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7 Barebones Computer Buying Tips
Getting a new computer should be a cool thing, especially a
cheap computer. After all that time struggling with you old
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Backing Up Your Stuff Part 2: A Solution
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Edit-able Art
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How to re-record other video files
Have you ever wanted to re-record movies, music videos or other stuff playing on the web? Well, the problem is that these players use video overlay. A video overlay is invisible to Windows capture programs because it is handled by a special video...
Video Game Rental - Pros Of Renting Video Games
The video game market has always been a hot industry. And it will only get hotter. Just looking at statistics from 2001, you can see there is a definite want and need for video game renting. Look at this statistic. •"U.S. consumers spent $633.6...
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Security: Firewalls
If you spend a lot of time on the internet and you are not behind a
firewall, then you are living on borrowed time. Putting some protection
between you and the internet is probably the third most important thing that
you can do (after getting virus checking software and performing regular
backups).
The diagram to the left shows an unprotected system using a DSL modem. As
you can see, someone on the internet can attach the computer system easily
as the DSL modem provides no protection (some DSL modems have built-in
firewalls). An attacker can get through any type of modem - DSL, cable, 56K,
28.8 or whatever. If the device gets you on the internet, you are
vulnerable.
For those with a DSL, cable modem or other "always-on" connection, you MUST
get a firewall. This is critical, as your machine is always live and it most
likely has a fixed IP address. This makes it easier for your system to be
"found" and attacked.
What a personal firewall does is isolate your computer from the rest of the
internet. It does this by inspecting each packet of data to determine if it
it should be allowed to get to (and in some cases from your machine.) The
best protection completely hides your computer - this is called stealth
mode.
You have the option of installing a software firewall or a hardware
firewall.
Software Firewall - A software firewall runs on your computer system in the
background. It intercepts each network request and determines if the request
is valid or not. Software firewalls offer the following advantages:
- They are generally very inexpensive
- They are very easy to configure
They have the following disadvantages:
- Since they run on your computer they require resources (CPU, memory and
disk space) from your system.
- They can introduce incompatibilities into your operating system.
- You must install exactly the correct version for your operating system.
- You must purchase one copy for each system on your home network.
Hardware Firewall - A hardware firewall is generally a small box which sits
between your computer and your modem. In general, hardware firewalls have
the following advantages:
- They tend to provide more complete protection than software firewalls
- A hardware firewall can protect more than one system at a time
- They do not effect system performance since they do not run on your
system.
- They are independent of your operating system and applications.
They have the following disadvantages:
- They tend to be expensive, although if you have a number of machines to
protect it can cost less to purchase one hardware firewall than a number of
copies of a software product.
- Since they do not run on your
computer, they can be challenging to
configure.
Firewall mixture - In my mind, the best protection is a combination of both
hardware and software firewalls. This is the ideal, since both have
different advantages and disadvantages. Personally, I use a SonicWall
hardware firewall combined with ZoneAlarm Pro, which is installed on my
Windows 2000 Professional system. The SonicWall protects my home network
since it sits between the hub and the DSL modem, and ZoneAlarm Pro offers
some additional protection for each system.
Testing Your Firewall - To test your firewall, surf to http://www.grc.com
and request a probe. You will be given a very good report of exactly what
issues were found and what to do about them. Once the probe is finished
several excellent personal firewall products are recommended. My personal
favorite is ZoneAlarm Pro, primarily because it's protection is excellent
and it is trivial to use.
Some Firewalls - A selection of personal firewalls is listed below.
- ZoneAlarm Pro - By far the best software firewall available. ZoneAlarm
offers protection from both incoming connections and outgoing connections.
It is also extremely easy to configure, has low system impact and is very
inexpensive (a free version is also available).
- Norton Internet Security 2001 (which was the AtGuard product from WRQ
until a few months ago). Norton is a reasonable firewall, although it does
have some vulnerabilities. It offers weak protection from outgoing
connections and is somewhat difficult to configure if you want it to operate
differently from the default.
- BlackIce - A good choice in firewalls. Much easier than Norton to
configure, but with the same vulnerabilities.
What I've done on my system is:
- Used a SonicWall hardware firewall to protect my entire home network.
