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I will pin this thread and we can post general PC tip and tricks. Similar to what you would see in the "did you know?" section of a program. Topics from security to ease of use can be covered. Anything related to PCs. Let's make sure to keep it clean from conversations and just get straight to the point. To comment feel free to post in the spam thread and you can always use the "posted on" link to link directly to a post.

Anyway, I'll start with a few, anyone feel free to add to this. This will become useful for new users as they can read through an learn new stuff.

Archived topic from Iceteks, old topic ID:1376, old post ID:11923

Here's a few:

NEVER open an email attachement if you don't expect it. If you think it does come from a friend, reply and ask if they sent it, for even better assurance, contact that friend via diffferent medium such as phone or a chat (just in case the virus can actually reply, you never know with today's virus technology:rolleyes: ). Most email viruses make it look like it comes from someone you know.


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Do a manual virus scan on files that comes from an external place (p2p program, floppy etc). Even if you don't run your A/V 24/7, doing this should at least cut off 99% of potential viruses, though it's best to still leave it running 24/7.


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A hacker is someone who likes to learn and play around with stuff. I can be considered a hacker.

A cracker is someone who does the same as a hacker, but does it illegally and wants to cause problems. Most of the time a cracker is referred to as a hacker, but in real terms, a hacker is simply wanting to learn and experiment, and crackers cause damage.


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If there's no possible hole to exploit, there's no way to get hacked into, so if you have a firewall that blocks all ports, chances are no one can get in. The problem is allowing stuff that is not safe, once it's allowed, the firewall does not control that port in any way, so if you let a crappy coded program listen on a port, if it has security issues, it can still be exploited! Firewalls are a must, however, to know what type of traffic you are getting, but it does not mean you are 100% protected from crackers.


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(something my dad can't understand) When you have an internet page open on your browser, you are not technically connected to the server, you are only connected to receive the page, and depending on the settings (time out, keep alive etc) the connection is dropped, but the page remains in the computer's memory so it can be displayed as long as you want, even if the server goes down. So if the page is updated, it won't change on your screen unless you hit refresh. Hitting refresh connects to the server and fetches the page again, same if you click on a link. The HTTP protocol works that way, you only need to connect to fetch data. You can have 1 000 000 people browsing a site, but as long as they don't request data simultaniously, it's not hard on the server.


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When writting any type of network bot, leave at least 2 seconds delay between each server connection, this reduces putting too much load on the server. Website crawlers such as googlebot usually do this in order to not cause traffic problems.


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When searching on Google, think of what you would expect the page you are looking for to have written on it. For example, if you are wondering what PETA stands for, you would expect that a page saying so will say "PETA stands for..." so type it in google! "PETA stands for" with quotes will most likely give you the definition right away, replace peta with any algorthim and it will most likely work!


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The comptuer's processor is the smallest but yet hottest component of the computer. Because it is so small and hot, all the heat is concentrated in a very small area. This is why a heat sink is a must, as it will conduct the heat in a much larger area, which is then moved away by the fan. The fan, however does not create cool air, it simply blows away the hot air which rises on top and goes through the PSU fan and out of the case. Thus, the bigger and better heatsink you have won't actually make the computer produce less heat, it will simply move away this heat more efficiently, which is what we want anyway. A/C works the same way, but in a different matter, it moves the heat of the house outside, which makes the inside cold, and the outside hotter (which is noticable if you go close the the A/C unit - it's hot and has a fan to blow away the heat from the compressor). This is why the back of a fridge is hot! However A/C and a heatsink work in a different way but the concept is still there, that the heat is simply moved away from where it is not wanted.


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Having more fans blowing air out of the computer will cause what is called a negative air pressure, this will result in dust trying to get in from every single hole on the case, it is best to have equal or positive air pressure, where air is trying to escape the case and not come in. Stratigical placement of fans is a must to make a good air flow. Adding some fan anywhere can actually cause problems instead of making it better.



Archived topic from Iceteks, old topic ID:1376, old post ID:11924

ummm lets see. How about static electricicty.

You know it may seem kinda odd how a little shock from a door knob that barely phases you could hurt electronic equipment so easily. Well electricity has two different properties: amperage and voltage. Amperage is like how much electrcicty and voltage is kinda like how fast it moves [not really, but I'm kinda oversimplifying things]. Anyway, Static electricity is generally low amperage [amperage is what really hurts people], and very high voltage. We are talking thousands of volts here, and the electronics in your computer are designed to be handling 12v or less. Also, amoung those electronics are CMOS chips which are designed to handle a range of voltages, but only if they are the same throughout the chip, so you could understand how a few thousand volts coming into one part of the chip with little or no volts on the others could do some damage.

And now you know the rest of the story... good day.

