I once dropped my cell phone down a drain gutter.  For a moment, I panicked.  How was I going to get all those calls?  Then it was peaceful, and I realized how nice it is not having a phone.

That was nearly a decade ago.  These days, phones and computers play an even larger role in our day-to-day lives.  It’s tough to go even a few hours without a working computer or cell phone.

Computer Repair

The best way to fix computer problems is to not even have them.  This means you have to be diligent about preventive care.  For example, do you have a computer-use policy at work?  Do you have some written doc that explains what’s acceptable computer behavior and what is not acceptable computer behavior?  This kind of policy goes a long way toward mitigating potential hazards.  It’s a good idea to have a policy for the home, too.  For example, is it OK for your teen to access file sharing sites from your computer?

In addition to a policy, you will also need protective software.  There are several free tools available to help keep your computers safe:

Avast Antivirus Software:  http://www.avast.com/en-us/index

Malwarebytes Antispyware Software:  http://www.malwarebytes.org/

CCleaner PC Optimizing and Cleaning Software: http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner

Need Computer Repair?  SuperGeeks has all the answers!  (808) 531-4335

If you recently picked up a new computer, consider yourself one of the lucky ones.  The rest of us are still waiting for our chance to justify the expenditure.

To mitigate the cost of ownership, there are some free goodies out there you may want to consider installing while your computer is still fresh out-of-the-box.  And though ‘free’ in the computing world doesn’t necessarily equate to ‘good’, all of the software listed below has been thoroughly geek-tested and is wholly SuperGeeks-approved:

Enjoy your new computer.  Take good care of it.  Let me know if I can help with anything.

James Kerr is Chief Geek at SuperGeeks.  You can reach him at (808) 531-GEEK and on Twitter: SuperGeeks

To sweeten the prize, we will select one person from the 1000 followers. The winner will receive a netbook or an iPad. He/she can decide.

Most of the tools you need can be found at w3.org

HTML Validator - http://validator.w3.org/

CSS Validator - http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/

Link Checker - http://validator.w3.org/checklink

Competitor Analysis can be found at http://www.ineedhits.com/free-tools/competitor-analysis.aspx or http://www.alexa.com/ (also good for a page ranking of sorts)

Calculate your  Google Rank http://www.prchecker.info/check_page_rank.php

Site grader:   http://website.grader.com/

If you recently picked up a new computer, consider yourself one of the lucky ones. The rest of us are still waiting for our chance to justify the expenditure.

To mitigate the cost of ownership, there are some free goodies out there you may want to consider installing while your computer is still fresh out-of-the-box. And though ‘free’ in the computing world doesn’t necessarily equate to ‘good’, all of the software listed below has been thoroughly geek-tested and is wholly SuperGeeks-approved:

Install Firefox. Assuming you bought a Windows machine, it will come with Internet Explorer pre-loaded. There are better browsers than Internet Explorer. Firefox, for example, is both faster and safer than IE. Use it instead. You can download it for free here: www.getfirefox.com.

Install PCDecrapifier. As you probably know well, new PCs come with a bunch of trial software pre-installed. This includes trial subscriptions of Norton and McAfee antivirus software. We geeks call this stuff crap-ware. Basically, it’s useless and hogs your computer’s precious resources. Remove it all asap. Here’s a free tool to help you get the job done: www.pcdecrapifier.com

Install Avast. There are several good, free antivirus programs. There is also a lot of bogus software masquerading as legitimate solutions when – in reality – they are fake and sometimes malicious apps. For a list of rogue software, go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogue_security_software It’s big business! For real protection from viruses, install Avast. It’s free. You can get it here: www.avast.com. Run it weekly. Delete or quarantine everything it finds.

Install SpyBot Search & Destroy. Everyone has their favorite anti-spyware solution. I like SpyBot Search & Destroy. There are other good ones out there, but if you’re unfamiliar with those, just stick with this: www.safer-networking.org. Run it daily. Delete everything it finds.

Install CCleaner. Remember the crap-ware I talked about earlier? New computers come laden with crap. But old computers will accumulate crap over time through standard use. That crap will bog down your system and may even make it unstable. To keep your computer healthy, run ‘Crap Cleaner’ daily. It’s free. You can get it here: www.ccleaner.com. Delete everything it finds.

Enjoy your new computer. Take good care of it. Let me know if I can help with anything.

James Kerr is Chief Geek at SuperGeeks. You can reach him at (808) 531-GEEK and www.SuperGeeks.net. Twitter: SuperGeeks