Maintenance and Security

The first thing I did in the PC Maintenance and Security workshop from Atomic Learning was go through all of the introductory videos. I did this to make sure I was on the right track with understanding terms (like malware and firewall), and to understand the goals of the tutorials. These videos made me feel more comfortable looking through the rest with the feeling that I knew what they were talking about.

I then checked out tutorial B4, about the msconfig utility. This was a timely exercise, since I’ve just been noticing slow start-up times with my work computer. Clearing out the clutter in my start-up routines actually made a noticeable, measurable difference in the time it took my computer to start up, so I was impressed. I was surprised by how many different, unnecessary programs were hogging up space in the start-up routine. The “Startup Programs and Executables Listing” was a big help, as there are always programs in lists like that which I don’t recognize. This is definitely a tip I’ll be passing on to others, and using in my work and personal life.

In the organization section, I checked out tutorials C6 and C7 involving the Robo-Form password manager. I’ve seen programs like this, and used the one included with my security suite. My immediate problem with them is that they are based on a single machine. Since I’m always jumping from computer to computer, a cloud-based manager would be much more useful for me, and it looks like they’re available. I read this review on a product called LastPass that looks like a pretty good fit. I am relatively sure that I will start using this sometime soon, just waffling a little about storing all my passwords in the cloud. I need to research this a little more, but it looks like a good option, and it got good reviews. I will be sharing this idea with others to see what they think.

The last topic I wanted to look into was firewalls, since I was a bit iffy on their exact function, and the difference between hardware and software firewalls (videos F1 and F2). I did not learn a great deal of new information; rather, these tutorials sort of solidified what I already know. Hardware firewalls are included in routers, and their job is to make your computer invisible to the outside world. Software firewalls are programs you need to install, and they monitor traffic to and from your computer, checking with you for permission when something is not recognized. It was good for me to be reminded that firewalls don’t block viruses or other malware. I feel like I can provide better advice about firewalls after watching these videos.