Before we talk about how to upgrade a PC, we have to address whether or not it's cost effective to do so. I measure cost effectiveness two ways. One, can you simply buy a new or better used PC for the amount of money it will cost you to upgrade your current box. Two, will the upgrade really have a significant impact on the user experience (ie, will you be happy that you spent the money. I've written about this in more detail on my other site, but I'm going to sum up here in a quick table. The obvious one I don't talk about is power supply, because that's not really an upgrade item, it's a repair item, since nobody upgrades their power supply unless they need to:-)
I've done upgrades on all of the major PC brands and models over the years. The main problem you'll encounter in cheaper models of brand name computers is planned obsolescence, no room at all for upgrade components. I've opened up cases that simply wouldn't accept a second hard drive, and cases with no room for a second CD or DVD are very common. If the front of your old Compaq doesn't have a rectangular cut-out below the existing CD or DVD drive, there's just no room to add one. The solution to upgrading computer parts when there's no room in the case is to replace the existing part with an improved version. That works fine for a CD drive, but for a hard drive, it means transferring all of your programs and data to the new drive, which is a fairly complicated task for a beginner. If you're going to replace your hard drive, the best bet is to simply use the restore CDs that came with your Sony or Emachines to initialize the new hard drive. If your system shipped without restore CDs, you probably don't want to try this upgrade. All of the brand name manufacturers have experimented with proprietary designs over the years, including special power supply connectors, odd sized motherboards, and unique motherboard I/O cores that will only work in a particular case. You can always hack your case up and make it work by changing enough parts, but there's little point when new cases are so cheap and used PCs are a dime a dozen. If your Dell or HP uses a proprietary power supply connector for the motherboard, that's a reason not to upgrade the motherboard. Compaq use to be the worst offender when it came to proprietary design, which probably means they had the best engineers:-) The early Emachines I worked on were also pretty inflexible, but I recently worked on Emachines that had been upgraded with a DVD recorder and a second hard drives. The reason I was called in was the power supply had died, but it took a standard ATX replacement. I also worked on a brand-new high end Dell just a couple weeks ago that had no IDE connector to accepts the hard drive from the computer it was replacing as a second drive. The new Dell was strictly SATA, it didn't have any free IDE capacity.
Component Cost Range Time Outcome
Motherboard $50 - $250 1 hour to 3 hours (depends on Windows) If you're talking about a PC that's several years old, upgrading the motherboard with a new motherboard, an inexpensive new CPU in an advanced technology family, and some DDR-2 or DDR memory, is equivalent to building a new PC with a slowish video card and drives. You'll really see the difference, you'll be in a great position to upgrade the rest, but why not just build a new one from scratch? In any case, the bug in the soup is getting Windows happy with a new motherboard underneath - goes pretty smoothly sometimes if it similar technology or the same manufacturer, but usually it's a pain in the behind for a newbie.
CPU $30 - $300 5 minutes to 1/2 hour (depends on heatsink) The only time it makes sense to upgrade a CPU is if you have a low speed CPU in the family. If you replace a 1.4 GHz CPU with a 1.6 GHz CPU, you'll need benchmarking software to see the difference. On the other hand, if you replace a 700 MHz CPU with a 1.4 GHz CPU, it will scream. That's cheap, the expensive proposition is replacing a 2.4 GHz CPU with a 3.2 GHz CPU. I'd only consider it if you're a gamer or a serious data cruncher. The CPU has to be a physical match for the socket (which changes every couple years) and explicitly supported by the motherboard, so don't try it without motherboard documentation, unless it's in the cheap end of the range.
RAM $20 - $100 5 minutes to 15 minutes If your system supports more RAM and you can figure out what kind it is, go ahead and buy all you can stuff in there, at least up to 1 GB for WIndows XP. The performance gain will really depend on what software you are running, but it's cheap, it's easy, and it does make a difference.
Hard Drive $50 - $ 200 15 minutes to add as second drive, several hours to move operating system and all data and make primary drive Your PC was probably built with a hard drive that could take advantage of the interface speed, so it's unlikely you can jam a new hard drive with a faster interface into your PC, your motherboard won't be up to it. You can buy a hard drive with a bigger cache or a faster spindle speed, but you won't notice the difference most the time. You can buy a second identical drive and do RAID 0, which will speed up reads appreciable. However, the only reason I'd upgrade a hard drive is if I needed more space, and I'd probably add it as a second drive. Otherwise, you need to Ghost the original boot drive over, or reinstall everything from scratch.
CDR or DVDR $30 - $100 15 minutes to 1 hour (depends on case geometry, software installation and update) If you don't have a recorder, it's well worth it, but make sure you don't buy a "bare" drive, which means no software. Hint: They don't record without recording software. I would never upgrade to get a higher speed drive, it just doesn't make a difference. Nobody runs software off discs, you install it to the hard drive. Unless you're in the production business, record speed is irrelevant.
Video Card $50 - $500 15 minutes to 30 minutes (depends on software install) Only if you're an artist or a gamer. Otherwise, a video card is a video card is a video card. If you're a gamer, you may even buy two high end PCI express cards to run in tandem, though that will cost you closer to a grand. With video cards for gaming, you pretty much get what you pay for, but make sure your power supply can handle the extra load because these things eat major wattage.
Modem $10 - $100 15 minutes to 1 hour (DSL and cable modem can take a while to configure) A 56 Kb/s modem is a 56 Kb/s modem, but sometimes they fail slowly with age, so a new one might buy you a slightly faster connection rate due to a lower error rate. If your ISP makes a change and your dial-up goes to pot, try a new one, they're cheap. Changing to broadband (DSL or cable) is the difference between night and day. However, the DSL or cable modem may be free, it's the $20 to $30 EVERY MONTH that gets expensive (I'm allowing $15 allowance for canceling your dial-up).
Sound Card $10 - $50 15 minutes to 30 minutes (disabling motherboard integrated sound and installing software can take time) Unless you're a musician or an avid gamer, there's very little to be gained from from upgrading your sound card, sound quality is really a function of the amplified speakers. If you're a gamer, graduating to 5.1, 6.1 or even 7.1 means more surround sound and low end, which can have a big impact on games (or watching DVDs).
I've been putting together an illustrated guide for all the basic upgrades you can do to a desktop computer. The first one I did was probably the most common (and the poorest photography since I was just starting the work), and illustrates how to replace a hard drive. This is one of those jobs where the physical installation is pretty easy if you can handle a screwdriver, but if you aren't just adding a second drive for more capacity, the software setup takes forever. Transferring your operating system from and old boot drive to a new boot drive really requires a third party software solution like Ghost, though many retail hard drives come with a utility to do this for you as a one time bonus. It doesn't always work.
While it's generally only done as a repair as opposed to an upgrade, I did a page on how to upgrade a power supply. If you've upgraded your video card to one with it's own cooling system, there's a good chance you're going to need a new power supply to handle it. Keep in mind that the cheaper brand name PCs are built with the smallest power supply they can get away with for the configuration they are shipping. They aren't worried about your future expansion path.
Next I did a generic guide on how to replace a CPU using a Socket A Athlon as the example system. The point of this example is just to show you the steps involved, to make sure you understand the importance of the active heatsink and that it complicates the job beyond just dropping a CPU in a socket. You can only upgrade your CPU with a model in the same family that is explicitly supported by the motherboard. Just because it physically fits the socket doesn't mean the motherboard chipset can support it, you'll have to search the web or the documentation before hand to find out exactly how much more CPU your motherboard can handle.
A lot of people replace their sound card when it's not broken. It could be that the speaker amplifier has failed (or is unplugged), that the audio cable has been pinched and broken inside the insullation, or the volume is turned down. The volume being turned down or muted in some hidden mixer panel is probably the most common reason people replace their sound card unnecessarily. It's an easy job, as far as adapter replacement goes, though everybody forgets to hook up the CD audio lead. Also, if the original sound is integrated on the motherboard, you may run into conflicts if disabling sound in CMOS Setup doesn't completely hide it from Windows.
Even now that half of America is using broadband, the half that can't afford it or don't have it available may need to know how to replace a modem. Modems are always failing due to lighting strikes, a common symptom is that all of the phones in the house will stay dead until you unplug the modem because it's failed as a short circuit. This is real common in Florida and other areas with frequent thunderstorms or at high elevations. It's a very easy replacement, but a modem can give your hand a nasty shock even with the computer unplugged because there's a capacitor that holds a reasonably high voltage (phones run on something like 55V if I recall.
I don't know if anybody remembers the cute commercial where a kid sees an adult putting a tape in a VCR and asks the parent what he's doing. Daddy says, "I'm feeding the VCR" and the next scene is the kid spooning porridge in opening. CD and DVD drive are subject to all of the usual failures of electro-mechanical optical devices, with motors and lenses that get dirty, plus sometimes somebody just sticks the wrong thing in the tray and forces it shut. Fortunately, it's pretty easy to replace your CD burner or DVD Drive and they're also cheap. CD and DVD drives are outwardly identical, so the replacement procedure is exactly the same. The main issue you'll run into is old recorder software not supporting the new drive or being upgradeable, so you should buy a drive with possible whenever possible.
