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Fixing Computer Glitches

Posted on: Friday, 18 November 2005, 03:02 CST

By Goldsborough, Reid

One of Hewlett-Packard's (HP) recent TV commercials suggests that personal computers are reliable and stack up well against low-tech products such as pens and staplers, which break easily in the commercial.

Come on.

According to most surveys, HP makes reliable products overall, and computers are less troublesome in general than in the past. But PCs are still prone to bugs, conflicts, virus and spyware infestations, hacker and phishing attacks, and-most of all-user error.

Unfortunately, good help can be hard to find. Tech support from computer and software companies can be timeconsuming to access, difficult to understand, and pricey.

PlumChoice Computer Help (http://www.plumchoice.com) of Bedford, Mass., is a company that offers an alternative. PlumChoice is targeted toward small and home offices as well as personal users who aren't tech gurus. I spoke with company president Ted Werth about how to prevent the need for tech support in the first place. Here are a few tips:

* Use antivirus, firewall, and anti-spyware programs, and keep them current by regularly installing updates. Often these programs come bundled together, which makes updating easier. Commercial programs such as Symantec Corp.'s Norton Internet security (http :// www. Symantec.com) and McAfee, Inc.'s Internet Security Suite (http:/ /www.rncafee.com) are more effective than free software and the software that comes with Windows.

* Update Windows regularly. If you're running Windows XP Home Edition, you can direct Windows to check for "critical updates" automatically by clicking on Start, Control Panel, System, and then Automatic Updates. You can also run Windows Update manually through Microsoft Internet Explorer. (Click on Tools and then on Windows Update.) Or you can run it from the Start menu. (Click on Start in the lower left part of your screen, and then select All Programs and Windows Update.)

* If you can, buy the kids their own PC for surfing the Web and playing games, and keep the one you use for business or personal finance to yourself. "Kids are becoming the biggest threat to the family PC," said Werth. Young people often surf the Web, downloading music file-sharing programs, free games, and even pirated software. They can unknowingly infect the computer with viruses, spyware, and zombie programs that can send out spam and wreak havoc. Internet security programs usually prevent this malware, but it's better to be safe than sorry. Use parental control software (often part of Internet security programs) to prevent children from visiting porn, gambling, and other adult Web sites and chat rooms.

* Be wary of any e-mail messages or pop-up windows that ask you to confirm a credit card, bank, eBay, PayPal, or similar account. Phishing attacks such as these are the fastest growing means of identity theft. Clicking on links in these messages will probably direct you to a phony Web site. If you have any doubts, phone the company in question or log on to its official Web site by typing in its address yourself.

* If you're experiencing a glitch, turn off your PC, wait a minute, and then turn it back on. Also, turn your PC off at night to free up system resources and eliminate potential conflicts.

* To speed up your PC, remove unnecessary temporary files and start-up programs. The former are located in your temp folder. The latter can be found and managed with the help of the System Configuration Utility. To access this from the Start menu, click Run and type "msconfig." Or find someone who has done this type of cleanup before.

This list of tips underscores the need for expertise, which is how PlumChoice can help. For $23 per 15 minutes of help (subscription plans are available), a technician can examine your computer over the Internet-with your OK-to diagnose and solve computer glitches for you.

It's a fascinating process. You can watch as the technician moves your mouse (don't worry, you can take back control of your mouse just by moving it). If you have a cable or DSL connection or a dial- up connection with two phone lines, the technician can tell you over the phone what he's doing as he's doing it, which can help you learn how to solve the same problem if it crops up again.

Werth said his company can solve about 85 percent of customers' problems this way. The only thing it can't do is fix broken hardware.

Other companies offering similar services include PC Pinpoint (http://www.pc pinpoint.com) and YourTechOnline (http:// www.yourtechonline.com).

Reid Goldsborough is a syndicated columnist and author of the book Straight Talk About the Information Superhighway. He can be reached at reidgold@net axs.com or http://members.home.net/reid gold. Send your comments about this article to itletters@infotoday.com.

Copyright Information Today, Inc. Nov 2005

Source: Information Today

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