is your computer down for count

Is your computer down for the count?

Even with better security suites, combining anti-virus, spyware and

firewall, we still see the summer meltdown - about the fifth year in a

row that Computer Clarity has been called to fix or diagnose a

computer problem due to a slow computer that just won't do anything.

My book, Computer Ease, has an entire chapter covering spyware. The

Chicago Computer Soceity reviewer said that chapter alone is worth the

$14.95 price of the book.

It happens most in families where children of all ages use the

Internet, and inadvertently get themselves into trouble. Often it is

not worth fixing the computer because of the high labor cost involved,

and because if they did it once they will likely do it again, without

a proper protection suite.

Consumer Reports recently cites the facts:

* Lack of protection on the Internet has cost consumers $7 billion

over two years.

* Computer viruses have prompted 1.8 million households to junk

their PCs over the past two years, while spyware has claimed

another 850,000 machines in the past six months.

* And, one-third of U.S. households don't protect their computers

from spyware.

Best anti-virus, spyware and firewall suites include:

Computer Associates Internet Security Suite

Panda Software

TrendMicro

Better to spend $50/year on protection than send your computer to the

next electronics recycling event... which is Sept. 29th at Motorola in

Schaumburg. Do not throw computers, printers, or monitors in the

trash.