A few weeks ago I wrote about an outbreak in computer viruses and while the outbreak appears to have slowed down, it would be a very bad idea indeed to let your guard down. In fact, in light recent virus and malware activity, this would be a great time to batten down the hatches.

There are a ton of tools out there that help protect your computer and there are just as many opinions as to which ones are the best. I'm not for a minute going to suggest that the tools I recommend clean all of the junk from your computer, or that they are even all that easy to use. I have found them to be effective however and use them extensively.

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In big business it isn't entirely difficult to create a computer atmosphere that is robust, serves its users well, and is not broken down more often than not. The trick is to hire the right people to build and maintain the network and deal with IT projects as they come up. OK, maybe it's not quite THAT simple but it doesn't need to be a nightmare, provided the right resources are in place.

In the small business world, things often become entirely different. Many small businesses simply don't have the resources to build - let alone maintain - a network that will adequately take care of business needs.  Many small businesses wind up with a mismatch of different parts put together piece by piece by whichever technician was available at any given time and was offering the right price. Nobody's really sure how the pieces fit together and why this was done or that was configured differently. Just finding a password for a router can be a gargantuan challenge in its own right.

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