- Installed ZoneAlarm Pro on ach system to provide additional safety
- And installed Norton Internet Security for it's privacy protection.
Due to the rapidly changing nature of the internet, it's very important to
be continually monitoring security issues. You may purchase the perfect
personal firewall today, only to find out in six months that it's been
hacked to pieces. So be sure to be looking around, and be ready to get a
newer and better product quickly. This is not one of those issues where you
can scrimp and save. Your system is at risk.
About the Author
Richard Lowe Jr. is the webmaster of Internet Tips And Secrets. This
website includes over 1,000 free articles to improve your internet
profits, enjoyment and knowledge.
Web Site Address: http://www.internet-tips.net
Weekly newsletter: http://www.internet-tips.net/joinlist.htm
Daily Tips: mailto:internet-tips@GetResponse.com
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| Tom's Hardware |
| : Tom's Hardware Guide is the Internet's premiere resource for hardware news and reviews. |
| www.tomshardware.com |
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| HardwareCentral - Your source for in-depth computer hardware info. |
| HardwareCentral is the #1 Hardware Information Resource on the 'Net. Featuring over 600 pages of Hardware information, including advice on System ... |
| www.hardwarecentral.com |
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| Apple - Hardware |
| Find your favorite Mac, iPod and other Apple accessories. |
| www.apple.com |
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| Ace Hardware |
| Nationwide (United States) hardware and home improvement retailer. Includes products, dealer locator and corporate information. |
| www.acehardware.com |
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| Computer hardware - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| The hardware of a computer is infrequently changed, in comparison with software and ... Personal computers, the computer hardware familiar to most people, ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
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| Hardware - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| Hardware is the general term that is used to describe physical artifacts of a technology. ... In a looser sense, hardware can be major military equipment, ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
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| Open Directory - Computers: Hardware |
| Hardware Central - Computing-centric community providing vital information, support, tools and interaction facilities for power computer users and ... |
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| Microsoft Hardware – Home Page |
| Learn about Microsoft mice, keyboards, desktop sets, webcams, media center peripherals, gaming products, fingerprint readers and presentation tools. |
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| AnandTech: your source for hardware analysis and news |
| Independent hands-on reviews of computer hardware such as motherboards, graphic cards, and CPUs. |
| www.anandtech.com |
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| Supplier of new and refurbished networking hardware and approved and compatible network accessories. Located in the United Kingdom. |
| www.hardware.com |
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| Slashdot: News for nerds, stuff that matters |
| From the article: "Although the news caused barely a ripple of reaction in the audience of software and hardware engineers, there are industry analysts who ... |
| hardware.slashdot.org |
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| InformationWeek HardwareTech Center |
| Our hardware coverage ranges from mobile computers and PDAs to servers and supercomputers, and the infrastructure issues enterprises deal with every day. ... |
| www.informationweek.com |
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| What is hardware? - A Word Definition From the Webopedia Computer ... |
| This page describes the term hardware and lists other pages on the Web where you can find additional information. |
| www.webopedia.com |
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| Google Directory - Computers > Hardware |
| Hardware Central - http://www.hardwarecentral.com/ Computing-centric community providing vital information, support, tools and interaction facilities for ... |
| www.google.com |
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| At Restoration Hardware, you'll explore an exceptional world of high quality unique gifts. Browse our products to find gift ideas & more at Restoration ... |
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| HwB: The Hardware Book |
| HwB provides you with circuits, pinouts, cable/adapter descriptions and other technical information. |
| www.hardwarebook.net |
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| Reg Hardware: Product News and Gadget Reviews from The Register |
| More Gadgets Stuff. 5th December 2006 12:09 GMT. Author: Reg Hardware ... 27th November 2006 15:31 GMT. Author: The Hardware Widow ... |
| www.reghardware.co.uk |
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| red hat hardware compatibility lists |
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| TrueValue.com |
| Here's our tip to hang strands of lights with ease. Jeanenne & Jim Tucker Plantation True Value Hardware Richmond, TX ... |
| www.truevalue.com |
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| A complete illustrated Guide to the PC Hardware |
| A complete illustrated Guide to the PC Hardware, Logic and Architecture. 500 easy-read articles about the modern PC. Understand the basic architecture of ... |
| www.karbosguide.com |
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