Gamers frequently replace the video card when they get sick of the 3D motion sticking and jumping. Video processing is the main bottleneck in computer gaming, and at the highest end, people spend $1000 for two compatible video cards that can share their processing power to drive a single monitor. It's a simple replacement as long as you buy the right card for your motherboard architecture and you have enough power available for the video processor and video RAM. I wouldn't spend too much a new adpater for an old PC before studying up, because the CPU still carries some of the load.
There's no point in replacing the RAM on the motherboard unless it's failed, you aren't going to get more performance than what it shipped with. However, if you want to increase the total capacity of RAM installed, it's easiest to remove what you have buy the full amount of memory you need to reduce the number of modules and possible compatibility problems.
Finally, we get to how to replace a motherboard, which I present as two different jobs. First we deal with removing the existing motherboard and all the connections you'll have to undo to make that possible. Next we install the new motherboard in the case, which involves both physical installation (standoffs and screws) and reconnecting all the data and power cables. I don't go over installing the RAM or CPU on the new motherboard since that's already covered in the guides listed above.
Upgrade PC Hardware
Computer Checkup
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Audio Recording With Computer Sequencer
The recording studio inside the virtual world of the computer is real enough, but sometimes you have to treat it with care to get the best from it. Paul White offers a few tips on the subject.
Computers offer us MIDI, audio recording, mixing, virtual effects, virtual synths and CD manufacturing facilities, but it doesn't pay to take them for granted. The following tips will help you get the best out of your system, whether it runs on a Mac or PC, and most assume that you already have a system that's up and running. If you're planning to buy a PC system but aren't sure what to go for, check out the FAQs on our web site and give some serious consideration to buying the system preconfigured from a single vendor rather than assembling it yourself. If you want to buy a Mac system, either buy one of the newly obsoleted grey Macs or wait until the peripherals and software copy protection needed to work with the new candy-coloured Macsn are ready. In either case, buy the fastest machine you can afford - even if you can't afford it!1. Optimise your input signal level at source rather than relying on normalisation to bring the level up: if your signals peak at only half the maximum level, you're effectively halving the signal-to-noise ratio of your recordings and wasting half of the theoretical resolution of your system. Digital processing such as EQ or reverb may also introduce far more noticeable rounding and quantising errors in low-level recordings. Use the level metering provided in the software and try to keep your peak levels just a few dBs below clipping.
2. Regardless of whether you have 16-, 20- or 24-bit recording, the real quality of your recording will be defined by the source. For vocals, consider buying a voice channel type of device that combines a good mic amp with EQ and compression. This may also be used when miking other instruments, and many feature an instrument DI input suitable for use with bass and clean electric/electroacoustic guitar.
3. The fact that computers and recording software are such good value for money can lead you into
believing you can make do with equally cheap components in the rest of the studio. This simply isn't true. With good capacitor vocal mics now available for under £200, there's no excuse for using your old gigging dynamic microphone.
4. Use quality monitor loudspeakers and set them up so that you're at the apex of a roughly equilateral triangle with the monitors pointing directly at you. You don't need to monitor loudly, but you do need enough volume to overcome the physical noise your computer fans and drives make.
5. Use a separate hard drive for audio if at all possible as this will increase the number of tracks you can play back at the same time. This also allows you to defragment, or even reformat, the drive regularly without disturbing your program files. Most modern drives are suitable for audio use, but if in doubt, get a drive that is badged as being suitable for AV applications. The faster the drive you buy, the more tracks you'll be able to play back, though very fast drives may need a special fast SCSI interface card to make the best of their capabilities. If you really can't afford a separate drive, at the very least create a separate partition on your main drive for audio use.
6. When choosing or upgrading a soundcard, try to get one that can provide at least four outputs - and a digital S/PDIF out if you own a DAT machine or Minidisc recorder. This way you can use one pair of outputs for tracks that use software-based plug-in effects while the other output can carry tracks that you want to effect using external processors.
7. Reverb is the most important effect in the studio, and good reverbs take up a lot of computing capacity. For this reason, it may be worth considering buying a soundcard with its own hardware reverb processing, such as the Lexicon Studio, the Yamaha DSP Factory or the Yamaha SW1000XG. The SW1000G also includes onboard synth sounds that can be patched through the same hardware effects as the audio tracks.
8. Unless you are using a fairly sophisticated soundcard with onboard DSP processing, you're likely to experience some latency or delay when monitoring the signal you're currently recording through the system (See Martin Walker's article on the subject in SOS April '99). The new ASIO II drivers will minimise this problem for compatible hardware, but it won't cure the problem in all soundcards. An alternative is to use a small mixer and arrange to monitor the computer's input rather than its output when overdubbing - a separate mixer will usually be needed to combine your audio and external synth/sampler signals anyway.
Monitoring the input source will avoid latency problems, but will mean you have to monitor without plug-in software effects. However, a simple hardware reverb unit is generally all that's needed to put you in the mood for a good performance, and you can probably make use of this when mixing if your card has more than two outputs.
9. Use Antares' Autotune plug-in not only to clean up vocal pitching, but also to tighten up guitar solos (a low-cost VST 'light' version is due very soon). As long as you set a slow enough tracking time, regular playing will be unaffected, but whenever you sustain a note, it will automatically settle on exactly the right pitch. This can be particularly useful for slow pieces that use a lot of string bends. You can also emulate that Cher 'Believe' vocal-type sound extremely convincingly by just setting the tracking speed to maximum and dialling in the correct key for the song rather than leaving Autotune on its Chromatic setting (although of course, Cher's producers claim Autotune was not used on that recordeing - see SOS February '99).
10. One problem that most guitarists come up against is that the computer's monitor interferes badly with the guitar pickups, resulting in a nasty buzz on the recording. Some humbucking pickups are reasonably good at rejecting this buzz providing you don't sit too close to the monitor while recording, but single-coil pickups tend to be very badly affected. One way around this problem is to switch off the monitor just before recording and use keyboard commands to start and stop the recording process.
If you can't switch the monitor off for some reason, sit as far away from it as possible when recording and rotate your position to find the null point where the buzz is least obtrusive. You might also use a noise gate pedal to keep your guitar quiet between phrases. Flat-screen LCD monitors are becoming cheaper and they both save space and eliminate the electromagnetic interference generated by the scan coils of a typical monitor. If you record a lot of guitar, or are short on space, such a monitor could be a good investment.
11. Physical noise is also a problem when miking instruments or voices in the same room as the computer. If possible, turn off unnecessary external drives, CD-ROM burners and so on, as these often make more noise than the main computer, Set up your mic (ideally a cardioid model) as far from the computer as possible and improvise an acoustic screen between the mic and the computer using a duvet or sleeping bag. Also make sure the surface the mic is pointing at is absorptive rather than reflective. Work as close to the mic as you can without compromising the sound (and always use a pop shield for vocals).
12. Virtually all sequencers capable of recording audio have a waveform edit page (though it isn't always called that) where it's possible to highlight and silence selected portions of audio. If background noise was a problem, you can sometimes improve matters by manually silencing all the gaps between words and phrases. This doesn't take as long as you think and can really improve the quality of a recording, especially where there are multiple audio tracks. It's a good idea to normalise your audio recordings before processing them so as to minimise rounding errors at the processing stage, though don't use this as a substitute for getting the record levels right in the first place. Normalising can generally be done from within the waveform edit page.
13. You can also use the Waveform edit page to clean up guitar solos. Often you may end up with an almost perfect take, but perhaps there's too much squeak or finger noise between notes, or maybe you caught the next string just after bending a note. You can use the silence function to surgically remove these little errors, though you may end up with a more natural sound if you leave them where they are but instead reduce them in level by between 6 and 20dB.
14. Try to record all parts dry - don't add reverb or delay unless you really have to. If you need to hear reverb to create a good performance, fake it at the monitoring stage, but don't record it. This way, you'll be able to edit tracks without cutting holes in the echo or delay effects you've added, then when the editing is done, add the necessary delay or echo, which will help hide your edits, making the recording sound quite natural.
15. Plug-ins always take up a certain amount of your computing power, so if you want to add the same delay or reverb-based effects to several tracks, use a single plug-in configured as an aux send processor rather than using a separate Insert plug-in on every track. You can use the Aux Send controls in the same way as those on a regular mixer to add different amounts of the same effect to any tracks you like, all for the CPU overhead of a single plug-in. Note that under normal circumstances, you can't use the aux send with processes such as EQ, compression or gating - these have to be inserts.
16. Often, it's cheaper to buy a hardware reverb unit or signal processor than to buy a decent plug-in that does the same job, and the chances are the hardware unit will still sound better. Don't try to force your software to do everything for you just because it can - very often you'll find you can get a better sound with discrete boxes, and of course they won't load your CPU. Even if you don't have a multi-output soundcard, you can still compress signals as you record them, ideally using a voice channel type of device as described earlier, and the same applies to EQ. Only the best digital Eqs sound as natural as even the most basic analogue equalisers.
