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ABC Nightlife 15 December 2006 | |
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Posted 2 January 2007 The
last Nightlife for the year looked at Windows Vista, the successor to Windows
XP. Our callers asked about wireless networking, Macs vs PC, data recovery and
stopping teenagers accessing websites. We also mentioned the
passing of Al Shugart, the inventor of the floppy and hard drives and Microsoft
Window's 21st birthday. Michael called in about
his daughter circumventing his PC-Cillin firewall by using USA Tunnel. This
site is used to get around website restrictions and is very popular with teenagers.
We strongly recommend avoiding this site due to the spyware driven adverts,
this is another reason why we recommend only giving kids restricted profiles.
Trend Micro have instructions
on their website how to block this site and others. If you aren't using
PC-Cillin, you can block
sites using the hosts file. This requires a little PC knowledge and you
should be sure of what you are doing, if you don't then call a tech.
Fifteen years later, Microsoft
is releasing the latest version of Windows. Naturally we'll be seeing a lot
of marketing around this new product. Like all marketing, it needs to be treated
carefully.
There's no doubt Windows Vista will add improvements and be a success, but like
all new computer releases it's best to wait to allow the industry to get used
to the new system. Being the first to buy a new system means being the first to
deal with new problems and bugs.
Our advice is to wait at least six months before buying Vista. If you do, we'd
suggest buying it as part of a new system and avoid upgrading an existing Windows
XP system. Whatever you do, you should not update simply to overcome problems
on your existing systems.
Mac
or PC
Judith raised the old question of Mac or PC. The quick answer to this question
is what do your friends, relatives and colleagues use? Using the same system as
your peers saves a lot of problems and means you have quick IT support if you
hit trouble.
While peer support is the main reason for choosing between the two, there are
some significant differences between the two. The Mac is far more secure than
Windows PCs, while Windows systems are generally cheaper than Macs. We look into
the differences on this web page.
Wireless
Networking
John asked about wireless
networking. Wireless is touted as the technology to liberate your PC from wires,
unfortunately we find they work 50% of the time. Factors such as concrete, sandstone
and marble slabs and walls, mirrors, water, windows, neighbouring systems, cordless
phones and microwave ovens can all interfere.
For working wireless networks security
is important. Despite the propaganda, wireless networks can never be as secure
as wired networks. It is possible to make it difficult for all but the most determined
and skilled hackers to get onto your system.
The first step is to encrypt
the signal. The older system is Wired Equivalent Privacy which will protect from
the neighbour accidentally logging on, but offers little protection from amateur
hackers. The newer system, Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) is far more secure,
but requires a good long passkey.
The second line of defence is MAC address filtering. All network devices have
their own unique MAC address, most wireless access points allow you to restrict
access to only your devices. Your MAC address is either found written on the device
or can be found in the device settings.
A third line of attack
is to disable name broadcasting. This means the device may not show up on the
neighbour's list of available wireless networks. The downside with this is that
it breaks the wireless networking standards and some equipment won't work properly.
There are a number of other
advanced tactics, such as Virtual Private Networking and disabling DHCP. Using
these can secure your network effectively, but take time and add complexity. Again
it's not a good idea to do any of these things unless you know what you are doing.
Recovering
lost profiles
In
Windows, most user's data is saved within a profile; address books, bookmarks,
documents, photos, music and emails all reside in that profile. Delete it and
all the data is gone. Bob had done exactly that.
The most important thing
with recovering data is to act quickly. Windows computers don't actually delete
data, they just mark the space the data occupies as being available to be written
over. This means data you think is deleted may remain on the computer indefinitely.
In Bob's case, this was
three months ago so his chances are slim to say the least. But there are tools
to recover data. A free one we like is Restoration,
paid for ones include the Australian Recover My Files from Getdata.com.
Restricting
Website Access
As usual our apologies to the many callers who couldn't get through. The next
Nightlife computer spot will be at 10pm January 26 and we'll be looking at Broadband
Internet survey. If you"d like to be kept up-to-date with our schedule then
subscribe to our newsletter
info@pcrescue.com.au
PC Rescue Pty Ltd, Suite 236, 4 Young Street Neutral Bay NSW 2089
ABN 082 635 765
ŠTechnology Publishing Australia, 2007