RESCUECOM CEO Advises on Internet Security

Experts’ Guide to Keeping Your Computer Running and Data Safe

The Editor received compensation for helping to write this article.

If you are reading this there is a good chance that you have at least one if not two computers.

They provide tremendous tools to learn about the world outside, earn a living, getting a school degree and enjoying our free time.

That is when they are working well. Unfortunately, computers can and do malfunction.

So how do you reduce that possibility and who do you go to for help?

The second part is easy. RESCUECOM has been helping computer owners for years salvaging hundreds of thousands of computers as their technicians diagnose problems over the internet and correct them.

As people involved in computer repair, RESCUECOM CEO David Milman and his technicians have come up with a number of suggestions.

First you need to have a good computer. RESCUECOM regularly releases its list of the top selling computers and ranks them by their reliability based on the number of issues they encounter.

Based on those surveys Milman recommends these three laptop manufacturers and these three desktops that have repeatedly scored on top of their lists:

Laptops –Apple, Samsung and Asus
Desktops -Apple, Asus and Lenovo

To keep those computers running at their best, Milman and his staff says keep them turned on all the time instead of shutting them down after each use.

That may sound counter-intuitive but you will increase the life of the computer even though you might spend a little extra on electricity.

The reason for that suggestion is that by keeping your computers on it prolongs the life of the hard drive (which of course stores all your information) because they aren’t started and shut down frequently. It also keeps the temperature of the computers even. These recommendations also apply to solid state drives.

It also allows your computer to automatically update its programs. To make sure that happens turn on automatic updates.

With a laptop use the Hibernate program.

The next important recommendation is that you should upgrade your computer to the latest operating system – but (and this is important) wait at least six months after their release to allow for the kinks to be ironed out. A perfect example is the Microsoft 10 upgrade that had tons of bugs when first released last year.

While there are tens of thousands of programs and apps available to you, only download the ones that you are actually going to use, as your device will get clogged up quickly and slow down and most importantly make sure they are from a trusted source.

You MUST have an antivirus program. RESCUECOM has its proprietary Internet Security Suite. Or you can obtain one of the other top brands. Don’t cheap out and use the free version. You will save yourself a lot of headaches by getting the paid versions.

Get yourself a battery backup in case you lose your electricity as well as a top-of-the line surge protector for all your electronic gear

RESCUECOM Recommends APC Battery Backup as the most reliable and is used in its data center. Stay away from cheap brands like Cyber Power, their failure rate in RESCUECOM data center has been over 50% within 3 years.

Backing up your data is critical. Have your own external backup drive and store your data also to a reputable cloud storage service like Microsoft OneDrive (1TB available for free with Office 365¬), or Google Drive.

Of course don’t open emails from people you don’t know. And even from people you know look at the email closely to see if they are the typical ones you receive. Keep in mind your friend’s contact list might have been hacked and the email you receive could include commands that could control your computer. That is how banks and government agencies get hacked.

You are better off using Internet Explorer or Edge on PCs (or Edge) on PCs and Safari on Macs. Don’t use Firefox or Google Chrome because when you use the best components and keep the pc current – 3rd party software is not needed. Third party is generally used when people have a bad experience with Microsoft Internet Explorer as example or the OS is too old forcing the use of 3rd Party Software.

And finally keep the number of apps and programs that open during the startup low. Keeps your computer running faster.