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TIPS TO SPEED UP YOUR COMUTER

1.   Run your Anti Virus software regularly to keep viruses out of your system and use caution while opening mail attachments.

    Download the Symantec Anti Virus software from the Helpdesk downloads page. Symantec is available free for students, faculty and staff members. Make sure that Symantec AntiVirus is continually running and checking your system for any viruses, especially if you are downloading files from the Web, checking your email, or installing any unfamiliar programs.

   Live Update is a feature of Symantec AntiVirus that connects to the virus definition database via the Web and updates the types of viruses the program can detect. Regularly updating the virus definitions ensures that your computer will be safe from the latest viruses and worms.

Live Update is a subscription service that is accessible as long as the license you have is valid (as a member of the DePauw community, you are included in DePauw's license). You can update the virus definitions of Symantec AntiVirus by either manually running the Live Update feature or setting it to contact the database on a regular schedule or whenever you connect to the Internet. The campus recommends that you schedule daily Live Updates

  

2.  We suggest that you also have anti-spyware software on your machine. You can either download anti-spyware software from DePauw’s HelpDesk Downloads page. If installing both Spybot and Adaware, download and install Spybot first. Otherwise the two programs will conflict with each other. Remember Spybot and Ad-Aware do not update or run themselves so it is important that you do that at least once a week.

3. Update your computer regularly. For Windows Update open up Internet Explorer and go to Tools -> Windows Update.

         

For Mac OS open System Preferences and then go to Software Update.

3. Defrag your hard drive: A hard drive can get pretty disorganized if you leave it alone. Therefore, you should "clean up" or defragment your disk every so often, to improve the performance of your computer. In Windows operating systems, use Disk Defragmenter program under Start->Programs->Accessories->System Tools to begin defragmenting your disk.