Falcon Northwest Fragbook DRX

If you're shopping for a Falcon Northwest gaming laptop, there's no middle ground: Either go for broke or leave the website. Consider the Fragbook DRX ($6,449 direct, starting prices around $4,000); the money you'll have spent by the time you trick it out could avert several foreclosures. This 12-pound tank is one of only a handful of boutique laptops that have enough cooling fans to run a 3.33-GHz, Intel Core i7 975 processor—the top-of-the-line desktop processor, no less. Surround the CPU with an excellent supporting cast—an nVidia GeForce 280M GTX graphics card, 6GB of memory, and three internal hard drives (one of which is an 80GB SSD), and its competitors can only watch helplessly while they get pulverized in performance tests.

Falcon Northwest

http://www.falcon-nw.com

• Price as Tested: $6,449.00 Direct
• Type: Gaming, Media
• Operating System: Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate
• Processor Name: Intel Core i7-975
• Processor Speed: 3.33 GHz
• RAM: 6 GB
• Weight: 12 lb
• Screen Size: 17 inches
• Screen Size Type: widescreen
• Graphics Card: nVidia GeForce 280M GTX
• Storage Capacity: 1080 GB
• Networking Options: 802.11n
• Primary Optical Drive: DVD+/-RW DL with Blu-Ray

WHAT IS ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE AND WHY DO I NEED IT?

Written By: Dean Erickson

Anti virus software is important for your computer's (and your) wellbeing and the Internet can help out with some free utilities.

How long have you been on the Internet? And you don't have any Antivirus software? That's certainly a big risk. Antivirus software utilities are expensive? Yes, it is true. Many of these programs are expensive, but they are absolutely essential.

Once installed on your system, and if kept properly updated of all virus definitions, an antivirus software utility will scan all files and separate the suspicious from the safe. It will alert you if a file is infected and either delete it or quarantine it so it cannot cause havoc with your machine. That way you system is constantly protected from the destructive behaviour of viruses. You will not be at risk of infection and, since a virus replicates itself, you will not risk infecting your friends.

Still, if your budget is too limited to include some of the heavyweight antivirus solutions such as Symantec's Norton, McAfee or Kaspersky, there are some free options available if you know where to look.

You basically have two options when it comes to free antivirus protection. You can use a free antivirus software package or you can do an online virus scan. Choosing an online virus scan is basically a good introduction to a product. Trendmicro.com scans your hard drive for free using its House Call antivirus software program. You allow the program access to your hard drive. It scans, locates and clean your infected files, if any, but won't collect personal information or log you IP address.

Do a quick web search for Free Online Virus Scan to bring up some other websites that offer the same service.

You ultimately need to install good antivirus software right on your computer. The most important thing that such software does is real time scanning. This means that whenever you download email or enter a website it is scanning the files and programs you may be downloading and checking to see that they are virus free. If a virus is detected the software will warn you right away, before you open the file and infect your computer.

There are options. If you type Free Anti Virus Software Downloads or Free Antivirus Utilities you'll bring up various results. Products like ClamAV, AntiVir Personal Edition, AVG Anti-Virus software, avast!, BitDefender are all free. As with any antivirus software utility you need to keep it updated regularly of all virus definitions so that it can do its job properly. The utility needs to be informed of the all active viruses so that it knows how to protect your system.

A virus seeks out users with a slack awareness of their computer's security needs. Be informed. Do a virus scan today.

About the Author

Journalist, and web site builder Dean Erickson lives in Texas. He is the owner and co-editor of free-spyware-removal-finder.info on which you will find a longer, more detailed version of this article.

The Seven Golden Rules Of Data Backups

Written By: Keith Edmunds

Backups of company data are carried out for two main reasons. The first is to cater for those times when a document is inadvertently deleted or damaged and you wish to recover the original document; the second is as part of a disaster recovery plan in case something catastrophic happens to your computers (e.g., victims of a fire or theft).

