How to Stay Safe on the Internet Keeping Yourself and Your Family Safe Online... It is important to know how to keep yourself and your family safe from online predators.  The best defence in this case is education!  Educate yourself and your loved ones on how to use the Internet and all its beneficial potential – safely.  We've posted some useful links below to some very important websites... sites to help you and your family learn what you can do to enjoy your online experience without worry. www.cybertip.ca – A Canadian company dedicated to the prevention of sexual internet crimes.  Excellent sections devoted to education, prevention and for reporting incidents with great success stories. www.safecanada.ca – A Government of Canada; website with a section dedicated to Internet Safety Keeping Your Files Safe... Probably the number one hot topic these days... How to keep yourself safe and your computer safe on the internet.  OK so here's the breakdown.  We've all heard of Viruses and what they can do.  Did you know there's more out there?  There are such things as spyware, malware , grayware and adware that can cause unwanted side effects for your computer.  At Ottawa Computer Services, we can help protect your computer data from being affected with the latest tools and state of the art technology. Ottawa Computer Services specializes in securing home and small office networks, configuring desktop firewall products and installing and configuring the latest anti-virus / anti-spyware /adware / malware products. And we can certainly find a solution for you... just ask us!   Online Banking – Myths, Facts and Concerns... Firstly, there's absolutely no reason on-line banking can't be a safe and user friendly venture.  In fact, most financial institutions will be pleased to give you all the information you'll need to perform safe online banking... and it's very important to follow the advice they give you.  Here's a brief recap of what most will tell you... Ensure the website you're on is indeed your Bank's secure web site and not a rogue site.  If you're unsure, call your bank and ask them for the proper URL(web link). Ask your financial institution what level of encryption their website is using to protect your personal data.  Anything less than 128-bit encryption over an SSL connection is unacceptable by today's standards. Make sure your Anti-Virus/Internet Security software is up to date and turned ON at all times.  You need to protect yourself from Phishing Scams. Remember, you are responsible for keeping your access card numbers, pin numbers and any other banking information safe.
	Getting the Computer Performance You Paid For... There are a TON of things you can do to keep your computer running at peak performance. Software Enhancements... A lot of these things are simple and require almost NO effort.  Here are a few (these apply only to MS Windows™ users): Clearing your Web Browser's Cache Defragmenting the Data on your Hard Disk Drive Keep Windows™ up to date with Latest Patches from Microsoft™ Keep your Anti-Virus/Security Solution updated: Symantec (Norton), McAfee, TrendMicro PC-cillin, Grisoft AVG, Avast. Hardware Enhancements / Upgrades... When thinking about upgrading your Computer's hardware, you should keep a few things in mind... First – Assess your computer performance needs before making any decisions. Second – Read user product reviews and get acquainted with the pros and cons of the product. Third – be sure to shop around!  The computer hardware industry can be quite cut-throat.  Finding someone with a great price on the product doesn't mean they'll be inexpensive when it comes to installation and support.  Try to find the vendor that best suits your needs. Ottawa Computer Services will do all the leg work for you – at no cost or obligation to you – promise!  Based on your needs and applications,  we'll give you a recommendation for software and hardware products that would best suit you.  Not only that, but we quote using prices from our Preferred Vendors – which will include installation costs.
	Getting Connected - Cyber Space... Most Common Connection Issues... ·         Getting connected to the Internet   o        Dial-up and High Speed   ·         Staying connected   ·         Getting your Home Network setup   OK... So there's obviously way too much we could write about here for each topic, but... if you need help with any of these situations, please contact us.  Ottawa Computer Services has the tools needed to ensure you get connected the right way – the first time.
	Data Backup and Recovery Is it Easy? Backing up your data actually is relatively easy!  The main thing to do to keep this process easy is to keep your data all (documents, music, video's, etc.) all in the same place.  And fortunately Microsoft's operating system does this for us already!  Now all you have to remember is never to keep your backup files in the same location as your data. How do I backup my data? There are many ways to back up your data.  You can put it on a DVD/CD, a removable drive, use online storage space, or even to another physical disk within your computer. Talk to us to find out which solution best fits your requirements. Recovering "Lost" Data... When it comes to getting your data from your backup, the biggest thing to be careful about is making sure you're not overwriting newer data with older files.  Make sure you only restore what you need.