With a new tranche of students preparing to start university and others who are at university returning after the summer break it is time to ensure students laptops are ready and able to meet the challenges of the coming year. Prior to the start of the university year it is advisable to perform a range of checks and maintenance tasks to ensure the student can start the year confident their PC will be up to the challenges of the year ahead and  capable of  interacting with the university’s IT systems, as well as having sufficient memory and hard disk space to accommodate those papers and reference materials. Not to mention supporting the possibility of music and film downloads that may not necessarily be university related.

The tasks to be undertaken may be split into two, namely tasks for new students and tasks for existing students. 

New students.

1 Ensure the PC or laptop meets the universities minimum performance criteria. It is advisable to ensure the computers capabilities are  better than this minimum criteria as they will need to accommodate not only the universities needs but also the students social needs (generally more demanding than the universities) and give scope for additional capabilities subsequent years or courses may require. Universities generally include information on their minimum PC requirement in their welcome packs or if not will provide this on their website.

2 Ensure the computer has browser(s) capable of handling all aspects of the universities website. It is always a good idea to have a second browser on your machine to ensure you have an alternative. Here again universities will often provide a downloadable application or widget that will confirm your browsers capabilities meet their requirements.

3 Ensure the computer has plenty of hard disk space available to accommodate the scholastic and social needs of the coming academic year. It is recommended you perform the following regular disk maintenance tasks by:

• deleting temporary files and download folders to release disk space
• uninstalling  programmes that may  no longer be required to release disk space.
• perform a disk defragmentation
• NOTE: Many PC manufacturers create 2 logical partitions on the disk, however many people are unaware the second partition (D:) exists. If it does then ensure you use it rather than filling up the C: drive. 

4 Ensure the computer has sufficient memory to limit the impact of numerous downloads and application additions, many of which may eat into the memory availability, especially if they are activates that launch at startup or have auto update capabilities that will run in the background. 1Gb is  a minimum requirement for newer operating systems  with 2Gb a recommended minimum.  Remember that additional memory is a very cost effective may to re-invigorate a flagging computer.  It is recommended you perform the following regular memory maintenance tasks by:

• Disable any startup programs that may not be required.
• Ensure your desktop does not have large numbers of shortcuts or files on it. Use the Quick Start Tool Bar rather than the Desktop 

5 Ensure you check all of the above and possibly any additional requirements the university may have that are additional or are course related. NOTE:  Many universities and colleges provide downloadable applications or browser tools that will verify that your PC is suitable for the coming years challenges.

Existing students 

1  Ensure the computer has plenty of hard disk space available to accommodate the scholastic and social needs of the coming academic year. It is recommended you perform the following regular disk maintenance tasks by:

• deleting temporary files and download folders to release disk space
• uninstalling  programmes that may  no longer be required to release disk space.
• perform a disk defragmentation
• NOTE: Many PC manufacturers create 2 logical partitions on the disk, however many people are unaware the second partition (D:) exists. If it does then ensure you use it rather than filling up the C: drive. 

2  Ensure the computer has sufficient memory to limit the impact of numerous downloads and application additions, many of which may eat into the memory availability, especially if they are activates that launch at startup or have auto update capabilities that will run in the background. 1Gb is  a minimum requirement for newer operating systems  with 2Gb a recommended minimum.  Remember that additional memory is a very cost effective may to re-invigorate a flagging computer.  It is recommended you perform the following regular memory maintenance tasks by:

• Disable any startup programs that may not be required.
• Ensure your desktop does not have large numbers of shortcuts or files on it. Use the Quick Start Tool Bar rather than the Desktop 

  3 Ensure you check all of the above and possibly any additional requirements imposed by additional course related requirements. 

The vast majority of us use wireless router technology at home making internet access and interconnectivity between our PCs/Macs quicker and easier. Unlike a cabled connection WiFi does not have the inherent security of a physical connection since the walls of the house do not act as an absolute barrier to your WiFi coverage. It is this leakage we see when you do a WiFi search from your lounge/office and see coverage from routers other than yours.

It is important we secure our WiFi  systems to limit the possibility of others using our coverage to download content. Such downloads, at best, will limit our available bandwidth and at  worst it may result in accusations of excessive use or even illegal downloading. The reality is that securing our WiFi is relatively simple. If you use a router provided by your service provider it is likely this may come pre-configured with secure connectivity. You can check this either by looking at the label somewhere on the router (generally the rear or bottom) and confirm if it includes a WEP/WAP key which will be a combination of letters and numbers. This is used to pair the PC/laptop to the router. If your router is not already secured then you should act as soon as possible to secure it.