17. There are lots of tricks you can do using the audio manipulation facilities provided by your sequencer. These vary from model to model; pitch-changing and time-stretching, which are invaluable for massaging audio sample loops, are supported by most machines. You may also find other tools for level maximizing, denoising and so on. Many of these work off-line, so you can use them even on a slower machine - you just have to wait around a while for the results.
18. Consider using CD-R to backup your audio files along with your song files. Though you can't rewrite a CD-R, they're so cheap now that it doesn't really matter. If you create a 600Mb partition on one of your drives and store (or copy) your audio and song files there, you can back up the entire partition in one go. Of course the same CD-R machine can be used to burn audio CDs of your finished songs.
19. Most computer audio systems run best if you get rid of any superfluous software such as screensavers and games – and make sure you have no more drivers than you actually need (Extensions for Mac users). The cleaner your system, the less likely you are to run into problems. Also, check manufacturers web sites to make sure you have the latest drivers as improvements are being made all the time.
20. Do some tests to find out how many tracks and plug-ins your machine can run without falling over, then try to work with no more than half to two-thirds this number. Most sequencers include some kind of CPU activity monitor to help you. The demands on your CPU aren't constant, and sometimes a lot of heavy processing loads can be imposed at the same time, which can cause a machine running close to its capacity to crash. Your disk drive will also slow down as it fragments, so try to allow for this - you can't be expected to defragment it after every track you recor
COMPUTER VIRUSES, SPYWARE AND MALWARE
This guide is going to be a little unusual, a little bit off the path compared to its predecessors. Between my brief stint working for Best Buy, all the impromptu tech support I've done, and a recent conversation with my father, I've concluded that this guide has been a long time coming. It may have analogues out there in the internet world already, but I haven't seen them and I haven't stumbled upon them.
If you're not going to play smart with your computer, I'm at least going to teach you how to play safe. If you're going to do something stupid, do it smart.
The fact of the matter is that the internet is not safe for your computer. It can be, and with some education, you can have a spyware and virus free computer like I do and many other people do. Most people don't apply common sense to computing because they assume that anything out there is safe, and that's bad. By not thinking, you can do real damage to your machine, and it can be both costly and time-consuming to repair it. And unless you're someone like me or one of the other computer junkies on the NotebookReview.com forums, messing with things you don't understand is a bad idea.I'm not totally trying to instill fear into you as a reader and as a user. Your computer is a wonderful tool and for most users is perfectly safe. I'm also not telling you to go out and spend money on expensive subscription-based software to keep your computer safe. I AM going to tell you how to save potentially hundreds of dollars in service. There are some very simple things you can do to protect yourself.
This guide is principally for Windows users, although most of it is just good computing sense. Macintosh and Linux users aren't going to run into these problems with anywhere near the kind of frequency Windows users are. While you aren't bulletproof and should still practice sound computing, you're also not at as great a risk.
Macintosh users aren't at as great a risk because Mac OS X has excellent security built into it, and because the percentage of Mac users on the market just quite honestly isn't profitable to attack. That's subject to change if Apple Boot Camp has a major effect on the market, however, and please note that if you're running Windows on your Mac - and even Apple warns you about this - you're at the same risk as if you were running it on a regular PC.
Linux users aren't at much risk because Linux tends to be very secure, and because its market share for regular consumers is at least as minor at Mac OS X's. Honestly, Linux is too complicated to get running for the average user; the people who run it can usually either serve as their own tech support or know someone who can (usually the same person that got them into Linux).
MALWARE AND VIRUSES
Spyware and malware are software that gets installed on your system without your consent or even your knowledge, and costs precious computing cycles and resources. While these are almost never fundamentally harmful to the computer itself (outside of dragging its performance to a woeful crawl), they're more of a threat to you, the user. Spyware can log your actions on your machine, including the sites you visit, the e-mail you send, and send it to unscrupulous parties. While most of it is harmless, or at least however harmless you think meticulously tracking someone's internet usage is and reporting it to advertisers can be, it can be an ongoing nuisance and can severely hamper your enjoyment of your computer.
Viruses take care of anything that spyware and malware don't, and it can damage your system, possibly even irreparably. They can corrupt your operating system installation, corrupt your data, and damage your hardware.
These two classes of software are responsible for 90% (arbitrary figure) of the computing problems most users have. In my personal work and in my work at Best Buy, these were the culprits of most problems; as much so that many shops don't even have to actually do anything in particular to fix computers infected with these, they can run software and scripts that remove the harmful software from an afflicted machine. Note, however, that the damage done by that software can have a permanent effect on your operating system that can really only be fixed by reformatting the drive - erasing everything on it and reinstalling the operating system. Note that if you don't know what reformatting is and don't understand EXACTLY the procedure for doing it, don't mess with it. I'll talk more about it in a bit.
NECESSARY SOFTWARE
I'm going to tell you something that's probably going to blow your mind: you don't NEED subscription based spyware/malware software.
I'm going to go further and blow your mind again: you don't NEED to spend money to protect yourself.
The guys at the computer store are going to try and sell you on software packages you don't need. Your computer is going to come with antivirus and antispyware software you don't need. There are just three things you do need to keep your system safe.
Ingredient #1 for keeping your computer safe:
Using a basic, free anti-virus program that runs in the background is a good way to keep your system safe from any virus. While trying to instill a sense of the damage that a virus can do to your system, it's important you understand that antiviral software is less an active protector than it is an insurance policy. We don't keep home insurance because we expect the house to burst into flames; we keep it just in case it does. Here is a list of three popular free antivirus programs for your PC:
* Avast! Home Edition. Free Antivirus Software, for home users, probably the most popular on the web, download and information link: http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html
* AVG Free -- Another good free virus software, you don't have to register to use this like you do with Avast, download and information link: http://free.grisoft.com/doc/1
* AntiVir Personal Edition Classic - Offers the effective protection against computer viruses for the individual and private use on a single PC-workstation. It detects and removes more than 50,000 viruses, download and information link: http://www.snapfiles.com/get/antivir.html
To protect your system from spyware and malware, you'll want to periodically run a combination of free anti-spyware programs. I recommend running Ad Aware AND Spybot; one program can miss spyware the other will detect. Note that these don't need to run on startup; just run scans with them periodically to make sure your system is safe.
Ingredient #2 for keeping your computer safe:
Use Opera or Firefox as a web browser. Either of these two programs will immediately remove most spyware and malware from the equation. A lot of it gets into your system through Internet Explorer. Because IE is so closely integrated with Windows, it leaves plenty of easy ways for these things to get into your system. By not running IE, you've removed yourself from the spyware eating majority. And they're both free. I personally prefer Opera, but actually recommend Firefox to newer users. While Opera is nice, it doesn't have the compatibility of Firefox. Still, try them both and see which one you like better.
Running these two pieces of software is an excellent plan to keep yourself safe on the internet. I want to stress that you do NOT want to buy commercial software. I know it seems logical because a large, money-making, reputable corporation is behind them, but the subscription fees are ridiculous, and the software tends to be bloated and difficult to use.
Ingredient #3 for keeping your computer safe:
Make sure you have Windows XP Service Pack 2 installed. Assuming you're all Windows users, Service Pack 2 substantially bolsters the security of Windows XP. Granted, that isn't saying much, but it says enough. Some of what I'm talking about in this article is going to assume you have Service Pack 2 installed. If you don't, install it by running Windows Update. You may have to install several critical updates from Windows Update before Service Pack 2 appears. Note also that you may want to back up your important data before installing Service Pack 2. While most of the time it's a non-issue, every so often, Service Pack 2 has been known to hose an existing Windows installation.
SURFING THE INTERNET
Web sites with illegal, illicit, or explicit content - mainly pornographic and warez sites - are responsible for the vast majority of the computer viruses and malware on the internet. Warez, for those uninitiated, is free software. By free, of course, I mean pirated. Commercial software posted to the internet and made available for download illegally.
I'm going to save you the trouble with warez right now, as someone with experience with it: don't bother. I'm not sure a warez site actually exists with all this software; it's been my experience that they all just link to each other for hits in Top 100 indexes and no one actually has anything. So don't look for it because you aren't going to find anything.
That leaves pornographic websites. Many people are going to visit these, end of discussion. These are also sites that tend to be rife with spyware and computer viruses. You can guard yourself from this by running antivirus software and using Opera or Firefox. It really is about that simple.
E-MAIL & SPAM
Many of us on Windows use Outlook Express as an email client. I, personally, still use Outlook Express. I've tried other alternatives - Opera, Thunderbird, even Outlook 2002 - and I prefer Outlook Express. That said, Outlook Express is easily the least secure e-mail client available.
Outlook Express has a convenient bar that shows up on the preview pane that you can click to reveal the images in an e-mail you receive.
My advice to you is this: that bar is there for a reason. Do NOT open e-mail or attachments from people you don't know. Oftentimes, you may not even want to open e-mail or attachments from people you DO know unless you're absolutely certain of what it is and where it came from. And do NOT forward chain letters. And all of this applies to that bar on the preview pane. Don't click it unless you know exactly what the e-mail contains and who it comes from. Not following these suggestions puts your system at serious risk for crippling computer viruses and worse still, exposes the people in your address book to those same risks; many computer viruses will automatically mass send themselves to everyone in your address book, which is why you should be cautious even with e-mail from people you know. Especially if those people may not be very computer literate.
