We are a Linux and Apple shop - unfortunately, our clients are not. That means we have to deal with Windows issues on a daily basis. For those of you who do use Windows, do yourself a few favors:

Backup your data as often as possible. How often? It really depends on your answer to this question: If your computer crashed today, what data can you do without? You can always reload your programs and toys, but you can never replace your data once it’s gone…

Have a different password for everything and do not let your computer remember any of them - NEVER LET YOUR COMPUTER AUTOMATICALLY REMEMBER PASSWORDS OR FORM INFORMATION - look on the Internet for good/bad password creation. Change your passwords as often as possible (at least once every three months). 86% of you have to remember two or more passwords anyway…

Go to http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com at least once a month and update the newest patches, security updates and tweaks - really, at least once a month…

Turn off all services that you do not need and do not install IIS for any reason - unless you need it AND know what you’re doing - also, check dependancies in the services before turning them off (you don’t want to turn something off that will kill your computer)…

Microsoft’s own website says not to run a Windows computer directly connected to the Internet. You need a firewall between your computer and the Internet - not just a software firewall running on your machine. Running a properly configured firewall between your computer and Internet connection will not only make it harder for people to break in, it will also secure your computer from Worms. This is a really easy setup (and totally easy to maintain) with any old computer, two NIC’s, and SUSE Linux Pro 9.0…

Download Zip995 - you’ll need it. You’ll need this software, or some other type of zip utility, to download most of the following software. It’s Free..

Save yourself a few hundred dollars and use openoffice.org instead of Microsoft Office. It opens and saves all Microsoft Office documents, spreadsheets and presentations - and it’s FREE !!! It’s an open source project - so not only is it free, it has a lot of cool features that no other software has (people like me think of a feature that we want, make it happen and then send it in to openoffice.org so everyone can have it)…

Download Pdf995, PdfEdit995, and Signature995 - and install them in the same order. You’ll need this softwareto create pdf’s. They are Free…

Use Eudora as your email program - it’s email and spam filtering is truly easy to use, it’s FREE and, if you read a lot, you’ll notice that most viruses effect Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express (these viruses do not effect Eudora or it’s address book as they do Microsoft products). This is to protect yourself (your email and data is valuable) and everyone in your address book (their email and data are vital to them as well)…

Use one of the following web browsers:
- Netscape
- Mozilla
- Opera
The three are FREE - do not use Internet Explorer…

Get ZONE ALARM WITH ANTIVIRUS - it is the best Windows firewall we have seen yet. Learn it, live it, love it, set it to run as the computer starts up, and check for updates weekly.
You still need a hardware firewall between your computer and the Internet other than this if you have DSL or Cable for your connection…
You have to pay a minimal fee to have Zone Alarm w/ Anti-Virus, but it’s well worth it…

Download Spybot Search & Destroy - this program will find any Spyware and Adware on your computer and kill it - it’s the best - and it’s FREE. Learn it, live it, love it , and set it do a scan when the computer boots up. Also, set it to “Immunize” and check updates weekly…

Get Quicktime and iTunes and use them in place of the Windows players. They are both FREE, they are much better programs than come with your computer, and they are much more secure (as far as cookies and spyware is concerned)…

Use the Palm Desktop - this turns your computer into a daily planner. You do not need a Palm to use the desktop software. It has a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly calendar, To-Do list (with different catergories), Memo Pad (with different categories), and an Address Book (with different categories). It is, hands down, the best contact/schedule program out there - and it’s FREE…

If you do everything above religiously you’ll save yourself a lot of time and money…