Andrew Tech Help

I've been using Adobe Reader for many many years now, stretching as far back as when it was called Acrobat Reader. Adobe has continued to update it's reader and is currently up to version 9. To most people though, the functions of the reader they use have changed very little. For few more advanced users, who use all of the extra features of Adobe Acrobat to make PDFs then you probably have enjoyed the additions Adobe has made over the years, but regardless of whether you use them or not, they're making the PDF reader more insecure (and bloaty at the same time, Adobe have it auto load in the background when you turn on the computer because otherwise it would be too slow to load when you opened a document).

Installing Windows 7 is a simple task. The installation process is very similar to the Windows Vista setup process and only some mild changes were made in this version. As usual it does involve a little planning and a little guidance through some steps but generally it just involves answering questions and waiting for a short amount of time (about 20-25 min). This guide will teach you how to install Windows 7 onto a brand new machine. If you wish to install Windows 7 onto a computer that already has Windows Vista, you can choose an in place upgrade if you wish. If you have Windows XP installed, you must do a Clean Installation, but you still qualify to buy a copy of Windows 7 for the upgrade price. I don't recommend in place upgrades because they bring all the problems and slowness from Windows Vista and bring them into your new Windows 7 system. Before you start make sure you have the following items: your Windows 7 installation DVD and your Windows 7 product key.

Microsoft has now released their free anti-virus/malware program called Microsoft Security Essentials. It's designed as a totally free and always free anti-virus/malware which will require no subscriptions, no renewals, no popups, low resource usage and will automatically update through the Windows Update service which I hope everyone has switched on by now! If you're currently using a free anti-virus then I'd recommend switching, you can literally install and forget about it. If you're using a paid alternative and you feel comfortable about that, then keep continuing with it, but if you're unsure about whether to pay for next year's subscription or Norton's bloating out your PC - then grab this.

With news of Conficker appearing again nearly 11 months after it first arose I thought it might be time to write a more detailed article on how to protect yourself. Regular visitors may have read my article Computer Security: Something You Don't Want to Ignore! which detailed some important points relating to computer security, but this article will focus more on a few specific things that are available (or will be available very shortly) to help you keep secure. Keeping yourself secure online is your duty to everyone - it's like getting vaccinated for diseases, if everyone is vaccinated - then the disease has an extremely hard time infecting you.