Again, running anti-virus software is the right call as well. And if you're nervous, just use web-based e-mail, which is e-mail you access from a website. Comcast and SBC both let you access your e-mail online; all major providers do. And for extra protection, access webmail from Firefox or Opera.
Successfully avoiding spam requires two key ingredients:
First, submit your e-mail address only to sites you know for a fact are reputable. Some communities also let you scramble your displayed e-mail address (LiveJournal), or hide it altogether, which is really ideal. If you MUST submit an e-mail address to something you think is going to be disreputable, I suggest making a second e-mail account using either a free host or your own internet service provider, and using that as your "spam" address.
Second, never reply to spam. I don't care how mad you are at the sender or how much you really don't want to receive it, never reply to spam. Replying to spam will result in confirming your e-mail address, and basically opens the floodgates. Worse still, the e-mail address that sent you the spam is more than likely not even the actual sender, but a computer colloquially referred to as a "zombie" - a computer that has been hijacked by malware to send spam.
FILESHARING AND PIRACY
First of all, this is bad and you all know it. Pirating software, music, and movies is illegal. That said, people still do it, so I'll at least mention what not to do if you do this anyway.
Before I get into that, though, a tip for parents: your kids are probably more versed and more computer literate than you are. This is perfectly normal. I'm going to stand on my soap box here for a second and remind you, then, that the very best preventative measure you can take is to just be a good parent and supervise your childrens' use of the internet.
That said, there are SEVERAL different pieces of filesharing software out there. Probably the ones I've seen hose the most computers are LimeWire, BearShare, and Kazaa. The software clients themselves tend to be full of spyware and honestly, their time has long since passed and their usefulness is limited at best. If you see these on your system or you use them yourself, just get rid of them. Probably the safest piece of file sharing software I've used has been eMule. It's open source and it's clean. Likewise, the user ratings and comments on Cnet can point you in the right direction and usually tell you what software is rife with spyware.
Pirating software has the potential to be extremely dangerous and is not recommended. If you're going to do it, you'd better know how to recover your system if you get a virus or spyware and again, I don't have to remind you of the risks involved with those. The reason pirating software is so dangerous is because software is executable code and when you open it/run it, you're allowing it to do whatever it likes to your system.
Like I said before, the best way to avoid having problems with filesharing and piracy is to not do it at all, but like abstinence and teenagers, that approach doesn't always work.
A BRIEF WORD ON IDENTITY THEFT
Identity theft is becoming a huge problem these days, and that's largely due to the impact the internet has had on society.
One thing you can do to minimize your risk of identity theft is to avoid giving your credit card number to questionable sites for billing anyhow. I'll be extremely blunt here: pornographic sites can be extremely questionable this way, and honestly, most of them charge too much for something you can find for free and in abundance on the internet anyways. If you simply must have your fix, AVI and MPG files off of fileshare aplication eMule are the safest way to fly. The risk is just not reasonable.
A tactic identity thieves will frequently use is spoofing legitimate websites. When eBay, PayPal, Amazon, and so on say they will never ask you again for your credit card information, account numbers, social security number, and so on, they mean it. If you randomly get an e-mail from one of these sites that is asking to confirm any of this information again, it's a spoof site. An easy way to determine this would be to look at the address of the site: spoof sites can't get a "www.ebay.com/confirm" URL or anything similar. All major sites have services you can use to report these spoof sites: do so. You can help bring identity thieves to justice that way, or at the absolute least, make sure that other people don't become victims.
Also note that commercial websites will NEVER ask for your social security number (if you're American). Only services such as health care, insurance, or government related services will ask for it, and even then it is infrequent. Whenever you can avoid divulging your social security number, don't give it out.
CONCLUSION
The internet isn't safe by any stretch of the imagination, but if you follow the tips I've outlined in this guide, and apply a liberal amount of common sense, you can keep your computer safe and running smoothly and avoid costly repairs and down time, as well as losing vital information.
Just like the real world, there are unsafe things we're all going to do on the internet. The best thing we can do is be responsible about it.
Spyware, Mal-ware, And Hijackers
There are a lot of PC users that know little about "Spyware", "Mal-ware", "hijackers", "Dialers" & many more. This will help you avoid pop-ups, spammers and all those baddies.
What is spy-ware?
Spy-ware is Internet jargon for Advertising Supported software (Ad-ware). It is a way for shareware authors to make money from a product, other than by selling it to the users. There are several large media companies that offer them to place banner ads in their products in exchange for a portion of the revenue from banner sales. This way, you don't have to pay for the software and the developers are still getting paid. If you find the banners annoying, there is usually an option to remove them, by paying the regular licensing fee.
Known spywares
There are thousands out there, new ones are added to the list everyday. But here are a few:
Alexa, Aureate/Radiate, BargainBuddy, ClickTillUWin, Conducent Timesink, Cydoor, Comet Cursor, eZula/KaZaa Toptext, Flashpoint/Flashtrack, Flyswat, Gator, GoHip, Hotbar, ISTbar, Lions Pride Enterprises/Blazing Logic/Trek Blue, Lop (C2Media), Mattel Brodcast, Morpheus, NewDotNet, Realplayer, Songspy, Xupiter, Web3000, WebHancer, Windows Messenger Service.How to check if a program has spyware?
The is this Little site that keeps a database of programs that are known to install spyware.
Check Here: http://www.spywareguide.com/product_search.php
If you would like to block pop-ups (IE Pop-ups).
There tons of different types out there, but these are the 2 best, i think.
Try: Google Toolbar (http://toolbar.google.com/) This program is Free
Try: AdMuncher (http://www.admuncher.com) This program is Shareware
If you want to remove the "spyware" try these.
Try: Lavasoft Ad-Aware (http://www.lavasoftusa.com/) This program is Free
Info: Ad-aware is a multi spyware removal utility, that scans your memory, registry and hard drives for known spyware components and lets you remove them. The included backup-manager lets you reinstall a backup, offers and multi language support.
Try: Spybot-S&D (http://www.safer-networking.org/) This program is Free
Info: Detects and removes spyware of different kinds (dialers, loggers, trojans, user tracks) from your computer. Blocks ActiveX downloads, tracking cookies and other threats. Over 10,000 detection files and entries. Provides detailed information about found problems.
Try: BPS Spyware and Adware Remover (http://www.bulletproofsoft.com/spyware-remover.html) This program is Shareware
Info: Adware, spyware, trackware and big brotherware removal utility with multi-language support. It scans your memory, registry and drives for known spyware and lets you remove them. Displays a list and lets you select the items you'd like to remove.
Try: Spy Sweeper v2.2 (http://www.webroot.com/wb/products/spysweeper/index.php) This program is Shareware
Info: Detects and removes spyware of different kinds (dialers, loggers, trojans, user tracks) from your computer.
The best scanner out there, and updated all the time.
Try: HijackThis 1.97.7 (http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html) This program is Freeware
Info: HijackThis is a tool, that lists all installed browser add-on, buttons, startup items and allows you to inspect them, and optionally remove selected items.
If you would like to prevent "spyware" being install.
Try: SpywareBlaster 2.6.1 (http://www.wilderssecurity.net/spywareblaster.html) This program is Free
Info: SpywareBlaster doesn`t scan and clean for so-called spyware, but prevents it from being installed in the first place. It achieves this by disabling the CLSIDs of popular spyware ActiveX controls, and also prevents the installation of any of them via a webpage.
Try: SpywareGuard 2.2 (http://www.wilderssecurity.net/spywareguard.html) This program is Free
Info: SpywareGuard provides a real-time protection solution against so-called spyware. It works similar to an anti-virus program, by scanning EXE and CAB files on access and alerting you if known spyware is detected.
Try: XP-AntiSpy (http://www.xp-antispy.org/) This program is Free
Info: XP-AntiSpy is a small utility to quickly disable some built-in update and authentication features in WindowsXP that may rise security or privacy concerns in some people.
Try: SpySites (http://camtech2000.net/Pages/SpySites_Prog...ml#SpySitesFree) This program is Free
Info: SpySites allows you to manage the Internet Explorer Restricted Zone settings and easily add entries from a database of 1500+ sites that are known to use advertising tracking methods or attempt to install third party software.
If you would like more Information about "spyware".
Check these sites.
http://www.spychecker.com/
http://www.spywareguide.com/
http://www.cexx.org/adware.htm
http://www.theinfomaniac.net/infomaniac/co...rsSpyware.shtml
http://www.thiefware.com/links/
http://simplythebest.net/info/spyware.html
Usefull tools...
Try: Stop Windows Messenger Spam 1.10 (http://www.jester2k.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/j...r2ksoftware.htm) This program is Free
Info: "Stop Windows Messenger Spam" stops this Service from running and halts the spammers ability to send you these messages.
