Why Should You Compress Files?

Compressing files has only one main purpose – to make them smaller. However, it also has several other sub-uses. Compression programs were mainly used to reclaim disk space as unused or infrequently used files could be made smaller and thus freeing up some space on the hard drive. This practice was also extended to whole hard drives using programs like “Stacker” and “Doubledrive” back in the days of MS-DOS to compress all files while remaining accessible by the OS for immediate use. However with larger hard drives becoming cheaper every day, these reasons have now disappeared.

Compression programs are now mainly used to send files across the internet. This gives a user a few distinct advantages.

1. Several files can be “bunched” together and sent as 1 file. As such the total size to be uploaded by the user and downloaded by the recipient becomes less. However not all files can be compressed enough to be of any practical use. Video files and JPG’s have already had compression algorithms run on them so the compression program you use will have little or no effect on them

2. The files can be password protected and encrypted as well. This gives a great deal of security to the data being transmitted and anyone intercepting the data will find it almost impossible to decrypt it.

3. The integrity of the data can be judged immediately upon receipt of the file. The compressed file simply will not “open” if it was not transmitted properly. Although this does mean that the file will have to be re-sent, it saves the recipient the frustration of receiving several corrupted files.

The Importance of Drivers

Nowadays the term Drivers does not have the same amount of weight attached to it as it used to about 15 years ago. Back then finding Drivers that were released for a particular device was almost as difficult as getting a Republican to endorse President Obama. But Drivers remain important nevertheless.

A device Driver is the software that functions as a bridge between your hardware device and the Operating System. It tells the OS exactly how the hardware can be operated, what functions it is capable of and how the OS should “talk” to it. This is very important as OS manufacturers and hardware manufacturers are almost never the same entity.

These days with OS’s like MS Windows 7, there is really no worry about getting a device to work as the OS contains many thousands of drivers from manufacturers as well as generic ”one size fits all” drivers. But it is always advisable to get the newest driver for your device whenever possible. This is because manufacturers are constantly trying to get the best out of their hardware and therefore from time to time keep releasing new updates that will make the hardware improve its functions. Another reason is that OS’s regularly update themselves, thus requiring small or large adjustments in the way that drivers and hardware interact with them.

To keep your computer running as smoothly as possible, download updates regularly or if an automatic download option is available then you should utilize that. Many manufacturers now include an “identify make & model” tool on their websites, so even downloading the correct driver manually is now an easy task.

Protecting Your Computer from Theft

First of all you have to understand that no computer can be protected from being physically stolen. Short of chaining your desktop computer to the wall or attaching your laptop to your body nothing else can be done to protect it. But what you can protect is the data and here are a few simple solutions to help you do that.

Password protection – All PC’s and Laptops have a BIOS. This is the system that interacts with your hardware the moment you switch it on. By going into your BIOS, you can set a system password so that every time the computer is switched on the BIOS will ask for the correct password before even letting the Operating System start. In addition to this you should also have a strong password for logging into your system. A strong password in this case would be constituted of letters and numbers.

Encryption – Encryption is further protection for your data. Using this you can protect files or folders with a randomly generated “key”. Once encrypted, the file or folder cannot be accessed without being decrypted using the key. However you must be very careful as to where you store this key as

a. Losing it will mean that you can never access that data again.
b. If someone else gets hold of it, they can then access your data

Data wipe – This method is somewhat drastic. There are several vendors online who offer a data wipe out program. This program automatically connects to the vendor’s server and identifies itself every time you log on to the internet and at periodical intervals. In the event that your computer is stolen, you can log on to the vendor’s website and report it as stolen. The next time the computer is switched on (by the thief) and when the software communicates to the server, the server instructs the software to being an automatic wipe out off all the data stored on the system.