Trent Steele's Privacy #1 Newsletter
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March 10th 2010 www.privacy-central.com
 
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software-giveaway.com
 
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Win yourself an iPod!
Best PC Tune-Up Times, Friend!

Good morning!

Trent Steele here with all the hottest technology news, software downloads, and your personalized weekly recommendations. 

PC maintenance should be a regular event!

But how often is "regular" exactly?

Are some jobs weekly, or can they all be done once a month?

Or is twice a year enough?

What are the rules and reasons behind it?

Find out which tasks you should routinely perform -- and when -- in this week's bonus article below.

Enjoy: and have a great week --


Trent Steele

Trent Steele, Site Manager.
http://www.privacy-central.com
 
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Privacy Downloads Computer Security News...
  Twitter to begin screening some links for phishing

  Ex-Sun chief dishes dirt on Gates, Jobs

  Update: LifeLock to pay $12M to settle FTC, states' complaint

  Microsoft skips patch for PowerPoint add-on

  Microsoft warns of new IE bug; attacks under way
 
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Software Downloads New Privacy & General Downloads...
  SynGUI
03/10/10 - Perform stress-testing on your test machine against denial of service conditions.

  AptEdit Pro U3
03/10/10 - View and edit text, HEX, and HTML files.

  AptEdit Lite
03/10/10 - View and edit text, HEX, and HTML files.

  AptEdit Pro
03/10/10 - View and edit text, HEX, and HTML files.

  Skype Signiture creator
03/10/10 - Create quick call links in skype.
 
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Search Term Search Term of the Day...
Did you know the number one search term yesterday was...

Academy Awards

Wondering what the results brought up?

Click HERE to search this term at Search-Street.com >>
 
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Recommendations Friend's Recommendations...
Every week, we recommend a series of exciting new hardware and software tools that we think you'll find interesting. Here's what we have for you this week...
 
Don't Panic!
Hit The Panic Button!
Let Panic Button Pro take all the trouble out of hiding your screen, folders and private files from prying eyes!
 www.panicbuttonpro.com
 
A Clean Machine!
Instant Cleaner Pro!
Get a clean, lean faster machine! Eliminate those unwanted history files quickly & easily! Try the Free Trial version!
 www.instantcleanerpro.com
 
Degunking your PC!
Degunking Your PC!
An easy to follow, tried and true, 12 step method to get your PC and all your gadgets running in tip-top shape!
 Amazon - US  Amazon - UK
 
Backup E-mail!
Instant E-mail Backup System!
One click - and ALL your e-mail is backed up - automatically! Simple but powerful software to put your mind at rest!
 www.backup-email.com
 
Surf In Peace!
Hide Your IP Address From Snoopers!
Want to REALLY surf in private? Cool software lets you block invaders from tracking your IP address and finding out what you're up to.
www.hide-my-ip-address.com
 
Best Anonymous Browser!
The World's Best Anonymous Browser!
Discover how to browse the web completely ANONYMOUSLY! Secure servers make certain  NO-ONE can trace your steps!
www.bestanonymousbrowser.com
 
Troubleshoot your PC!
Troubleshooting Your PC!
Save time, money, and headaches by diagnosing & fixing those snags, glitches, and predicaments that can drive you crazy!
 Amazon - US  Amazon - UK
 
Give Intruders The Elbow!
Keep Spies At Bay With Spyware IT!
Protect your PC against unwanted intruders! Great software attacks and destroys spyware keeping your machine running smoothly.
www.spywareit.com
 
 
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PC Maintenance: What Tasks When?

Back in December, I recommended ways to remind yourself to do regular PC maintenance tasks. But I neglected to discuss the actual tasks.

Here they are:

Daily:
Backup your data. You don't want to lose yesterday's work anymore than you want to lose last week's, so your documents, pictures, and application data should be backed up daily. For details, see 7 Backup Strategies for Your Data, Multimedia, and System Files, and consider one of the first three strategies.

Weekly:
Scan for malware. Your real-time antivirus program isn't perfect; something evil could slip by it. So to be on the safe side, get a second opinion every week by scanning with another security program.

For that second opinion, you need something reliable, you want something free, and you don't need anything with real-time protection. So I recommend either SUPERAntiSpyware or Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware. I use both, running one the first week and the other the second.

Monthly:
Defrag your hard drive. Over time, your files become fragmented--with any single file split over multiple physical parts of the drive. Fragmentation can slow your PC and render lost files less retrievable.

Windows comes with a perfectly fine defragger. In Windows Explorer, right-click the C: drive and select Properties. Click the Tools tab, then the Defragment Now button.

XP users will get a button to start the defrag. Vista and Windows 7 give you that plus an option to configure scheduled defragging. For more on Vista defragging, that also applies to Win7, see Vista Defrag Problems.

Monthly:
Scan your hard drive for errors. You're not looking for viruses or worms here, but physical and logical problems with the disk that could render parts of it unreadable.

It's handy to do this chore at the same time you defrag, because both chores start on the C: drive Properties' Tools tab.

To Scan the drive, click Check Now. Check both options, then click Start. An error message will tell you that Windows can't check the disk while it's in use. Click Schedule disk check (Vista or Win7) or Yes (XP). Then, the next time you plan to leave your computer for a few hours (for instance, to sleep), reboot. Windows will take a considerable amount of time (ballpark guestimate: one hour for each 100GB of drive space) before it's ready for regular use.

Twice a Year:
Backup your hard drive as an image. While not as important as a recent backup of your data (see Daily), an image backup of your entire drive can be a life-saver should your hard drive crash or Windows become hopelessly corrupt.

A good image backup means never having to reinstall Windows from scratch.
By Lincoln Spector at computerworld.com.
 
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