Know mater if it is a new or used Dell Inspiron e1505 it will make for a great college student laptop. Dell’s e1505 will holdup to the rigors of college life and last for years. They are also a very affordable choice when you consider how durable they are.

There are many items to consider when choosing a laptop for the college student. You want a durable laptop that is going to last the three or four years while they attend college.

You want a laptop that is going to be able to keep up with all of the latest technology. Windows Vista is a new operating system that only certain computers will be able to run. While Windows Vista has had its problems, Microsoft has made improvements to their software. These improvements took care of quit a few of the bugs with Vista.

Right now, the clearest choice out there I feel is the Dell Inspiron e1505.

The e1505 laptop meets Dell’s tuff Road Ready standards. This laptop will handle all of the unfortunate mishaps that the college student will throw at it.

Dell performs very well in independent tests on component durability. Dell is found at the top of the list when it comes to accidental damage. Even though Dell is very durable, I recommend that you consider an extended warranty. We all know how college students are. Why not add some extra security on your investment.

Even the best college student laptop is going to get some wear and tear. It is comforting to know that you have Dell’s exceptional customer care to take care of you when it does.

Another item that makes the Dell Inspiron e1505 the best college student laptop is it is up on technology. If you plan to have this laptop last through college, it is a great idea to buy the technology that is up to date. You do not want to find yourself upgrading later. Spending a little more now, you are going to save yourself from having to buy a completely new laptop down the road.

You may even find deals on used Dell Inspiron e1505 on Amazon or EBay and be able to save some money. Shop around on these sites and you will find some great deals. Many of them will even come with some sort of a warranty if that is a concern to you.

Here are my suggestions for the configuration of the e1505 with the college student in mind.

The e1505’s core duo processor is blazingly fast. However, while the 1.63GHz should be more than enough for a college student right now. You might want to look at a 1.83GHz or higher processor. In a couple years when the software is, more demanding on your processor you will appreciate the added speed.

As far as the hard drive space, you want to have a minimum of 60GB. I know that over a college career you are going to download tons of stuff onto your computer. Many of these downloads will take up a lot of hard drive space. You might want to look for 80GB or higher.

As far as RAM memory goes, I would recommend 1GB of memory. If you only do one upgrade to your laptop, do this. It is amazing how much smoother things run when you have the added memory.

It should come with the Windows Vista operating system. Most universities allow you to buy a Microsoft Professional upgrade for your computer at a discounted price. I know the college that my daughter goes to allowed her to purchase Microsoft Professional on CD for only $20.

The Dell Inspiron e1505 is very portable for the college student to put into their backpack and take it to class or to the library. It has more than enough screen space to write papers and see programs.

The Dell Inspiron e1505 is a great choice if you are looking for the best college student laptop. No matter whether it is a new Dell Inspiron e1505 or a used Dell Inspiron e1505 it will be a good choice. This laptop will make the four or five years of college life and is very affordable. It has everything that most college students are going to need and want. Therefore, you will not have to invest in getting another laptop halfway through their college career.

I guess nobody is safe from worm viruses these days, at least not if we use Outlook Express and Windows. We don’t even have to be infected ourselves to feel the pain of the really bad ones that auto send emails using various domain names, making them look like YOU sent them.

Worms like this are known as “spoofers”, and are passed on via attachments in emails. A golden rule is: Be extremely cautious opening any attachments that you are not expecting.

Personally, I never open any attachments unless I’m either expecting them, or I confirm with the sender first that they actually did send one. In fact, I’ve gone so far as to set up my Outlook Express to never open attachments unless I want to.

To do the same, set up Outlook Express like this:

1. Open Outlook Express
2. Click on tools
3. Click on options
4. Click on security
5. Check the box that says “Do not allow attachments to be saved or opened that could potentially be a virus”
6. Click apply
7. Click ok

Then if and when you’re expecting an attachment, go back in and uncheck it until you’ve opened the attachment. Afterwards immediately go back in and re-check the box. This will help curb the spreading of email viruses.

