Save yourself a lot of hassle and stress with this simple guide to protecting your data and securing your computer. Trust us, this is good advice – one day you'll thank us…
1) RESTORE POINT
Many of you only find out what this is once you've lost all your data. As soon as you switch your computer on for the first time, find where this setting is on your device and "turn on system protection". Restore points will then be created regularly without you even noticing, and if a system error occurs (the blue screen of death), you'll be able to go back in time to the last saved restore point. A brilliant little feature.
- In the search box on the taskbar, type Create a restore point, then select it from the list of results.
- On the System Protection tab in the System Properties window, select Create.
2) ANTIVIRUS
It works like vitamin C for your body – it stops malicious programs from wreaking havoc on your computer or causing data loss. If you don't keep particularly sensitive data on your computer, the free antivirus built into Windows 10/11 (Windows Defender) will probably do the job. But if you take cybersecurity risks seriously, we recommend ESET Internet Security, which ranks among the best in the world. We'll be happy to supply, install and set it up for you – and at a discounted price, too.
3) WRITE DOWN THE NUMBER
Find the sticker with your operating system's licence number (Product Key) on your computer or its box, take a photo of it or write it down, and keep it somewhere safe. You'll be grateful for this tip when you reinstall your operating system or office suite… Of course, you can also find a small program online that will reveal a forgotten product key. If you find a sticker with the Windows logo on your computer but there's no licence key on it, don't worry. It means the key is embedded in your computer's hardware. It will be entered automatically during any future installation, so you don't need to know it.
4) END OF WARRANTY
It's a good idea to set a reminder for when your warranty period is about to end. And, of course, keep your receipt or warranty card. That way you won't leave a warranty claim too late…
5) CONNECT YOUR PHONE
Your computer usually also serves as a backup for your phone data. So install the relevant program that lets your computer pair with your phone, and back up regularly. You should find the program online or on the CD that came with your phone.
6) USER ACCOUNTS
It pays to set up a separate user account for each person – and not only if several people will be using the computer. Whether individual users should also get administrator rights (the ability to install and uninstall programs) is up to you. But do take their skills into account. There's no need to have every add-on that's offered installed on your computer, is there… If you're the only user, a password-protected account will stop uninvited visitors from browsing your content.
- Select Start > Settings > Accounts > Add someone else to this PC.
7) INTERNET
Everyone is used to a different web browser – Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Opera, Safari or another. Don't struggle with something that isn't your cup of tea – install your favourite; they're all free. Looking for inspiration? The most popular browser worldwide right now is the brilliantly simple and fast Google Chrome…
8) OTHER PROGRAMS
You know how it is – the moment you need something in a hurry, you find you don't have it. So, besides a web browser, also install WINRAR (for compressing or extracting large files – e.g. WinZip, 7zip or Bandizip), a BURNER (for burning CDs and DVDs – e.g. Nero or Ashampoo Burning Studio Free), a VIDEO PLAYER (the basic Windows Media Player may not play everything, so install VLC Media Player or KM player, for example), a PDF READER (Adobe Reader or Foxit Reader), an OFFICE SUITE (you can get the likes of Word or Excel for free – OpenOffice or LibreOffice) and TEAMVIEWER – for solving problems online with your favourite repair service.
9) TRANSFER YOUR DATA
Now you can transfer your data from your old computer. Once you've checked that everything is where it should be, you can delete the data from its original location.
10) ADJUST YOUR SETTINGS
Set the brightness and volume, font size, shutdown or sleep options when idle, power options and finally your desktop background – and start actually using your computer…