijack" your browser, redirecting your Web searches to a disreputable search engine that delivers unwanted, sometimes offensive search results. It can change your homepage settings, and even make surfing impossible. Installs keystroke loggers. Malware can install programs that monitor and record every key stroke you type. Keystroke loggers are a grave threat to both your privacy and your security. They can monitor your e-mail and chat, capture account numbers, user names, passwords, Social Security numbers and other identifiers that you type when making purchases or doing banking Collects and reports user's personal information to the developer of the software or to one or more unauthorized third parties. Once Malware has captured your personal information, it relays this information back to its creators, who use it for fraud, identity theft or other illegal purposes. Uses computer processing capacity without permission. If your computer processing has suddenly slowed to a crawl, you are probably infected with Malware. At the very least, Malware runs as a background application, as soon as you boot up. Unlike the makers of legitimate software, the makers of Malware do not care how inefficient their programs are with your resources. They tend to hog your computer's RAM and processing power. Sometimes, buried in the End User License Agreement, that agreement you agreed to when you installed some application, is a clause authorizing the software makers to use your computer without your permission, even to turn your computer into a "bot" that launches additional Malware! Delivers spam or ads without user's notice and
consent. If Malware is monitoring your surfing habits, it can
deliver ads that seem relevant to your search. For example, you could
be searching the Web for mortgage rates when a pop-up ad for a bank
or realtor is displayed on your screen. Ads relevant to your searching
are much more effective than random ads. Although the ad itself may
be merely a nuisance, it has been delivered at that time because your
search was being monitored, and you should be concerned for your privacy. How you become infected with Malware: Malware is often transmitted by downloading freeware and shareware or swapping files. Music files, free toolbars, pictures, screen savers and other "cool" applications can infect you with Malware. Malware is also delivered via spam, when you open a malicious message or attachment. Phishing sites often download Malware onto unsuspecting users who believe they are replying to requests for information by their banks, credit unions or merchants with whom they do business. Follow the information below to prevent being infected by Malware: Do not click on pop-up advertisements. Do not open e-mails from unfamiliar or questionable sources. Do not respond to online requests for personal information, such as Social Security number, passwords, usernames or any other identifiers that could be used for fraudulent activities. Download only those software programs that come from reputable sources. Never have an internet connection w/o the presence
of an ACTIVE Firewall and Anti-Virus Use Firefox or Opera or any browser other than
Internet Explorer 6 or below if possible Don’t have your browser remember any passwords
Never input private information (Real
name, address, credit card info) into a site where there is no security
lock present. Never give out your usernames and/or passwords
to anyone. Try not to use the same username and passwords
for every login you have Never download anything that you haven’t
researched first When downloading and installing programs, don’t
just install everything it tells you to in the installation. Always clear your Browsing History when finished
surfing the web. It seems a lot to take care of, but what would you prefer, to spend a few minutes being prudent or spend $$$ fixing the damage?
and stop stressing over lost emails and lost time.
*FREE trial not available for POP3 email accounts Top^ What does backing up mean to you? Does it mean saving some files onto a flash drive? Does it mean saving files to another partition or hard drive in your computer? Or what about burning files to CDs or DVDs? Well, if you're using any of those methods
above then congratulations! At least you have given some thought to
saving your data, unlike most people. But what would you say if I was
to tell you that those methods above are far from secure and can be
just as much at risk of losing your precious data as if you didn't even
bother. Let me explain; For starters, Flash Drives, good for moving data around from one PC to another, bad for backup. Flash drives are prone to data corruption and can be easily destroyed. What if you step on it, run over it with your chair, put it through the wash, or just simply lose it? Don't laugh, this happens all the time. Flash drives are only intended for temporary storage. Would you leave photos on your memory card inside you camera? I hope not. And that's not even to think of the security implications of your data.
