Crispy's Tech Tips

I assume no responsibility for damage to your system as a result of the following recommendations. You probably screwed up the instructions somewhere along the way.

Firewalls - Without a doubt, go with BlackICE PC Protection ($40); stay away from ZoneAlarm. The current versions of ZA have had numerous problems. For example, the application controls don't always function correctly. Even if you uninstall ZA, it has been known to block applications still.

AntiVirus - After using Norton for several years, I switched over to AntiVir a few months ago. I am quite satisfied with this program. The only possible shortcoming that I have found is that it does not scan in/outbound emails. However, the program would block a virus/trojan from running on your system. When I first changed over to AntiVir, it returned several virus results that Norton's had never detected. AVG is also another good antivirus program. Some users swear by it.

Video Cards - ATI all the way. The two main (read: only) video card chip manufacturers out there are ATI & nVIDIA. Even though I am currently running a nVIDIA FX 5200 128MB AGP 8x card, I have become a fan of the ATI series of cards. nVIDIA needs to get their driver development department under control before I will purchase another one of their cards. Even the reviews by magazines have been in favor of the ATI cards.

Sound Cards - Creative SoundWorks. These are just about the only guys doing sound cards. The very least of a sound card that you want to purchase is a SoundBlaster Audigy (ver. 1).

Customized Startup - Click the Start button, select the "Run" option. In the dialog box that appears, type in "msconfig", without the quotation marks, then press Enter. For XP users, click on the Services tab & disable the "Messenger" service. This service has no relation to MSN or Windows Messenger. The Messenger service is a feature that allows network administrators to send a message to every computer on a network. This service has also allowed hackers and crackers to send fake messages to regular home users to direct them to malicious web sites or to send advertisements to random computers. Now, click on the Startup tab. Go through each listing and search for it on this page or at Google. Most programs can be shut down without having negative affects on your system.

General Software - There is no one program that will get rid of every bit of spyware/adware on your computer. For this reason, I recommend that you use several different programs to keep your system clean. SpywareBlaster, however, is the only program on this list that blocks spyware before it can infect your system. Ad-Aware, Spybot - Search & Destroy, Windows Washer $40.00 to buy, SpywareGuard, WinPatrol $20.00 to buy, HiJackThis, The Cleaner (trojan remover) $50.00 to buy. Download Accelerator Plus is a program that helps to speed up your downloads (especially useful for dial-up users).

Crispy