Below we outline simple steps to secure your network:

1   Change the default User Name and Password on the router to prevent unauthorized accesss. Many routers are supplied with default passwords such as ‘admin’ and ‘password’ which third parties can use to gain access to your router to enable them to alter or change the routers settings. Use a user name and password that is meaningful to you but not obvious to others based on your location or address. So don’t use a username that references your address and a password tied to your name, dogs name etc.

2   Your wireless router broadcasts an identifier (the Service Set Identifier – SSID), this is the name seen when you search for WiFi coverage and get a list of possible access points. Select a unique SSID which again, is something you will know but others will not be able to link the WiFi coverage to a specific location/address. Whilst this may not seem to be a particularly important area, it means that people may not be able to tie a particular SSID to a given person or family. By being able to do this they may then be able to extrapolate user names and passwords more easily.

4      Activate encryption on your router. There are two major generic encryption standards used in routers, these are WEP and WAP, within each of these there are a number of varients available. WAP is the more secure of these options. Within WAP there are WAP WAP and WAP2 options, here again WAP2 is the more secure option. Something to keep in mind when setting your router up is the age of the accessing computers, laptops or USB wireless dongle. If you set the router up with the latest encryption standard and accessing laptops or dongles are old they may not support this standard. Start with the most secure option and then regress to earlier standards IF you experience issues.

If you have any questions feel free to email use with your questions using the Contact tab above.

We are hearing more and more about mobile privacy and in particular the risks introduced by the rise of smartphone devices such as those based on Android, Apple, Symbian and Windows Mobile. These are devices that enable the user to install additional applications or widgets on it. The flexibility provided by these platforms enables us, the user, to move desktop capabilities to our mobiles. Whilst this has significant advantages, especially for business and those on the move, it also results in significant additional threat to the user by virtue of the exposure of our personal private data. Unlike a PC or laptop, our mobile is constantly with us, it is a more personal device, a more intimate device, and the fact it is always on hand tends to give the impression it may not be as susceptible to abuse as larger less portable devices. Unfortunately this is NOT the case.

Mobile devices (phones, tablets etc) are size constrained (both in terms of physical size, processor power and memory capability). These constraints mean adding significant additional software such as Anti Virus packages or Firewalls can not be accommodated without significant impact on the performance of the devices.

The operating systems these devices are built on provide access to our contacts, our personal data, provide access to the I/O interfaces (keypad, display, microphone etc). They provide access to GPS and location  information. They provide access to cameras both still and video. All of these provide data that, in the wrong hands, can be used to compromise privacy. There are no end of high profile stories highlighting the fact that data is already being “farmed” from these types of devices.

So who is the culprit when it comes to such data abuse. In the first instance clearly the developer of the application that farms or steals the data MUST be ultimately responsible. However these applications are provided by application stores such as the Apple Apps Store, the Android Apps store or even network operators app stores. Just as with premium rate telephone number security issues the network operators have an interest in the continuance of these apps in that they generate data revenues for their networks. So not only is data farmed but ‘you’ pay for the privilege! These conduits for applications and widgets must take responsibility for the fact they are hosting these apps. Application stores, Operating System providers and the network operators therefore must also take responsibility for abuses and help mitigate possible data theft.

In the final analysis however the user must take responsibility for the protection and security of their data when downloading and using applications or widgets which they are not fully familiar with. Unfortunately with the drive to a Wal-Mart approach to applications (pile them high and sell them cheap), it means that signing programmes aimed at protecting users or validating the features used by applications have now been replaced with somewhat less rigerous “Marketing” lead programmes that aim to control the brand rather than test the application. Unfortunately the current climate is such that the user can not rely on developers, app stores or their provider to ensure that apps are safe and the reality is they will probably never be in a position to do so with complete confidence. recent analysis states that

Given this climate for poor validation and certification, the user must also take precautions to ensure they do not actively assist in the capture and farming of their data. We get what we pay for, the rush to cheap disposable applications and widgets means the price a developer can get for these applications (under £5) or widgets (under £1) means there is no margin to test them rigorously using third party test programs. The application stores and the operators chose not to test these adequately because of the cost implications.