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All these softwares will help remove and prevent evil spammers and spywares attacking your PC. I myself recommend getting "spyblaster" "s&d spybot" "spy sweeper" & "admuncher" to protect your PC. A weekly scan is also recommended
Free Virus Scan
Scan for spyware, malware and keyloggers in addition to viruses, worms and trojans. New threats and annoyances are created faster than any individual can keep up with.
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Having trouble finding what you re looking for on: .? 2020Search will instantly provide you with the result you re looking for by drawing on some of the best search engines the Internet has to offer. Your result is a click away!
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Download the BrowserVillage Toolbar.
Customize your Browser! Eliminate Pop-up ads before they start, Quick and easy access to the Web, and much more. Click Here to Install Now!
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Used PC as the machine fax
Mungkin dari kita semua tidak menyadari bahwa komputer kita yang dirumah atau dikantor bisa dijadikan mesin fax.
Manfaat PC sebagai mesin fax :
1.Hasil fax jauh lebih bagus dibanding mesin fax saat si penerima dokumen menerimanya.
2.Step yang diperlukan lebih pendek dibanding dengan mesin fax.
PC sebagai mesin fax :
Dokumen langsung dikirim melalui aplikasi, misal Word yang bisa langsung di kirim ke alamat penerima fax.
Mesin Fax :
Dokumen dicetak terlebih dahulu baru dikirim menggunakan mesin fax.
3.Fasilitas untuk menyimpan dokumen yang diterima, dan dokumen yang sudah dikirim juga bisa disimpan yang tak mungkin bisa dilakukan oleh mesin fax biasa.
4.Tidak perlu beli mesin fax tentunya, cukup komputer atau laptop dirumah yang sudah dilengkapi dengan modem.
5.Biasanya untuk dokumen yang diterima dari mesin fax di fotocopy dulu baru diarsip hasil fotocopyannya. Karena kertas dengan tulisan hasil fax dalam jangka waktu 3 (tiga) bulan sudah tidak dapat dibaca lagi. Untuk PC yang digunakan sebagai mesin fax ini penerima langsung bisa mencetak ke printer. Dokumen yang dihasilkan juga langsung bisa diarsip.
Komputer yang digunakan dalam setup iniDalam melakukan setup ini penulis menggunakan Windows XP SP 2,
Instalasi dan Konfigurasi Fax
Berikut ini adalah langkah-langkah instalasi Fax pada Windows XP :
1.Klik Start │ Printer and Faxes │ Set up Faxing.
Didalam tampilan Printers and Faxes, klik Set up faxing. Tunggu beberapa saat maka akan muncul dialog box Files Needed.
Masukkan path source dari Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2 didalam Copy filed from, lalu klik OK. Proses Configuring Components berjalan, tunggu sampai selesai.
Maka muncul icon fax pada window printers and fax. 
FILE TRANSFER PROTOCOL (FTP)
FTP merupakan sebuah protocol yang digunakan untuk melakukan pemindahan satu atau lebih file dari suatu local host menuju remote host atau host tujuan. FTP memiliki kemampuan yang tidak terbatas pada pemindahan file saja, namun juga sangat memungkinkan pengguna untuk dapat melakukan remote (pengendalian) secara jarak jauh.
Kemampuan transfer data dari satu komputer ke komputer yang dengan file system yang berbeda merupakan kemampuan lain yang dimiliki oleh FTP. Sebagai contoh, sebuah local host yang menggunakan sistem operasi windows 98 (system file FAT 32) menghubungkan diri dengan sebuah remote host yang menggunakan sistem operasi Mandrake (dengan file system ex2fs). Contoh lain, sebuah mesin local host Red Hat (dengan file system ex3fs) menghubungkan diri dengan sebuah server yang memiliki sistem operasi windows 2003 dengan file sistem NTFS.
Program
Terdapat banyak sekali program aplikasi yang dapat digunakan untuk mengakses protocol ini. Selain program bawaan sistem operasi yang bersifat command (perintah yang diketikan) terdapat sejumlah program aplikasi yang bersifat Grafis User Interface (GUI) seperti WSFTP, FTPpro, FTP Cute, FTP LE dan sebagainya.
Cara (jenis)
Ketika kita menggunakan FTP (sebagai user) terdapat dua jenis atau cara yang dapat dilakukan:
Anonymous
Sistem FTP anonymous sudah sejak lama diciptakan dengan tujuan agar setiap orang yang terkoneksikan ke dalam dunia internet dapat saling berbagi file dengan orang lain yang belum memiliki account dalam server. Dengan sistem ini setiap orang dapat menggunakan sebuah account yang umum (public account) berupa anonymous.
Melihat kondisi diatas yang menggunakan public account, hak yang dimiliki seorang pengguna sangat terbatas kepada aturan-aturan yang dimiliki oleh pemilik server (remote host).
Keterbatasan yang dimiliki ketika pengguna menggunakan jenis FTP anonymous biasanya meliputi keterbatasan dalam proses akses directrory dan file yang tersedia dalam server yang dituju. Selain itu, pengguna yang menggunakan sistem ini tidak dapat melakukan uploading data terhadap server yang dituju. Namun sebaliknya ia hanya memiliki kemampuan dalam downloading, baca file tertentu dan pindah directory yang diizinkan oleh pemilik server.
User legal (authenticated user)
Adalah sebuah cara lain yang digunakan oleh pengguna internet dalam mengakses sebuah server dengan menggunakan FTP. Untuk dapat mengkases remote host, cara user legal (authenticated user) menuntut kita untuk memiliki sebuah account khusus yang dimiliki secara pribadi.
Untuk dapat memiliki account khusus ini, seorang pengguna harus mendaftarkan diri terlebih dahulu kepada pemilik remote host tersebut. Terdapat banyak server yang memberikan fasilitas account FTP secara gratis, selain server lain yang mengharuskan pengguna untuk membeli sebuah account yang tentunya dengan fasilitas yang lebih banyak dibandingkan dengan sebuah account yang dimiliki secara free.
Dengan menggunakan account ini, seorang pengguna memiliki hak akses yang jauh berbeda dengan seorang pengguna jenis anonymous. Selain kemampuan yang dimiliki oleh pengguna anonymous, seperti download dan berpindah dari satu directory ke directory lain serta kemampuan baca file tertentu, uploading, membuat sebuah directory, menghapus file dan directory. Hak yang dimiliki adalah hak seorang pemilik bukan seorang pengunjung biasa.
WSFTP
Merupakan salah satu program aplikasi yang digunakan untuk mengakses sebuah server (remote host). WSFTP merupakan sebuah program aplikasi freeware yang dapat didownload secara gratis di internet.
Bagian utama dari WSFTP ditampilkan seperti gambar diatas, dengan beberapa tombol yang memudahkan pengguna. Pada gambar diatas, local host yang merupakan komputer tempat kita bekerja berada pada bagian sebelah kiri, sedangkan untuk remote host ditempatkan pada sisi kanan.
Local dan remote host
Setiap host (local maupun remote) disediakan beberapa tombol standar yang merupakan representasi dari perintah yang akan diberikan.
§ ChngDir, merupakan tombol yang digunakan untuk mengganti direktori.
§ MkDir, digunakan untuk membuat sebuah direktor.
§ View, digunakan untuk melihat isi dari sebuah file yang secara otomatis akan dibawa ke notepad atau wordpad.
§ Exec, digunakan untuk melakukan eksekusi terhadap suatu file.
§ Rename, untuk mengganti nama file atau direktori.
§ Delete, untuk menghapus satu atau lebih file atau direktori.
§ Refresh, digunakan untuk melakukan refresh terhadap WSFTP.
§ DirInfo, digunakan untuk melihat informasi dari direktori yang terpilih.
Jenis file transfer
Selain tombol diatas terdapat juga dua buah radiobutton yang digunakan untuk menentukan jenis transfer yang dilakukan. Jika transfer yang dilakukan adalah dalam bentuk text maka radiobutton ASCII dapat digunakan, namun sebaliknya jika transfer yang dilakukan dalam bentuk bilangan biner maka radiobutton binnary bisa digunakan. Sedangkan untuk checkbox auto digunakan untuk memilih jenis transfer secara otomatis sesuai dengan jenis file yang akan ditransfer.
Tombol eksekusi
Connect, merupakan sebuah tombol yang digunakan untuk menampilkan session properties untuk mengakses sebuah FTP server.
Cancel, untuk membatalkan koneksi.
LogWnd, untuk menampilkan kotak dialog yang menampilkan message Log.
Help, digunakan untuk memanggil file help yang berisi katalog dan definis.
Option, digunakan untuk menampilkan properties dari WSFTP tersebut.
About, berisi informasi tentang WSFTP.
Exit, untuk mengakhiri dan keluar dari WSFTP.
à , digunakan untuk memindahkan data dari local ke remote host (upload).
ß , digunakan untuk mengambil data dari remote ke local host (download).
Ketika kita memulai program WSFTP kita akan disuguhkan dengan sebuah tampilan kotak dialog session properties seperti gambar berikut.
Kotak dialog session properties memiliki beberapa tab yaitu, tab general, startup, Advanced, Firewall.