Archived topic from Iceteks, old topic ID:1376, old post ID:11933

<ol type='1'><li>Microsoft never sends updates via e-mail</li><li>Back-up your registry before editing it. With in the registry editor, go to FILE> Export and select where you want to save your back-up.</li><li>If a program starts automatically and you want to stop that, try looking around in that program's preferences (Options, Configuration, etc.), try looking in the start-up folder, or type "msconfig" (without quotes) into the Run dialogue. After typing msconfig, go to the "Startup" tab and uncheck anything that you don't want to start with Windows. I don't think msconfig is in Windows 2000.</li><li>Don't install every update in Windows Update unless they're critical updates. For the recommended updates, just download them if they apply to you. For example, why would I need Windows Movie Maker 2 when I don't use Windows Movie Maker anyway?</li><li>Don't be afraid to try new things.</li></ol>I'll think of more later.

Archived topic from Iceteks, old topic ID:1376, old post ID:11934

try linux, it will help....

hey red, sorry to interrupt the flow of this thread, but if you have a firewall blocking all ports, then woulnd't sending a DDOs attack or a buffer overflow be enough to take down the firewall?

Archived topic from Iceteks, old topic ID:1376, old post ID:11941

wldkos wrote: Hey red, sorry to interrupt the flow of this thread, but if you have a firewall blocking all ports, then woulnd't sending a DDOs attack or a buffer overflow be enough to take down the firewall?

I assume yes but only using ping of deaths, and this is useless as once the traffic stops it does not damage the server so technically the worse thing that can happen is downtime, and as soon as you find out who it is, you block the IP. A more effective DoS is by connecting to a port N times per second, this can actually cause the program to crash, especially on windows. (tried it on my lan...)

But you can also block ICMP packets(ping, trace route etc) from most firewalls.

But yes in general a DoS can still be done if no ports are open.

Archived topic from Iceteks, old topic ID:1376, old post ID:11943

NEVER open an email attachement if you don't expect it. If you think it does come from a friend, reply and ask if they sent it, for even better assurance, contact that friend via diffferent medium such as phone or a chat (just in case the virus can actually reply, you never know with today's virus technology:rolleyes: ). Most email viruses make it look like it comes from someone you know.

you forgot to say that pictures are mostly not going to hurt anything unless some one figured out a way to make them start up a program?? which is not able to be done by them now.

so opening jpg, gif, files should be fine.

(something my dad can't understand) When you have an internet page open on your browser, you are not technically connected to the server, you are only connected to receive the page, and depending on the settings (time out, keep alive etc) the connection is dropped, but the page remains in the computer's memory so it can be displayed as long as you want, even if the server goes down. So if the page is updated, it won't change on your screen unless you hit refresh. Hitting refresh connects to the server and fetches the page again, same if you click on a link. The HTTP protocol works that way, you only need to connect to fetch data. You can have 1 000 000 people browsing a site, but as long as they don't request data simultaniously, it's not hard on the server.

instead of saying all that red i find it is alot easier to say it simply. as in


" All items viewed or programs used are done so from the ram. which is to say that they are all loaded in ram. and viewed or used from there, and the hard drives or website servers are just used to load the items in to ram. and store them when not being used."



that was cut yours done simple and cut half the words out. maybe your dad can under stand it that way.

Don't install every update in Windows Update unless they're critical updates. For the recommended updates, just download them if they apply to you. For example, why would I need Windows Movie Maker 2 when I don't use Windows Movie Maker anyway?

thats a good thing to do.
how ever there is one time you might want to get all the downloads except dot net.
or the critical update notice.

which is if your computer is messing up and you have gone to every author for all software programs you have and updated them and all your drivers. and it is still messing up.

then go and get all the updates for the languages from windows update and every other item they have for your system except " dot net framework, or windows critical update " i dont like those two items. i dont need the one and the other i never got to work on win 98.

but by getting all the others there you are also putting in all new verisions of files that those updates need and most likely one of them files is messed up and that is the only way you can get it replaced.

ummm lets see. How about static electricicty.

You know it may seem kinda odd how a little shock from a door knob that barely phases you could hurt electronic equipment so easily. Well electricity has two different properties: amperage and voltage. Amperage is like how much electrcicty and voltage is kinda like how fast it moves [not really, but I'm kinda oversimplifying things]. Anyway, Static electricity is generally low amperage [amperage is what really hurts people], and very high voltage. We are talking thousands of volts here, and the electronics in your computer are designed to be handling 12v or less. Also, amoung those electronics are CMOS chips which are designed to handle a range of voltages, but only if they are the same throughout the chip, so you could understand how a few thousand volts coming into one part of the chip with little or no volts on the others could do some damage.

And now you know the rest of the story... good day.

mandren you forgot to say to unplug the power cord doing lightinging storms as lightinging is just a huge static charge

also did you know that lightinging has been found out to beable to change the moulecule structor of cement mortor. and follow it through 3 foot brick walls. to the power wires on the inside or to the hiden 200 year old natural gas pipes and blow out the walls and lights? it did that in a church in england.




and last in this message but not the least of any means. is what leo laport says all the time.

" IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT, if they would make these computer easier for us to use it would not make so many errors but when it does get them, Don't whine, Don't moan, Just Call for help "

Archived topic from Iceteks, old topic ID:1376, old post ID:11952

Opps forgot about the archive feature. I'd have to make it so pinned threads don't count or something. I guess it has not been touched in so long anyway lol I'll unpin this.

Archived topic from Iceteks, old topic ID:1376, old post ID:26556