There are a number of very good anti-virus softwares out there.  We have been selling Norton for quite some time.  It is in our opinion one of the best.  But the reason we recommend it is because it's pretty easy to update.  All you have to do is while your connected to the internet, select live update.  The program will walk you through the update.  There are a number of virus's created weekly, so I would recommend updating at least once a week.  There is another anti-virus software that is impressing me lately. It's called Command.  If your interested,  you can find it on the internet or give me a call and I'll get it in.  It's about the same price as Norton.

These are two simple disk utilities that are in the Windows operating system.  They can be found under accesories/system tools in Windows 98.  These need to be run about once a month to keep your system optimized. 

Using ScandiskDisk

You can use ScanDisk to check your hard disk for logical and physical errors. ScanDisk can then repair the damaged areas.

Notes on scandisk

You can start ScanDisk by clicking Start, pointing to Programs, pointing to Accessories, pointing to System Tools, and then clicking ScanDisk.

Notes on defrag

You can start Disk Defragmenter by clicking Start, pointing to Programs, pointing to Accessories, pointing to System Tools, and then clicking Disk Defragmenter.

To change the Disk Defragmenter settings, click Settings.

While your disk is being defragmented, you can use your computer for other tasks. However, your computer operates more slowly, and Disk Defragmenter takes longer to finish. To temporarily stop Disk Defragmenter so you can run other programs faster, click Pause.

During defragmentation, Disk Defragmenter must restart each time other programs write to the disk. If Disk Defragmenter restarts too often, you may want to close other programs while defragmenting your disk.

Too many things in your startup causing your computer to slow down

About every program you load on your computer will put its self in your startup folder.  After awhile,  your computer will slow down considerably.  Before considering making changes,  check the system resources under the performance tab of device manager.  If you are running 85% or better, you might want to leave your startup like it is.  If it's lower,  you can take porgrams from startup by running the "msconfig" command from the run command.  This will bring up the system configuration utility.  Select the startup tab.  Once in there,  look over what is in the window.  All this is running in the background every time you start your computer.  Some things you need.  For instance, your anti virus software and firewalls.  If you see something you know you can do with out,  deselect it.  If you are uncertain,  check with the computer manufacture or someone thats familiar with your computer.   

Installing a program

One of the first things I do when I install a program.  This would be temporarily shutting down the anti-virus software.  The reason being is the anti-virus software may think the program you are loading is a virus and try to stop it from being loaded.  We have had to totally wipe out some computer hard drives to correct this mistake. 

Upgrading to XP

We have had some customers attempt the XP upgrade with bad results.  From what I have seen, once you start the upgrade, don't stop it.  Let it finish.  I personally would recommend the complete OEM installation.  You would be more pleased in the long run with it.  You would lose whats on the computer now.  We can sell the OEM version if we sell some hardware with it.  Thats Microsofts rule, not mine. 

I can't stress enough when I tell folks that the modem needs to be protected by a surge protector as well as the computer.