We've all been there haven't we?

Bismillah hir Rahman nir Rahim. In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

I am one of those people in the household that people depend on as their helpdesk. I believe, a lot of my university friends are also tech support at home, by virtue of being the household member that uses the computer more often than anyone else. And I understand how frustrating this can be.

Computers can turn that nasty little switch in me called, Anger. I’m sure some of you have resorted to violence against your computer when things just don’t work. And that’s really an un-nirvanic relationship with your computer. Things break down, because people don’t give love to their computers.

A typical conversation when someone asks me to recommend a computer would go like this:

Friend requiring nirvana, “Hey Haz, what brand would you recommend for a PC?”.

Me, “A Mac”.

Friend requiring nirvana, “But Macs can’t play games right? Then some more not compatible with a lot of software and cannot install pirated one”.

Me, “Actually, Macs can play a lot of game titles and what you do with a PC, Macs can do better”.

If you’ve guessed by now what’s wrong here, then you’re right. My friend is only interested in what he wants out of the PC, but did not consider what the PC needs.

If you are a girl, I’m sure you can understand this better. You buy a pair of heels. What does your heels need? Sayang-sayang. Love, right?

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The PC needs love too and the first thing one should do when they get a new PC is to take care of it. So here are 3 simple rules one should follow to ensure a rewarding and loving relationship with your PC:

1. Immunise it from common viruses by installing an antivirus. I recommend avast! Antivirus, which is free for home use, and affordable for business users. My clients like Singtel, Singapore Bible College and TDK are just some of the companies and organisations that have had their Internet Security Nirvanised and I can help you do the same for your company.
2. Don’t feed it fake software. Fake software are one of the causes of crashes on a PC. These knock-offs were copied from less stable versions of the product and you cannot solve this without purchasing a legal licensed copy. If you want to install a pirated software, ask yourself if you can truly have an enlightened experience if your software isn’t stable?
3. Create a Guest account even if you’re the only user on your computer. If someone wants to use your PC, make sure they log in with a Guest account and limit what files and programs they can launch. Your PC is your responsibility so don’t leave it in the hands of others that did not pay for your machine.

For easy to do tips on securing your PC, I recommend the book “Securing Your PC in Easy Steps” by Mark Lee.

It’s especially targeted for the common man or woman and for those who happen to be the resident helpdesk in their home. This book is especially suited for those who can’t understand the jargon, and needs illustrations to help them understand how to do things. The books uses simple language and doesn’t overwhelm the reader with difficult system administrator tasks. It is one of the highly rated titles on Amazon, and if you need to secure your PC, then this book should help you get started quite easily with a dedicated guide on how to install and configure avast! Antivirus step-by-step.

May your computing frustrations end and may your computer return you the love that you give it. Amiin.

See larger image Securing Your PC in Easy Steps (Paperback) By (author) Mark Lee List Price: $14.99 USD New From: $3.99 In Stock Used from: $2.25 In Stock

1. Reboot. All Windows programs hang. Well, its more to do with the OS than it is to do with the program itself. But sometimes they hang, and the best thing to do when it does is relaunch. Hit Ctrl-Alt-Del and go to the Task Manager and force the progroam to terminate and try launching again. If that doesn’t work, Ctrl-Alt-Del  to reboot your PC and this will usually work.
2. Reinstall. Sometimes, Windows programs have a habit of getting corrupted. So it’d be handy to keep a CD case of all your software with their license keys. So be prepared to spend half-a-day reinstalling and reconfiguring your software.
3. Repurchase. If all else fails. Buy a new one. The only reason why they make Windows computers is for it to fail you and for you to actually have a reason to buy a new computer.

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I was reading the BBC and I discovered the spam produces 17 million tons of Carbon Dioxide! How’s that for a good reason to ditch email? But as it is, 90% of online communication is done over email. It is indispensible in the business world as is akin to breathing. When I first started a business, and was using a Windows machine, and Outlook Express for email, I was amazed at the amount of crap I get everyday just managing electronic messages.

According to statistics of the day, 70% of email you receive each day is spam! A person spends 15 minutes a day on average dealing with spam. What I didn’t guess was this damning statistic at the amount of energy spam consumes. I didn’t think that far, as to the amount of power the servers needed to process this email, network to network, ip to ip.

One thing that I do at Verbeter is to think of solutions to improve the way we do business. It’s entrenched into my company culture that I created. Verbeter is a Dutch word, meaning, continuously improving. And I find or create solutions that improve the way we do our business including saving the environment.

Being a digital company, I’ve been able to do my bid in reducing my carbon footprint. For example, the antivirus that I distribute, Avast Antivirus, only comes as an electronic download. Its my policy, in fact also part of Alwil Software’s policy, to only distribute electronic download versions. This is our way to save costs, but most importantly save the environment.

Doing all these zen-ish things help me find my nirvana, and reducing the amount of spam in my business has boosted my productivity greatly. Do you get spammed often? What about viruses? Have you found your nirvana?

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