Computer
Ownership 101
There
are really only a few things that every computer
owner should know in order to have a happy and productive
relationship with his or her computer.
Your
essential responsibilities are:
- Maintain
good backups of your important files.
- Install
anti-virus software and keep it up to date.
- Protect
your computer from physical, thermal, and electrical
abuse.
- Use
passwords wisely.
Consider
these the four commandments of computer ownership.
The first is the most important, but also the most
demanding; if you adhere to it, you can survive
lapses with regard to the other commandments. Since
many people are not so religious about maintaining
backups, they need to pay closer attention to the
other commandments. Here is more detailed information:
1.
Maintain good backups of your important files. A
backup is an extra, up-to-date copy of your important
files stored in a place separate from your computer.
It protects you from hardware failure, computer
viruses, brain cramps, spilled Coke, theft, flood,
fire, and any other mishap that might befall your
computer and its contents. A good backup will save
you the agony of reconstructing hours or days of
work on a file lost to one of these minor catastrophes.
With a backup you can restore the file to your computer
(or another one, if yours is out of commission)
with little wasted effort. For additional information
about different backup strategies, check the WITS
Protecting your data page.
2.
Install anti-virus software and keep it up to date.
Viruses and worms are unwanted and often destructive
programs that arrive at your computer through a
variety of routes--in email or web downloads, through
file sharing or exchange of diskettes, and occasionally
even on the installation CD's of commercial software.
No computer should be without anti-virus software.
And for the software to be effective, you must ensure
that up-to-date information about new viruses is
installed at least weekly. Any good anti-virus software
provides a means for you to automate these weekly
or daily updates, so once you have the software
properly installed and configured, all you need
to do is pay the annual subscription charges usually
required to keep those updates coming. While you
are a student here, we will relieve you even of
that burden if you install the Symantec Anti-Virus
software that WITS provides. Visit our anti-virus
software download page to obtain this software.
.
3.
Protect your computer from physical, thermal, and
electrical abuse. Such protection is a combination
of common sense and a good electrical surge suppressor.
Don't
put your computer where something can fall on it,
run into it, or crush it. Carry your laptop in a
separate case, not crammed between heavy textbooks
in your backpack. If you are drinking while computing,
be sure your drink is in a closed container to prevent
or minimize spillage into your computer.
Don't
impede the air flow through your computer that is
needed to cool its components. That colorful fabric
on top of your monitor may be attractive but it
could also be making the monitor overheat and creating
a fire hazard. Those books standing right next to
your computer could be blocking the computer's air
vents. Apple's new PowerBooks may be in the laptop
computer category, but Apple recommends that they
only be positioned on hard surfaces so that air
can circulate under them (not, say, atop your lap).
Plug
your computer and other electronic devices into
a power strip with surge suppression that will protect
them from spikes in electrical power that can damage
delicate components. You may even want to use an
uninterruptible power supply (UPS), which will also
guard against unusually low voltage conditions,
including power outages. Check our Recommended
Items page for more information about surge
protectors.
4.
Use passwords wisely. Protect access to your
computer with a password that's easy to remember
and hard to guess, then keep it to yourself. Check
the password page for
the Golden Rules of password security.