Backups cost time, money and effort to implement, and they are of no value right up until the time you need them. This means they tend to be given a low priority, but ultimately they may easily represent the difference between your business surviving and failing. In this TipSheet, we look at the most common mistakes businesses make with backups.

1. Backup often

Re-entering data is tedious and frustrating. Backing up your company data once a week means that the most you should ever have to re-input is one week's worth Backing up your company data once a day means the most you should ever have to re-input is one day's worth. Frequent backups lessen the impact of data loss.

2. Don't keep any volatile data on desktop PCs

In many organisations, documents are kept on the hard drive of desktop PCs. It is unlikely that this is backed up regularly, if at all. A PC can easily be replaced: last week's quotations may not be so easy to replace. In particular, check that email is not stored on the local hard drive (this is very common in small to medium size businesses). All documents, spreadsheets, email, etc should be kept on a central server, which is in turn backed up regularly.

3. Automate the backup process

Backups are tedious to do. At 6:30pm, most people would prefer to set off home or join colleagues in the bar rather than stay in the office to find the correct tape and start a backup. Automating tedious tasks means they get done.

4. Monitor the backup process

While automating backups is agood idea, do check that they are running correctly. Make sure new files are being backed up; make sure the files of new users are being backed up. A quick check once a week could avert a much more serious problem later.

5. Keep backups offsite

If your business premises suffer a fire or flood, it is likely that backup media will be lost as well. Fireproof safes only protect media for a given time, typically one hour - if you use one, check the manufacturer's specification. If you always keep your backup tape in the server then when it is stolen the thief will probably throw the tape away. It's worth nothing to him, but it could represent bankruptcy to you.

6. Produce a "backup recovery" manual

A major disaster is not the time to try to remember how to recover data from your backup media. Have an idiot-proof, step-by-step procedure written - with a copy stored off-site - detailing how to reinstate your company data.

7. Test the recovery procedure periodically

Without warning, give the backup recovery manual to a member of staff and see how long it takes them to recover data. Many organisations never do this! No one involved with creating the manual or the backups themselves should be involved in the test. The results of the test should be analysed and the manual updated accordingly. A recovery test should be carried out at least twice a year. This proves both that the backups themselves are usable, and that your organisation understands how to use them if necessary.

Keith Edmunds has been helping companies get the most from their IT investment for over twenty years. He is the Managing Director of Tiger Computing Ltd (http://www.tiger-computing.co.uk) and may be contacted at keith.edmunds@tiger-computing.co.uk

Top 5 Backup Tools You Can Pick Up For Pennies

Written By: David D. Deprice

1. Acronis True Image 8.0 - 25% Off Special
www.deprice.com/acronistrueimage.htm

Based on the exclusive Acronis Drive Snapshot disk imaging technology, Acronis True Image allows you to create an online system disk backup without reboot to keep the system productive. The product provides the fastest bare metal restore dramatically reducing a downtime and your IT costs.

2. Genie Backup Manager - 3 Day Sale
www.deprice.com/geniebackupmanagerhome.htm

GBM is perfect for users of all computer comfort levels. Novice users will find it easy to create their first backup job in matter of minutes, thanks to an intuitive wizard-driven user interface, while advanced users will appreciate advanced features such as Email notification, Self executable backup sets, scripting, and 128-bit AES encryption.

3. AISBackup - Reseller Exclusive Offer
www.deprice.com/aisbackup.htm

AISBackup only physically backs up new and changed files since the last backup. It backs up virtually all open files and additionally opened exclusive files from local FAT drives. Restore options include: Complete Windows systems, individual files and folders, right click and 'open' from backup or 'Save as' from backup. Comprehensive restore destination and duplicate file options enable disaster recovery or cloning Windows to new drives and partitions.

4. Backup4all - Low - Price Shock

www.deprice.com/backup4all.htm

Backup4All performs all four fundamental backup types: full backup, differential backup, incremental backup and mirror backup. Using the wizard you can easily set up any backup configuration you wish. You can define powerful file filters and schedule your backups any way you want. Once a backup is performed, you can see what files have been changed since the last backup using the explorer-like tree view or you can read the statistics about the next backup execution. You can use the context menu from the tree to run standard actions associated with the file type.