I myself fell victim to a “spoofer virus” last year, and even ended up having to get a new domain because of it. Thankfully, I have my firewall and antivirus program totally turned ON and up to date constantly, so the virus itself couldn’t get to my computer, but it still managed to do a LOT of damage from being on somebody else’s machine.

So please, I urge you ALL to keep your antivirus up to date, and get the patches and updates you need for Windows etc. I know it can be a pain in the butt to keep updating, but it IS worth it. It can save a lot of grief and there’d be a lot less chance of spreading nasty things like this.

Anti-virus programs:

I use the free version of AVG, which is pretty good, and available here: http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_dwnl_free.php

Once you’ve downloaded and installed it, open the control center, go to task manager and set it to automatically update however often you like, also, set the task scheduler to allow scheduled scans every 24 hours.

Don’t just count on one single anti-virus program though, as they don’t all update their files at the same time. Remember, the SoBig virus from last year managed to disable various anti-virus software before they’d had the chance to update.

I recommend you also use HouseCall, Trend Micro’s free online virus scanner http://housecall.trendmicro.com and MacAfee’s free online scan (this one once caught something for me that HouseCall didn’t) http://us.mcafee.com/root/mfs/default.asp?cid=9059
If, after all this, you still end up getting a virus, worm or Trojan, here’s 2 great links for you:

There’s a great virus encyclopaedia search here:
http://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/virusencyclo

A list of removal tools for various worms and viruses:
http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/tools.list.html

Of course, there’s always the option of using various other email clients or even web mail, but that’s food for a whole different article;)

Spyware, also known as adware or malware, is getting to be more and more of a problem to internet users. Spyware is usually a program or application that is installed onto your pc, often without your knowledge or permission. It may display ads, monitor your Web surfing patterns, steal your passwords or become responsible for a whole range of bad stuff.

Where does spyware come from? What does it do?

These programs/applications can come from Web sites that download music or offer free software, or even from certain popup ads if you click anywhere inside the ad instead of hitting the X button to get rid of it.

Cookies are almost inevitable (most websites use them, and some won’t even work without them), and rarely a problem as they are very easy to clean up or even not accept, but the threat posed by key loggers, diallers and Trojans is much greater.

A key logger can record anything you type, including your passwords, e-mail messages, credit card numbers, and even your online chats. Diallers will secretly hang up your Internet connection and redial premium services that can run up your long-distance bill. Trojans can embed programs which will open “backdoors” into your computer to allow hackers to steal data or make your pc unusable.

These types of spyware can prove very costly to people unaware of them.

How do you know if your pc is infected with spyware?

Well, for definite, if you’ve never checked before, you can bet your bottom dollar that you WILL have some spyware on your computer.

Here are some common traits:

1. Changed IE favourites.
2. Homepage changes without you changing it.
3. Popup ads popping up even when you’re offline.
4. New desktop icons appear for programs you did not knowingly install.
5. Some Trojans will cause changes to the icons of your normal programs.
6. Prolonged System start-up after a reboot (takes a long time to load user settings).
7. You have to refresh a webpage multiple times before you can see the content.
8. Your pc may seem uncommonly slow or sluggish.
9. A program may not operate correctly. Some examples of this are Windows Media Player will not work. Notepad will not work, Task Manager, MSConfig or Regedit may close immediately after opening.
10. Unexplained loss of internet access (worst case scenario).

To eliminate spyware you should keep it from being installed on your computer in the first place. You could always just never install anything and never visit websites, but then you might as well throw away your internet connection altogether, huh? A better option might be to turn OFF the install on demand option in windows. This can be done by following these steps:

1. Open a new browser window.
2. Click on tools.
3. Click on internet options.
4. Click on advanced.
5. Scroll down through the list of advanced options and UNCHECK “Enable install on demand”.
6. Click OK.