1. Tab General
Pada tab general terdapat beberapa pilihan, seperti berikut :
Profile name
Merupakan nama profile pengguna yang akan mengakses suatu remote host (server FTP). Bagian ini dapat kita isi dengan sembarang nama, namun biasanya adalah nama pengguna. Pada bagian ini kita dapat melihat sejumlah server yang memberikan akses kepada pengguna sebagai anonymous.
Host Name/Address
Bagian ini perlu kita isi dengan sebuah nama server, sebagai contoh ftp.ipswitch.com atau alamat sebuah server semisal 224.12.431.124.
Host Type
Bagian ini adalah bagian yang digunakan untuk menentukan type dari remote host yang akan kita tuju. Kita dapat menentukan jenis host tujuan ketika kita sudah mengetahui secara pasti jenis hosy yang dituju, jika tidak maka Automatic Detect pilihan yang seharusnya kita gunakan.
Tipe yang diberikan oleh list WSFTP adalah sebagai berikut : Amiga, AMOS TCP/IP, AOS/VS, Automatic Detect, BULL CP6, BULL GCOS, CDC Cyber, Chameleon, FTP PC/TCP, FTP PC/TCP 3.0, GCOS 6 HVS AIX, Hellsoft, HP/3000, IBM AS/400, IBM MVS, IBM MVS/KNET, IBM OS2, IBM OS2 WARP, IBM PC TCP/IP, IBM R1000, IBM Spartacus KNET., IBM VM, Ipswitch, KA9Q/NOS, MAC NCSA, MAC Peter Server, MAC Versa Term, Microsoft NT, MLSD, Music, NCSA/CUTCP, Netware v4, Novell LWP, OS/9, OS 2200, Pasport 160, PCNFS Pro, PDP11 RSX11M, PRIMOS, QNX2, QVT /Net 2/3, QVT /Net 4.0, Reflection, Serv-U, SI NT FTPD Stratus VOS, Sun Solaris, Super TCP, Tandem, TGV Multinet, Unisys 5000 (EXOS), Unisys A-Series, Uni Tree, UNIX (standard), VMS Mulitnet, VMS UCX, VxWorks, WarFTPD dan WFTPD.
User ID
Bagian ini berisi nama account kita yang terdapat dalam sebuah server FTP. Sebagai contoh nahli.t35.com. Sedangkan untuk pengguna umum, bagian ini diisi dengan anonymous, diikuti dengan mengaktifkan check box anonymous. Sebaliknya jika kita sebagai salah satu pemilik account (authenticated user), kita non aktifkan pilihan Anonymous.
Password
Merupakan kata kunci yang digunakan untuk memasuki FTP server. Bagian ini merupakan salah satu bagian authentikasi yang diberikan selain username. Check Box Save Pwd merupakan pilihan yang digunakan untuk menyimpan password yang dimasukan, sehingga suatu saat kita menggunakan WSFTP kembali kita tidak perlu memasukan ulang password tersebut.
Account
Digunakan jika sebuah FTP server membutuhkan sebuah accoun, account yang harus dimasukan adalah sesuai dengan USER ID. Biasanya account ini digunakan untuk VM/CMS. Account digunakan sebagai inisialisasi password untuk folder default seorang pengguna.
Comment
Merupakan bagian komentar yang bersifat optional.
New dan Delete
New merupakan tombol yang dapat digunakan untuk membuat sebuah profile baru, sedangkan tombol delete merupakan sebuah tombol yang digunakan untuk menghapus profile yang terdapat dalam list.
2. Tab Startup
Initial Remote Site Folder
Merupakan bagian yang digunakan untuk menentukan lokasi defaul direktori atau folder dari remote host.
Initial Local Folder
Digunakan untuk menentuka lokasi default sebuah direktori atau folder dari local host.
Initialize Command
Digunakan untuk memberikan sebuah aksi default ketika kita melakukan sebuah akses terhadap FTP server sesuai dengan perintah yang diberikan. Untuk memberikan beberapa perintah sekaligus, lambang semi-colon (;) dapat diberikan diantara perintah.
File mask
Bagian ini digunakan untuk membatasi tampilan baik pada local host maupun pada remote host. Batasan ini sesuai dengan batasan (filtering) yang kita berikan. Sebagai contoh *.txt berarti bahwa kita hanya menampilkan file yang memiliki ektensi (akhiran) txt.
Time Offset in hours
Digunakan ketika terdapat perbedaan waktu antara waktu server FTP dengan local host. Kita dapat memasukan waktu untuk menambahkan tanggal dan waktu ke dalam file untuk selanjutnya diubah sesuai dengan waktu lokal.
3. Tab Advanced
Connection retry
Merupakan bagian yang digunakan untuk menentukan sejumlah usaha yang dapat dilakukan untuk memasuki server FTP jika koneksi yang dibangun pertama kali gagal. Nilai yang dapat digunakan berkisar 0 sampai 40 kali percobaan.
Network Timeout
Digunakan untuk menentukan durasi waktu hidup ketika menunggu atau merespon perintah yang diberikan. Nilai yang dapat digunakan adalah 5 – 120 detik.
Remote port
Bagian ini adala bagian yang menentukan lubang port yang digunakan untuk melakukan koneksi (akses) oleh FTP. Secara default nilai port yang diberikan untuk sebuah koneski FTP adalah 21.
Passive Transfer
Check box ini digunakan untuk client yang berada dibelakang mesin firewall atau gateway.
4. Tab Firewall
Tab ini digunakan jika kita menggunakan komputer yang berada di belakang mesin firewall. Sebelum menggunakan tab ini sebaiknya hubungi admin jaringan yang ada untuk mendapatkan beberapa informasi yang dibutuhkan.
Jenis Firewall
· "SITE hostname", kita akan membutuhkan informasi untuk sebuah isian Host Name (or alamat ) and User Name (ID).
· "Transparent" firewall type, kita membutuhkan User Name (ID) and Password.
· "USER with no logon" atau "Proxy OPEN" firewall types, kita akan membutuhkan informasi untuk isian Host Name (or Address). Sementara User Name and Password akan diabaikan.
· "USER after logon," "USER remoteID@remoteHost fireID," "USER fireID@remoteHost," atau "USER remoteID@fireID@remoteHost", kita akan membutuhkan Host Name (or Address), User Name (ID), dan Password.
Host Name.
Bagian ini merupakan bagian yang perlu diisi dengan nama atau alamat dari mesin firewall.
User ID.
Masukan salah satu account yang dimiliki dalam mesin firewall atau biarkan kosong jika kita tidak memiliki account dalam mesin tersebut.
Password.
Merupakan kata kunci dari account yang dimasukan pada bagian User ID. Jika kita tidak memiliki account, maka passwordnya pun gak bakalan punya.
Save Password.
Untuk menyimpan password yang dimiliki pada mesin firewall ketika kita menggunakan WSFTP sehingga kita tidak perlu menulis ulang
Port.
Digunakan untuk menentukan nomor port firewall.
Cookie Pada Browser
Inti utama dalam permasalahan keamanan privacy di Internet adalah adanya kegiatan kegiatan gelap dalam suatu Web Site yang pada umumnya tidak diketahui oleh user dalam mengumpuli informasi secara personal untuk melakukan pencurian dengan menggunakan teknologi yang disebut dengan “Cookie ”. Ini merupakan suatu tindakan yang tidak merusak secara teknologi dimana memungkinkan sebuah web site dapat mengumpulkan informasi mengenai user dan semua kelakuan browsing-nya pada internet. Karena adanya Cookie maka user seharusnya dapat menghilangkan atau menolak semua Cookie yang akan ditempatkan pada browser, ini dapat dilakukan dengan mengetahui bagaimana kerja dari Cookie dan bagaimana kita dapat menjaga kinerja browser kita tanpa Cookie tersebut.
Cookie diciptakan oleh Netscape pada tahun 1994 yang diharapkan dapat menjadi suatu desain mengenai solusi teknis untuk membuat user lebih tahu mengenai Web dengan baik. Cookie adalah sebuah text file dengan ukuran maksimum 4k yang diletakkan pada server dalam sebuah hard disk user. Cookie diletakkan pada informasi HTML yang dilalui oleh computer user dan sebuah server Web. Cookie pada umumnya berjalan pada CGI script sehingga dapat diatur dan dibaca oleh Javascript. walaupun kita tidak terlalu akrab dengan HTML, kita juga dapat mengerti script yang dipakai untuk mengatur Cookie seperti berikut :
Set-Cookie :NAME=VALUE;expires=DATE;
Path=PATH;domain=DOMAIN_NAME:
Secure
Cookie pertama kali didesain untuk sesi user yang memiliki life span yang sama, tetapi kebanyakan Web server mengatur batas waktu dari life span sehingga Cookie menjadi file yang permanen didalam hard drive user.
Cookie didasarkan pada Web Site Cookie Central (www.Cookie -central.com) yang disebut dengan two-stage process. Pertama, mereka akan disimpan didalam hard drive user ketika user masuk kedalam sebuah alamat web site dan menampilkan halaman web site tersebut. Sebagai contoh, ketika user memutuskan untuk masuk ke dalam www.lycos.com maka akan terbentuk sebuah Cookie account yang ditempatkan pada hard drive user. Dalam pembuatan sebuah account, seseorang harus memasukkan nama, tanggal lahir, alamat surat dan email. Pada point ini, Lycos telah mengirim sebuah text file kedalam hard drive user dan memasukkan sebuah identifikasi unik yang akan mengidentifikasi browser dari user secara umum.