So the bottom line is “user beware”, ONLY load applications or widgets you trust, NEVER accept an application onto your phone without the full knowledge of its source and its purpose. Just because it is a major application store don’t assume it is free of malicious apps. Monitor your phones data use when you load a new application and watch for abnormal data use. This might be apparent by a rapidly reduced battery life (due to ongoing transmission of data to the network and beyond). When installing an application don’t rush to ignore the prompts that advise you of the data the application will have access to and use. Think long and hard before rushing to use high risk applications such as mobile banking apps unless they are provided with full support by the bank and have been signed by a trusted signing programme.

We all suffer from spam which may or may not be the result of our own actions. Whenever we interact with a site or company on the internet we leave a trail and whenever we provide our email address (even for the most innocent of reasons) we leave ourselves open to the threat of spam exposure.

Clearly by reducing the use of the internet we reduce our exposure to spam, equally we can use a spam filter on all incoming emails to reduce incoming spam.

There is another way to help manage spam and that will pro-actively contribute to reducing wider spam volumes. If you have your own domain (for example @mydomain.com) you can use the standard default mail Capture-All process to manage who may attempt spamming you or track who is selling your contact details to spammers.

When you provide your email address to companies, use the companies name before your domain rather than your own email address. If you are providing Acmi Widgets with your email address, give them acmiwidgets@mydomain.com, or if you are downloading something from a download site, then use the companies name in the email address rather than your email (downloadsite@mydomain.com). Providing you have set your Catch-All settings to your email address on your email hosting control panel then all these emails will be directed to you (so you get those you want) and will show the originator of the data leak(for those you do not want).

I have used this for quite a few years and have been amazed at the range of companies from the very large, house hold names, to the very small specialized business (cycling glasses suppliers) who have sold or provided email contacts to third parties. Since I always click ‘do not share’ when interacting with these companies I know that the details should not be shared. They will always state they do not share or sell data, however when you explain the process you use to manage this and ask them why it is coming from their address they invariably start to wriggle.

I would recommend you try it and in the process help to limit the amount of spam email we all receive. If you need any further help or advice in implementing or setting this up, why not call or email us at Computing2u.

There are a wide range of reasons why you may be unable to boot your computer ranging from problems with scheduled fixes to problems with user configuration and hardware failure. The point at which the PC fails can help us understand whether the problem is hardware, ROM (the memory that supports the initial boot process before using the hard disk drive), operating system  or software related.

If your PC fails to boot and you have checked the obvious such as power or possibly USB drives plugged in that may prevent the boot process then try to ascertain whether the failure is pre or post-Power On Self Test (POST). The POST process is triggered and managed by code in the computers Read Only Memory (ROM – is memory that does not lose its content when powered off, it is non-volatile). This code is the Basic Input/Output System (BIOS)  which initiates the CPU, checks the computers Random Access memory (RAM) and then checks hardware such as hard drives, tape drives, floppy drives, CD ROM etc. If all test are completed successfully BIOS looks for and initiates the loading of any available operating system (or offers choice of operating system if more than one exists). Generally if the computer successfully completes this initial POST phase it will beep once. This can be confused by the fact that should the POST process fail there are a range of failure beeps however these tend to be short and often greater in number than a single beep. 

Once the PC starts to load the operating system (OS) and generally results in seeing the Windows splash screen. These also generally have some form of activity indicator such as a moving bar or spinning wheel that is provided to help the user see that things are not hanging but progressing. Once the OS has loaded it takes over the rest of the boot process, loads the drivers for any peripherals such as printers, scanners etc and loads any software that is scheduled to be initiated at the boots process.

If the PC fails during this phase it may well be the result of new hardware drivers, or possibly the result of software that is scheduled to be run at startup which may have been added by you or added without your knowledge. To check if this is the case you can start the PC in safe mode, this launches the OS without drivers and non-essential features. To do this press F8 and select Safe Mode. Don’t worry if the display seems to appear different. Safe Mode will boot to a default video setting and the colours may not be as crisp, the image less well defined and the icons may look bigger. When in safe mode disable any recently added software and check for any obvious problems. Once found then re-boot, the PC will come back in normal mode unless you again select safe mode by using F8. NOTE: In the vast majority of cases F8 is the key to access Safe Mode however on occasions manufacturers use different keys, for example the Tab key.

If this is unsuccessful then use your recover Disks. Boot the computer with the recovery disk in the ROM drive. You may be prompted to “Hit any key to boot from CD”. If the computer does not boot from the CD then check the boot sequence and ensure the CD is first in the list.