As for CDs and DVDs, have you ever heard of "disk rot"? It's a very common problem, especially with cheap disks. Cds and DVDs are certainly not as infallable as you might think. Although this is still better than the above two options, how often do you save your precious data? There's a multitude of technical reasons why any of the above solutions don't provide the best answer, things such as software bugs, poor software design, memory errors, resource conflicts, power loss, faulty power supplies, file system corruption, viruses, malware, the list goes on... I don't think anyone ever said computers aren't fickle? Don't you think it would be wise to look at more secure alternatives? What Choices do I have? There are several, and depending on your budget, and how important your data is there is a solution for you. But let's first look at why you don't backup... "I'm too busy to backup
my computer" "I don't know how to backup
data" "My computer won't crash"
So what Can I do then? Most backup solutions will also have a software component and this is every bit as important as the method you use to backup. As we mentioned above there are many solutions, let's start with the simplest and most economical. An external storage
device Network-Attached Storage Essentially it's a similar device as the external hard drive (above), but has many more benefits by being able to be a separate network device. The main benefit of this is to allow access to a multiple of users across a network and with its Web base GUI , users can easily handle their personal storage server from anywhere remotely. As in the external hard drive it gives you extra storage, but a NAS can also act as a file server, providing many more benefits than just as a simple backup device. And much cheaper, environmentally friendly and more cost effective than having to use a separate PC as a file server. NAS devices can be found in a multitide of configurations, from simple networkable external hard drives to more complex units, comprising of all major components of a typical PC and with RAID capability. Windows Home
Server Back up and restore files and PCs - Windows Home Server completes an image-based back up of every computer every day, so you can restore a single file or an entire PC. Keep your files safe with automatic backup, system restore, and enhanced data protection. Back up and restore step by step. Access your data anywhere - You can now access the home network-at home, in the office, or even on the road. you can easily and more securely access your files and personal computers from inside and outside of your home. Using a personalized website address you can download and upload files to the shared folders on your home server. You can connect remotely to the computers in your home and access all your files, even run applications, just as if you were sitting in front of your home computer. Small Business Server Customer data can be updated by anyone on a computer linked to your company’s server, and when they access it, they can be sure it’s up to date. Your team can update and share Word documents, PowerPoint presentations, or Excel spreadsheets in the same way using a server. No matter where you are physically or even remotely, your computer can communicate not only with the “home office”, but with individual employees through your server. Almost every startup business uses computers. And as your new business grows, adding laptops, PDAs and other communication or data devices is almost inevitable. Before you know it, you may reach a point where your computing infrastructure seems disorganised. If your data coordination amongst you and your employess is becoming a nightmare to keep track of everything and you wish you had access to particular files or your emails when your not in the office, then maybe it's time for a server. And what about backing up? The benefit of a server when it comes to backing up from all your users on a network is invaluable. Can you imagine the turmoil from the occasional disastrous loss of data that hasn’t been backed up and the frustrations of everyone on your team in trying to recover the important data? With a server in place, setting up a backup policy will make life so much easier. You may also want only certain users to access certain data, the security features of a server make this possible. The same goes with emails, only the holder of the email account can view their emails. Although a specific administrator can be setup to have access to everything. The nature of a server is security, precisely the reason for backing up. With storing and sharing data and emails from one convenient location for all our users, backups could never be easier. Offsite Backup Today, most organisations are clear about the need to protect their most important asset - their data. Human error, a PC crash, a virus, malicious actions, flood, fire, theft or loss of a laptop - can all too easily put this data and therefore the business at risk. An offsite backup is a secure, simple and affordable alternative to a traditional tape backup and also hard drives. You may have heard of "Tape backup", if you're old enough or still use the outmoded technology. They may still be effective, but they need upfront investment, ongoing maintenance and internal staff to maintain and operate them. The word 'hassle' best describes tape backups - especially during a crisis when key data is to be recovered without delay and not to mention SLOW. Hard drive backup still requires a certain amount of an upfront investment, but they don't need internal staff to operate them and they don't need maintenance (not referring to system maintenance). They are cheaper than using tape and are much, much faster to recover your data, if used effectively. Offsite backup is a modern yet proven solution. Offsite backup can be cheaper and more cost effective and certainly more secure. There are a number of options available with offsite backup, we have several we have on offer and one that suits your needs. If you have a server your chosen data can be backed up automatically and effortlessly in the background. We also have an option available for those of you who don't use a server or just one single PC or laptop. You will need a good reliable inetrnet connection for offsite backup. Depending on how much data you have that you wish to store offsite a relatively high speed net connection, i.e. 256Kbps+ (uploads) would be recommended. If you only have a small amount of data you wish to backup offsite then anything from a 64kbps (uploads) will suffice. If you don't know what connection speed you have a simple phone call to your Internet Service Provider will be able to tell you. In the event that you do need to recover any lost data our Australian Data Storage provider can supply you this information on disk. Other offsite backup facilities are stored on secure US servers. What Software? You can use the default Windows option for backing up, which is fine and has the advantage of requiring almost no interaction or computer knowledge. But this comes at the expense of performance, memory, disk space, and customization. it is also slower to backup and restore than many third party programs. And more importantly, if you've upgraded to Vista from XP how easy do you think it wll be to restore your data from XP to Vista? You can guess what my answer to that is can't you? Windows Vista's Backup and Restore tools are completely different from the Backup program that came with Windows XP and so the backup files are incompatible. It's not impossible though, Microsoft knows this (well, you would think they should) and have provided a utility called the Windows NT Backup, you can download and install it, brilliant! But, and I can hear you groaning now, more technical stuff you need to get stressed over, and as if you're time, and patience, isn't limited already. Third Party Software: To gain the most benefit from backing
up we recommend a third party program, specifically Acronis
True Image, there are several reasons for this; We have used it for
many years now and have found it to be reliable, user friendly and very
functional and plus Acronis is a recognised industry leader.
With this software it can take a snapshot of your entire hard drive
giving you the ability to restore your entire computer in a matter of
minutes. You can also setup incremental and differential backups, that
is, if you make a small change to your files, Acronis will make that
corresponding change in the backup without having to do a complete image
again. This is by far the most efficient and beneficial option and is compatible with Windows XP or Vista. Still Confused? "But I still don't know what's best for me", I hear you say, that's OK, that is precisely what we are here for. We can analyse your needs and your requirements and give you professional advice on what will best fit your budget and backup requirements.
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or 
Saving
to another partition or Hard drive in the same computer; Ever
heard of those pesky things called electrical storms? Or even power
surges or spikes? Or dread to think, theft or even damage due to disaster.
If you have everything stored in the one PC on a separate partition,
it might be OK if the operating system crashes, but what if the hard
drive fails. On a separate hard drive is better, but not if the computer
cops damage. 
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