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So I here it all the time, I haven’t changed anything…..it’s not my computer it’s all my ISP’s fault that I can’t connect to the internet.  Well I got some news for you, 90% of the time, it’s your computer. It’s something you have done.  So before you call tech support ranting that you want it fixed now!  here are a few things that you can do that wont make you look an asshole when you do finally need to call tech support.

Now there are several things you can do to prevent problems.  The first and maybe most important thing you can do is to use a surge protector for you computer and your modem as well as anything that plugs into your tower (PC).  things like your monitor, speakers external Hard drives and optical drives.  It is extremely common that power surges happen without you even knowing it.  You will also want to replace your surge protector once a year.  It’s a good idea because they can burn out and are no-longer useful to protect your hardware.  Secondly you want some software to protect your computer. believe me when I say that the internet is a dirty, dirty place and on the internet there are more viruses than you’ll find in your local STD Clinic.  There are far more people out there trying to ruin your experience on the internet than there are people trying to help you protect your computer.  Also keep in mind that there is no one program that can protect you from every possible infection on the internet.  

So you will need to use some common sense when surfing.  Avoid pop ups especially the ones that claim you have infections, they promise to scan your system and when it comes time to remove the so called spy-ware or infections they will ask you to pull out your credit card and pay them a one time fee.  Half the time while they are scanning your computer they are installing the infections they promise to remove.  I would never suggest installing a program that you haven’t done a little research on first.  Almost every ISP has a program that promises to protect your computer, they generally come at a price and are not nearly as affective as the software you can purchase from the store or even get for free.  Among the leaders in virus protection is Symantec, they provide the best overall protection for your computer for about 80 dollars a year you can get Symantec’s Norton Security Suit it comes with a wide range of tools to keep you safe.  If you are doing any finacial type surfing like paying bills or buying stocks I highly suggest spending the money to protect not only your computer but also your money.  Millions of dollars are stolen every year by people installing spy-ware to steal your money.  So protect yourself and don’t be one of those people.

If you are just surfing the ineternet for email and game play than you can use free software,  There are alot of programs out there that you can download for free.  In my opinion the best free Anti-Virus is AVG, It’s made by Grisoft and can be downloaded at www.downloads.com.  As for spyware I would suggest going with two different programes again they can be downloaded for free, the first is called Ad-Aware and it can be downloaded at www.lavasoft.com, the second I would suggest is microsofts Super Anti spyware.  Both of these programes are fairly easy to use, and are Free.

I hope you have found this article useful, If you have any questions or idea’s for future articles please leave me a comment or send me an email at seamore.danger@gmail.com.  I also urge you to check out the advertisements on my page here they are all safe links.