You can also make sure you can still download things that you WANT to download by following these steps:

1. Open a new browser window.
2. Click on tools.
3. Click on internet options.
4. Click on security
5. Click on custom
6. Scroll down until you find “Installation of desktop items” and set to “prompt”
7. Click OK

Remember, if your Internet security controls aren’t properly set, just visiting a Web site or clicking on a Web ad can install an application. Please note that if any of your programs are set to auto-update, you will need the install on demand option enabled.

How do you get rid of spyware?

Before running spyware removal tools, clean up your pc a little by hand first, that way the scan won`t take as long.

1. Open a browser window.
2. Click on tools.
3. Click on internet options.
4. Choose delete cookies –> ok
5. Choose delete files –> delete all offline content –> ok

The 2 most commonly recommended spyware removers are Spybot Search & Destroy, available here: www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html and Ad-Aware SE Personal, which is available here: www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware

Both of these are free, and they don’t pressure you into paying for a full version, although spybot also immunizes your computer from known spyware without purchasing a “paid version”, unlike adaware.

Here’s a great little step-by-step tutorial about how to use Ad Aware:
http://spyware.pcrelief.org

A great forum for getting answers about spyware and other related problems can be found here: http://forums.spywareinfo.com/index.php?b=1

Another really good place to find help with computer problems is http://forums.techguy.org

HijackThis is a general homepage hijackers detector and remover. It does not target specific programs/URLs, just the methods used by hijackers to force you onto their sites. As a result, false positives are imminent and unless you are sure what you’re doing, you should always consult with knowledgeable folks before deleting anything. The above-mentioned forums are good places to ask for help with this. You can get HijackThis for free here www.spychecker.com/program/hijackthis.html

Make it a part of your regular maintenance routine to scan your system for spyware, and remember that NO spyware blockers will be fully effective unless you keep them up to date, so check for updates often.

The idea of E-Learning is the in depth way of education through the Internet. Scientific research reveals that the best way of learning are the mix and match of three modes. Namely Instructor Led, Web Based and Computer Based. The popular terms are ILT, WBT and CBT. Demands of careers in this highly complex world have lead us to the option of e-Learning. The reach of the Internet has really improved our learning opportunities. The forums and online helps have made e-Learning real time. The laptop has given one the opportunity to enhance their skills even while traveling.

The time requirements of ILT has put it slightly below in the common mode of learning. The lack of upgrades in case of CBT has not allowed it to top the list. Even with CBT having the flexibility of carrying heavier graphics and movies. The convenience factor in e-Learning has been fueled by the factor of e-Learning at one’s own pace. The ability to learn at their own residence has made e-Learning a more flexible way of education.

What can be learned through e-Learning? The answer in one word is anything. Some sites may teach Computers and programming. There are sites that will provide education in business management. At some sites, you can learn about cooking and food preparation. There are sites today, who are teaching even agriculture or maybe e-security. What if you are tired at the end of the day and you are feeling the stress on you. You know it has started affecting your personal life. You can find a course in Stress Management to help you cope. The cost of such a course may well be under $100.00. Cheap when you consider how stress affects you life.

Sun, Oracle, and Microsoft have been continuing their online education for years. Many educational portals have come up in recent years including some top companies coming up with their own e-Learning sites. These sites are being used to further the education of their current employees. They are often structured in fields where finding individuals with education on these subjects is difficult.

E-Learning caters to the need of the age group between 6 and 65. Maybe a homemaker cannot find time for the formal education. On the other hand, say senior executive of a multi-national firm feels uncomfortable attending courses with the junior people. Then e-Learning is a great solution for him or her to accomplish further education and enhance their knowledge base.

There is a very old and correct saying that goes on to say that a coin has two sides. Like a coin, almost every aspect of life has two sides. For example, take the advancement of technology and the crime associated with it. With the improvements in technology, computers have formed an integral part of the working world. Computers along with them have brought greater work and time efficiency in the working circle of the world as a whole. However, there is a dark side to this as well. Along with all the benefits that computers and technology comes the rising and alarming threat of cyber crime.