US Backup Systems

Carry Emergency Information With You at All Times

There are at least a dozen methods of carrying emergency information with you. In these high tech times, I would recommend carrying that information with you electronically, as well as on a piece of paper or in a medical ID bracelet. The electronic method allows for storage of more information.

In this case, I am talking about medical information, next of kin, and other information that you might want emergency responders to find. While my mother convinced me to always have clean underwear, it's probably more important to make sure you have easily-findable information on your body as well.

For those with significant medical problems, such as diabetes or heart problems, a medical ID bracelet is a great idea. Medical personnel always look for those. However, the amount of information you can include in a normal medical bracelet is limited.

All Windows Anti-Virus Programs Are Now Useless

Subtitle: "All your base are belong to us." 

(For an explanation of that phrase, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_your_base_are_belong_to_us.)

Researchers with Matousec.com recently found a way to circumvent some of the most popular security programs for Windows computers, including products from Symantec, McAfee, Microsoft, AVG, Avast, Trend, Kaspersky, Sophos, ZoneAlarm, and others. In other words, viruses and other bad software can hide from all of today's anti-virus programs and similar tools. These malevolent programs can then spread easily with very few restraints. The problem exists only on the Windows operating system; Linux and Macintosh users are not affected.

Zeus Botnet is Back in Full Force

Keeping up with Windows viruses, Trojan horse programs, spyware, and other problems can be scary at best. The best defense is to keep a good anti-virus program installed, and always make sure it is up to date with the latest updates. Also, you should avoid web browsers with known problems.

I have repaired many computers that were infected with various "malware" problems. (Malware is an acronym for "malevolent software”). Many of the computers I fixed had anti-virus programs installed, but those programs had not been updated recently. An out-of-date program is as useless as no protection at all: the computer is not protected against the latest attacks. And new attacks appear every week.

Here's Another Security Risk: Your Photocopier

Nearly every digital copier built since 2002 contains a hard drive - like the one on your personal computer - storing an image of every document copied, scanned, or emailed by the machine. Used, discarded copiers then get sold without the previous owners having a clue about all the data they just let go of. In a way it’s worse then disposing an old computer with a “live” hard disk – at least in the case of the computer, you know what information may still reside in it…

via www.smilinduck.com

I Destroyed Windows XP Tonight

OOOPS! My desktop Windows XP system wouldn't print to the HP LaserJet printer so tonight I downloaded and installed new printer drivers. One problem: after installation, the Windows XP system immediately locked up. Control-Alt-Delete did nothing. I eventually powered off, waited a few seconds, then powered it on again. A few seconds later, a message appeared on the screen: "Boot: Couldn't find NTLDR - Please insert another disk"

That is NOT a good message!

Identity Theft is Usually an Unsophisticated Crime

I have written before about the "threats" of identity theft. Know-nothing politicians and bureaucrats often try to restrict access to public domain records and online databases with an excuse that restricting such access will somehow reduce identity theft. Sadly, that does little good.

A recent research report by Heith Copes of the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Lynne Vieraitis of the University of Texas at Austin has proven the point. The two examined identity thieves and their methods. Copes and Vieraitis searched federal court records in the US for people convicted of identity theft and then interviewed the thieves. They were able to find 297 inmates, from which they sampled 59 inmates in 14 prisons across the country. The convicts agreed to do detailed interviews, in private, to talk about themselves and their crimes. I would suggest the results should be studied by every politician and bureaucrat.

Free Anti-Virus Program from Microsoft

I have written before about free anti-virus programs. Now a new program is available from a company that knows quite a bit about Windows' security problems: Microsoft.

Every Windows computer needs to have an anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-rootkit, and anti-Trojan program installed. You can find several to choose from at your local computer store for perhaps $20 to $60 or so. However, knowledgeable computer users have successfully used free anti-virus programs for years.

Note: While all the free anti-virus programs do seem to protect against viruses, not all of them protect against the other problems: spyware, rootkits, and Trojans. The new program from Microsoft claims to protect against all of those.

Free Anti-Virus Programs

I have no idea why this information isn't better known. Free anti-virus programs are some of the best bargains I know of for Windows users, and yet many people have never heard of them.

First of all, every Windows computer needs an anti-virus program running at all times. If you are running a Windows computer right now without up-to-date anti-virus software, your system will become infected with a virus sooner or later. In fact, your PC may be infected right now without your knowledge. Yet there is a free and easy method of avoiding viruses.

If you already have an anti-virus program installed, there are several things you should know:

Another Online Backup Solution

Online backup services are popping up everywhere – and for good reason. I would suggest that every computer user needs a good backup plan that includes storing of data off-site. Anyone who has data worth keeping needs to have at least two fresh backups at all times: one stored locally near the computer and another stored some distance away. The distant backup provides insurance against theft, fire, floods, hurricanes, and other local disasters that will destroy local backups, along with the computer(s).

Online backup services have been around for years, serving commercial customers at rather high prices. Commercial services, such as Iron Mountain Digital, typically charge $100 a month or more to back up data off-site. Mozy was the first company to successfully go after the consumer marketplace and then has been followed by many others. I currently use Backblaze to back up the Macintosh and Windows systems in my home and am pleased with that company's $5 a month service.

Now still another company is advertising its services to consumers, and at attractive prices. Best of all, some of its services are FREE for personal use.

What Happens If You Lose All Your Data Today?

Protect Your Computer With Our Online Backup Service and receive unlimited storage space for as little as $5 a month!

Most computer users make no backups at all. That means they will lose data someday. All computers will fail sooner or later. Will YOU be prepared?

Research shows that tape backup fails to recover data as much as 50% of the time. Furthermore, most computer users do not have adequate offsite protection for their data in the event of a major disaster, such as fire, flood or storm damage.

U.S. Backup Systems' online backup solution eliminates unreliable tapes while providing critical offsite data storage for disaster recovery.

The U.S. Backup Systems' Online Backup Service seamlessly integrates online backup, offsite storage, archiving and recovery into one tape-free solution that guarantees 100% recovery.