FAQ's

Q. What's a firewall and do I need one?
Q. What is SpyWare?
Q. How can I prevent viruses?
Q. Should I update Windows?
Q. Is there a way to see how fast my Internet connection is or what my IP address is?
Q. Is it possible to check more than one email address at a time?

A. A firewall is a piece of hardware (router) or software installed on your computer.  A firewall protects your computer from "non-trusted" computers on the Internet from breaking into your computer.  Even if you don't have anything you think is valuable on your computer that someone would want many times unprotected computers are used as "zombies".  Zombies are computers that have been broken into and then used to attack another computer in order for the hacker to cover their trail.  Software firewalls also provide the added protection of making sure that un-authorized programs on your computer at not accessing the Internet without your permission.

A. Spyware is computer software that collects personal information about you without your permission. Personal information is secretly recorded with a variety of techniques, including logging keystrokes, recording Internet web browsing history, and scanning documents on the computer's hard disk.  This information can be sent back to inform unscrupulous people of your actions.

A. Viruses are written so quickly that no one is ever 100% secure, but if you keep your software up to date then it is highly unlikely that you will ever get a virus.  The most important factor is that the program is updated weekly or even daily.  Most programs will do this automatically, but if your subscription has expired (usually after a year) then your antivirus program becomes less and less effective everyday.  Warning: there are some programs that people download (Smiley add on's, Instant messenger add on's, browser tool bars, etc.) that will actually disable your antivirus program without telling you.  Never download anything unless you are 100% sure about the legitimacy of the site you are downloading it from.

A. Windows should always be updated.  Most systems are set to automatically download Windows updates, but sometimes this has been disabled or you still need to give your computer permission to install the updates.  90% of the Windows updates are correcting security problems that hackers can take advantage of.  Microsoft usually does a mid-month update unless the problem is of unusually high importance.  Bootleg copies of Windows XP/Vista will not do all updates properly and can lead to a highly unstable computer system.

A. Your Internet Speed can vary depend on many things including any background applications that use the Internet (software updates for anti-virus, Windows, etc.) and even illegitimate applications like Spyware and Malware.  If you wan test your current connection rate or find out your IP address click on the icon below for SpeedTest.net

A. Most email programs (Outlook, Outlook Express, Thunderbird) can check any number of email addresses - even if they are from different sources (Yahoo, Rogers, Hotmail, or even your own domain name).

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