Cookie dapat memiliki life span dan berbagai informasi tersimpan yang berbeda, tetapi secara umum sebuah Cookie berisikan sebuah identifikasi yang unik yang merupakan domain name dari site yang menciptakan Cookie tersebut, dan beberapa variabel dan nilai spesifik dari site tersebut dan juga Cookie memiliki lifespan yang tidak tentu. Pada gambar 1 menunjukkan file Cookie yang dibuat pada hard drive penulis yang isinya kebanyakan tidak dimengerti. Didalam web server yang telah terdapat Cookie tersebut berisikan informasi personal termasuk site preference, kelakuan browsing, dan banyak lagi. Meskipun banyak dari web site telah memasukkan daftar file-file yang telah terdaftar pada TRUSTe seal program yang telah memiliki kebijakan keamanan privacy, tetapi ini merupakan suatu jenis penyimpanan informasi yang tak dikenal dalam sebuah Cookie pada hard drive user yang telah diberi peringatan kepada umum.
Tahap kedua dalam proses Cookie termasuk juga transfer data secara sembunyi dari komputer user ke web server. Didalam file contoh, user tidak harus menyimpan ulang password atau informasi detail lainnya ketika masuk kembali kedalam web site yang telah terdapat file Cookie karena web server telah mengenali browser dari user dan dapat mengambil kembali informasi yang telah disimpan pada sesi sebelumnya
Gambar 1. Contoh File Cookie pada Microsoft Internet Explorer
Dasar teori
A. Apa yang dapat dilakukan Cookie
Telah dijelaskan sebelumnya, Cookie pada awalnya dibuat Netscape untuk memudahkan penyimpanan password dan preference dari user. Tetapi, dengan bertambahnya jumlah dari web site dan pertumbuhan e-commerce telah menciptakan tekanan pada perusahaan internet untuk membuat perbedaan dengan menyediakan layanan dan membuat “pengalaman user” terhadap web site tersebut. Misalnya, pada hari-hari sebelumnya, station gas melakukan perang harga dan juga memberikan layanan seperti bensin gratis dan pemeriksaan tekanan ban. Bagaimanapun juga kompetisi ini dilakukan secara lokal dan terbatas pada area geografis. Area global yang dapat dicapai oleh internet telah membuat kompetisi dengan sengit dimana sebuah web site akan mempertahankan konsumennya.
Dikarenakan Cookie merupakan suatu tool untuk melihat kelakuan browsing dari konsumen pada suatu web site maka mengakibatkan reaksi yang tidak diantisipasi atas penggunaan Cookie terhadap konsekuensi publik. Penggunaan Cookie secara umum digambarkan sebagai berikut :
1. Site Personalization.
Telah dijelaskan sebelumnyaa, Cookie dapat menyimpan ID dan password dari user dan juga menunjukkan preference-nya baik itu untuk mengetahui berita sport terbaru dan secara langsung masuk kedalam halaman bisnis dimana mereka dapat mengetahui stock quota terakhir. Personalisasi seperti ini yang banyak dihadapi, dimana Internet dapat menempatkan sebuah impersonal medium dan memungkinkan digunakan sebuah metode untuk membedakannya dengan user yang iseng.
2. Shopping Cart System
Shopping cart system digunakan akhir-akhir ini dengan cara melakukan sistem order secara on-line. Ini memungkinkan user untuk browsing ke toko, melakukan pilihan, dan melakukan pembelian tanpa harus meninggalkan rumah. Dalam mengingat pengorderan dalam suatu web site dari satu sesi ke sesi lain, Cookie dapat digunakan menjadi suatu mekanisme penyimpanan dalam bentuk katalog. Aktifitas ini dapat tempatkan pada konsumen dimana sebuah web site dapat memberikan rekomendasi kepada konsumen berdasarkan pembelian-pembelian terdahulu. Penggunaan Cookie menjadi popular pada web site book store dan music vendor dimana produk tersebut dapat disarankan pada konsumen.
3. Tracking Web Site Behavior
Banyak web site mengikuti footprint dari user yang telah melintasi web site mereka. Tekanan terhadap pengembangan sebuah web site telah mencapai tahap dalam mengikuti kelakuan konsumen mereka untuk pengembangan desain mereka. Sebagai contoh, mereka dapat mengetahui bagaimana konsumen (beberapa konsumen yang dijadikan objek survei) mengakses halaman tertentu pada situs mereka, dan juga halaman yang sering mereka akses .
4. Targeted Marketing
Jika seorang user melihat direktori Cookie -nya, dia akan mengetahui domain name dari site yang pernah dikunjungi. File-file ini dibuat oleh perusahaan untuk mengetahui jumlah pengunjung dan seberapa sering mereka mengakses situs perusahaan tersebut. Sebuah perusahaan akan meletakkan pada billboard mereka seberapa sering konsumen mengakses situs mereka dan mengetahui efek yang ada. Maka perusahaan marketing seperti DoubleClick.Inc dan Interse Corporation membeli dan menempatkan situs mereka pada yahoo.com dan menjual kembali kepada perusahaan yang akan membayar untuk sewa ruang pada yahoo.com. Targer dari marketer kemudian membuat suatu perjanjian dengan menempatkan Cookie pada komputer user sebagai browsing visitor dan menyimpan informasi serta kelakuan dari pengunjung tersebut tanpa sepengetahuan user. Targerted Marketer menjual kembali informasi tersebut kepada pihak ketiga yang mengumpulkan informasi-informasi sebelumnya dan menciptakan profile konsumen secara dinamik. Ini merupakan penggunaan Cookie yang tidak disukai oleh konsumen dan melanggar privacy dari konsumen tersebut.
Pendapat-pendapat yang ada mengenai Cookie , bagaimanapun juga mendapatkan perhatian yang kurang dari konsumen terhadap cara kerja Cookie dalam menyimpan pengalaman browsingnya dan dapat mengurangi kejengkelan terhadap advertisement yang tidak diinginkan. Cookie dapat memberikan suatu kepercayaan dimana Cookie tersebut dapat membantu mereka dalam mengetahui apa yang telah mereka lakukan dan semua kelakuannya browsing dari konsumen tersebut. Bagaimanapun juga, menurut Pew Survey, hanya 27% dari responden merasa penelusuran kelakuan mereka tersebut melalui Cookie sangat membantu.
Mitos yang terdapat pada Cookie
Beberapa cerita yang secara terus menerus mengenai Cookie yangg dapat menghapus file-file dari hard drive user pada kenyataannya tidak benar. Kontroversi yang mengelilingi Cookie tentang bahaya yang dapat dilakukan Cookie terhadap sebuah komputer, dan juga Cookie merupakan suatu jalan yang dapat memberikan informasi mengenai user. Diluar ketakutan atas Cookie , berikut daftar mitos Cookie yang harus perhatikan :
1. Cookie dapat mengakses hard drive
Cookie merupakan text file, bukan executable file. Mereka memainkan peran pasif dalam penyimpanan data dan tidak memungkinkan dalam men-scan hard drive, membaca direktori, menghapus file, atau membuat beberapa pengaturan dalam mempertahankan informasi. Untuk alasan tersebut maka Cookie tidak memungkinkan dapat menyebarkan virus komputer yang merupakan mitos lain tentang Cookie .
2. Cookie dari satu Web site dapat diakses oleh situs lain.
Sebuah Cookie dapat diakses hanya oleh domain tempatnya berada.
3. Cookie dapat me-retrive alamat e-mail
Hanya satu cara yang dapat digunakan jika user memasukkan alamat e-mail dan alamat tersebut disimpan pada Cookie .
4. Cookie berarti juga penelusuran web site user
Cookie dapat menjadi data tag yang mengidentifikasi individu tetapi tidak berarti mengorbankan informasi dari usernya. Bagaimanapun juga mereka mengakses sebuah web site, mereka menampakan ISP-nya, operating sistem dan browser , alamat IP, dan informasi yang lain mengenai hardware dan software yang digunakan. Meskipun informasi jenis ini tidak boleh diperlakukan untuk mengidentifikasi seseorang, user seharusnya sadar jika ia mengakses sebuah web site, itu berarti ia membuka jalan untuk membocorkan data.
Cookie Management
A. Bagaimana Cookie dapat menghancurkan
Secara umum pendapat-pendapat mengenai penggunaan Cookie oleh browser producer seperti Netsccape dan Microsoft memberikan pendapat kepada user bagaimana Cookie digunakan pada komputer mereka. Pengaturan Cookie tergantung pada browser dan versi browser yang digunakan, pengaturan ini memungkinkan untuk sebuah browser menolak adanya Cookie . Versi browser sebelumnya mengharuskan user untuk menolak Cookie (browser versi 4.0 kebawah). Tetapi versi berikutnya memungkinkan user untuk memiliki pilihan dalam memperlakukan Cookie . Ini juga termasuk basic command dimana user dapat menggunakan command “disable Cookie”, sehingga kita dapat menghilangkan Cookie pada komputer kita berdasarkan personal privacy. Kita dapat menyadarkan konsumen terhadap cara kerja Cookie kepada konsumen dengan memberikan catatan mengenai Cookie dan mengizinkan konsumen untuk melakukan pilihan terhadap penggunaan Cookie tersebut.