5. Handy Backup - Underselling Undersellers
www.deprice.com/handybackup.htm

Handy Backup is an easy-to-use program designed for an automatic backup of your critical data virtually to any type of storage media including CD-RW devices and remote FTP servers. You can use Handy Backup to make a reserve copy of any valuable data on your system. Special addons are provided to facilitate the backup of MS Outlook, system registry and ICQ files. Restoring is as easy as clicking a button, but you can also use a number of advanced options. The program can be also used to synchronize files between two computers on a network.

About the Author

David D. Deprice sells backup software for pennies on the dollar at http://www.deprice.com/utilities.htm

How about using a PC without virus-scanner?

Generally, an Antivirus or continuous virus scanning slows down your PC, therefore if you follow some simple steps, you can able to run PC without an Antivirus.

A computer virus is a computer program that can copy itself and infect a computer without the knowledge of the user. It can be delivered via, internet or a removable medium such as a floppy disk, CD, DVD, or USB drive. They can be spread by infecting files on a network file system or a file system that is accessed by another computer.

To fight with these viruses, there is Antivirus software, which mainly prevent and remove computer viruses, including worms and Trojan horses. They also detect and remove adware, spyware, and other forms of malware. But, they create some problems. If it is of the type that scans continuously, antivirus software may cause a significant decline in computer performance. Also, there could be some commands for a decision, the user may not understand. Further, we have to pay annual premium for the software.

So can we go for using our PCs without using virus scanner?

The answer is, "yes, you can." But to remain virus and spyware free, you will need to adopt some precautions and stick with them. There are five simple steps, if you follow, can beat the virus attack.

I. Clean Software

If a PC is free from antivirus software, then it should have legitimate and clean software. That means pirated copies of programs that can be downloaded through various sites or on newsgroups, borrowed from friends through file sharing, or found on shareware and freeware sites all should be denied for the PC. As there is no scanning, so a file you download online is not as easy to check for viruses as it would be if you had an antivirus program installed.

II. Remote Scan

In offices or home, if user has more than one PC, he can install antivirus software on one while leaving the other machine without antivirus software. And through network connection, he can check individual files or entire drives remotely.

Also, with free online virus and spyware scanning tools, for e.g., Trend Micro's House Call and Eset's Online Scan will perform a scan of your computer right from the Internet. These types of scan might not remove any viruses or spyware, but they will at least tell you about the threats in your computer.

III. Built-In Protections

In today’s PC, there has some malware protection already built in the computer. Even before your computer loads your OS, it launches the code found in your system's BIOS (basic input-output system), which initiates the hardware Relevant Products/Services in your PC and enables you to identify the components you have. The BIOS could be accessed by pressing F2 or Del during boot-up, which is an optional boot sector protection mechanism. If you enable this, you will protect your PC against boot sector viruses without ever installing a single antivirus too.
Also, various browsers provide some security tools, including anti-phishing filters or lists of web sites that are known carriers of harmful software. Further, Microsoft’s Windows Defender, formerly known as Microsoft AntiSpyware, is a software product to prevent, remove and quarantine spyware in Microsoft Windows. It is included and enabled by default in Windows Vista and Windows 7, and is available as a free download for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003.

IV. Web Sites

To check the inflow of any virus/infection, you have to stay away from the sites that are frequent carriers of spyware, which includes many sites that claimed to sell anti-spyware software. Also, check the visits to various X-rated or gaming sites if you have no spyware or antivirus protection.

V. E-Mail with Care

You have to keep an eye over various e-mail messages from unknown sources, if it contains an attachment. The majority of malware contracted through e-mail comes in the form of attachments that the sender tries to get the recipient to open. Just delete it. You can also built-in e-mail checker or onboard antivirus tool to check the email before opening up.

About Author

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Article Source: http://www.1888articles.com/author-amarpreet97-12539.html