I’ve touched on firewalls in a slew of articles. I’ve recommended getting a firewall, either hardware-based or software-based, to protect your data, specially when you’re accessing the Internet. If you’ve followed my advice, you’ve probably set up your own firewall by now. What I haven’t tackled is how you would ensure that your firewall is […]

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Virtual private networks, or VPNs, offers a way of communicating securely over public networks such as the Internet. VPNs sprang out of the growing demand for cheaper alternatives to dedicated connections or leased lines, the lifeblood of large corporations in the recent past, but which were expensive, if not difficult, to maintain.
Encryption technology has […]

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Many people use PCs at work and at home. If you’re one of these people, there might come a time when you need to access your home PC from work or vice-versa. Or if you’re a tech-savvy person who works in a small office with no dedicated IT support personnel, you might find yourself supporting […]

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If you have a PC at home running Windows, chances are, like most people, you mainly use it for word processing and surfing the web, at the very least. Editing pictures and videos are other common activities among home PC users, before these pictures and videos get posted on the web for viewing on such […]

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Setting up an FTP server in Windows is easy. However, before we start walking you through the process, let’s ask ourselves a few questions first. What’s FTP? And why would we need an FTP server?
FTP, for file transfer protocol, is a method for transferring files over a network, including the Internet. The principle behind FTP […]

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In another article (see Wireless network security basics), I explained, in general terms, the proper way to configure security for your wireless network. This article, a follow-up to that one, will explain in detail what you need to do to set up Wi-Fi Protected Access, or WPA, on your wireless network.
First, a short explanation of […]

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If you’re planning to build a wireless network, or even if you already have one, be aware that your security requirements are different than if you’re on a traditional wired network. This is because wireless networks, by their very nature, are more insecure than their wired counterparts. Other wireless users, particularly those within 1,000 feet […]

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If you’re one of the millions of mobile workers who can’t live without your laptop around, you’d probably made use of hotspots for accessing the Internet. JiWire Hotspot Helper, a revolutionary product in my view, was designed with you in mind.
Formerly known as SpotLock, JiWire Hotspot Helper touts the following features: an on-demand hotspot finder […]

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Tweaking the registry is one of the more effective ways to speed up your Windows PC’s performance. However, most people are wary of tinkering with the registry, with good reason. For one, you might mess up your system’s internals if you’re not careful, possibly preventing your PC from booting up properly after making changes to […]

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One of the things I would advise you to do on a regular basis is to back up your data files. You would appreciate the importance of backups once you find yourself a victim of a hard disk crash, or some other problem in which your PC fails to boot up. If you have a […]

Posted in Software, Windows or Vista ~ 1 Comment