Pengaturan untuk men-disable-kan Cookie tergantung pada browser dan versi browsernya sebagai berikut :
1. Netscape 3.0
- Select menu Options
- Select Network Preferences, kemudian Protocols
- Dibawah Show an alert before accepting a Cookie , check pada button option
2. Netscape Communicator 4.0
- Click Edit pada task bar
- Pilih Preferences
- Click Advanced
- Pilih pilihan untuk accept all, accept selected atau accept none pada box berlabel Cookie
3. Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0
- Pilih View
- Pilih Options
- Pilih Edvanced
- Check pada box : Warn before accepting Cookie
4. Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0
- Pilih View
- Pilih Internet Options
- Click tab Advanced
- Scroll down pada icon yellow exclamation dibawah Security
- Pilih salah satu dari tiga pilihan untuk mengatur penggunaan Cookie
5. Internet Explorer 5.0
- Pilih Tools
- Pilih Internet Options
- Click tab Security
- Click Internet
- Pilih Custom Level
- Scroll down pada Cookie dan pilih satu diantara dua pilihan yang ada
Situs yang berhubungan dengan masalah privacy seperti www.junkbusters.com menganjurkan para user untuk men-disable-kan Cookie kecuali untuk keperluan tertentu. Mereka juga merekomendasikan penggunaan program Internet Junkbuster mereka yang ditempatkan antara browser user dan internet. Layanan ini memeriksa HTTP request yang keluar dari masing-masing sumber (termasuk juga grafik) yang berlawanan dengan daftar URL advertiser dimana user sebelumnya memilih untuk tidak melihat dari web site Junkbuster.com. Jika program Junkbuster memutuskan bahwa user tidak akan melihat advertisement yang spesifik, maka ia akan melakukan blok transmisi dari isi browser user. Didalam Internet Junkbuster juga terdapat beberapa tool anti Cookie yang disediakan untuk user. Sebagai contoh Cookie central, memberikan sejumlah tool pada situs mereka (www.Cookie central.com) yang memberikan saran kepada user untuk melawan Cookie , antara lain :
1. Cookie Web Kit.
Penggunaan dari sebuah batch file yang sederhana (.bat), tool ini akan secara otomatis menghapus file Cookie meskipun user melakukan booting pada komputernya.
2. Cookie Pal
Sebuah sistem manajemen yang memungkinkan user untuk secara otomatis menerima atau menolak Cookie dari situs-situs yang dipilih.
3. Zdnet Cookie Master 2
Tool ini akan melakukan pengawasan terhadap komputer user, memberikan akses kepada user atas Cookie termasuk juga kemampuan untuk menghapus file Cookie .
4. Cookie Crusher 1.5 The Limit Software
Tool ini akan secara otomatis menolak Cookie pada Netscape Navigator atau Microsoft Internet Explorer dengan eliminasi file Cookie berdasarkan atas respon terhadap Cookie alert.
5. Luckman’s Anonymous Cookie
Sebuah utility gratis yang memungkinkan user meng-disable-kan semua Cookie pada direktori atau file Cookie .
6. Buzof
Tool ini akan menghapus peringatan atas Cookie dengan mengizinkan user untuk menutup secara otomatis dialog atau message box yang tidak diinginkan.
IDcide Privacy Companion
Satu pendekatan inovatif dalam mengatur masalah Cookie berasal dari IDcide (www.idcide.com) yang biasa disebut Privacy Companion. Ini merupakan jenis tool pertama yang memperingati user ketika mereka sedang ditelusuri.
Kebanyakan program didesain untuk menghilangkan Cookie , termasuk tool diatas, yang tidak dapat memberikan tingkat pengontrolan yang diperlukan oleh user untuk membuat keputusan secara real-time mengenai seberapa besar kesediaan mereka memberikan informasi. Privacy companion memungkinkan user untuk memberikan keputusan untuk memasukkan atau menolak Cookie dengan menggunakan mouse ketika mereka sedang ditelusuri. Sehingga user tidak harus menolak semua Cookie dari setiap situs yang dikunjungi atau dengan mengubah setting pada browser nya.
Keuntungan dari produk ini tak dapat disangsikan lagi. Kebanyakan orang tidak menyadari ketika mereka sedang melakukan surfing di internet, mereka sedang berada dalam pengawasan. Situs internet mengumpulkan setiap informasi tentang surfer. Dengan adanya privacy companion memungkinkan user untuk mengontrol informasi yang ada harus diberikan atau tidak.
Privacy companion merupakan software tambahan gratis yang dapat dimasukkan pada Microsoft Internet Explorer versi 4 dan 5, dengan menggunakan Windows 95/98, NT 4 dan Windows 2000.
Tool ini sangat efektif untuk menghindari Cookie yang tidak diinginkan yang direncanakan oleh jaringan tracking dari pihak ketiga seperti DoubleClick. Ketika mengunjungi suatu situs yang merupakan salah satu anggota dari tracking network, maka Cookie akan ditempatkan pada komputer user untuk mendapatkan informasi mengenai aktifitas user di Internet. DoubleClick merupakan situs yang biasa dijadikan contoh dari network tracking dimana privacy companion memberikan jalan keluarnya. Ketika sedang mengunjungi suatu situs yang telah termasuk tracking network, maka privacy companion akan memblok semua Cookie yang tidak diinginkan dan memberikan peringatan bahwa user sedang ditelusuri (being tracked). Tool ini juga akan memberikan informasi tentang situs yang telah mencoba melakukan penelusuran.
Privacy companion berfungsi untuk mendeteksi Cookie dan secara otomatis memblok tempat penyimpanan dalam komputer user. Dengan memfokuskan pada Cookie yang telah menetap/tersimpan pada hard drive(persistent Cookie ) , maka kita akan dapat menerima layanan secara personal pada situsnya dengan penempatan Cookie tanpa harus takut pada situs lain yang sedang memonitoring aktifitas kita, sedangkan nonpersistent Cookie hanya ada selama sesi browsing yang kita lakukan.
Cookie -Cookie browser merupakan sumber yang terus menerus dinyatakan sebagai suatu argument yang tidak berbahaya dan dapat dijadikan suatu alasan browsing menjadi lebih baik, pernyataan tersebut yang hanya akan terlihat sebagai target suatu produk yang disukai oleh konsumen.
Pendapat-pendapat mengenai privacy tentang internet, pada sisi lain, menggambarkan Cookie sebagai suatu tool rahasia yang tersembunyi pada komputer user yang secara kita sadari mengganggu setiap aktifitas kita, dimana user cukup takut mengenai privacy yang dipunyai akan terganggu.
Ketika program mengenai Cookie -blocking pada di web menggunakan “all or none” dalam salah satu pendekatan mengenai Cookie , maka Privacy companion menawarkan tiga mode pilihan mengenai privacy yang merubah surfing kita pada satu situs sehingga kita dapat melihat ketika suatu situs tracking aktif dan yang mencoba melakukan tracking.
Tiga mode privacy yang ada sebagai berikut :
- No privacy lets everyone track you
- Medium privacy blocks third-party tracking network Cookie
- High privacy blocks all Cookie
Untuk permasalahan privacy internet menempatkan Privacy companion kedalam suatu kelas tersendiri untuk mengatasi permasalahan user dalam masalah Cookie di internet.
Kesimpulan
Terdapat sedikit organisasi, termasuk staunchest privacy advocacy group yang memberikan pernyataan bahwa Cookie termasuk kategori yang tidak sah secara hukum karena Cookie digunakan secara tiba-tiba dan tanpa adanya notifikasi terlebih dahulu yang banyak digunakan untuk memperkenalkan suatu produk tertentu dan layanan yang diperlukan dan disukai user tanpa sepengatahuan user itu sendiri. Tapi bagaimanapun juga, user harus memiliki pilihan untuk menerima/menggunakan Cookie atau tidak. Dalam pilihan “opt in” Cookie seharusnya tidak diperbolehkan kecuali sesuai dengan permintaan user. Pada “opt out” user diberikan pelajaran mengenai peraturan tentang Cookie di internet dan diberikan tool-tool untuk meng-nonaktif-kan Cookie , dan seharusnya tool tersebut sudah terdapat pada browser-browser pada versi terbaru.
Untuk tetap menggunakan internet meskipun telah menolak penggunaan Cookie, kita harus mempunyai alternative lain untuk mengindentifikasi pengunjung yang berulang untuk akomodasi preferensi mereka. Satu keuntungan Cookie adalah ketika melakukan halaman log-in, Cookie dapat digunakan sebagai autentifikasi user dan menerima semua preferensi mereka. Ini merupakan suatu ide pada My Yahoo! dan situs-situs lain
