1. About Virus/Malware Protection: By “virus” or “malware” we mean malicious programs or
applications which someone has written to infect your computer with unwanted programs or take
control of your machine, or direct you to some website which is not where you want to go.

In today’s environment, it is absolutely critical that you protect your computer (and yourself)
from malware (eg viruses, internet security, identity theft, etc). Another important point is that
you must enable it to update itself whenever it needs to (which usually happens when you are
connected to the internet). Most major computer security packages are set to periodically check
for latest updates throughout the day, whenever internet connection is available. The regular
update usually happens almost every day. Setting it up to update automatically is much better
than you manually running the program to check for updates since, by the time you remember to
do that, you may already be infected.

Also, you need to regularly scan your computer for any viruses, malware and security risks.
Beware of some websites or programs which you haven’t installed yourself, which tells you that
you have infection. Usually it also says that if you want a free software to remove the
infection,”click here”. This can be a virus itself on your computer, and by clicking through to
their website, you are probably getting into a trap.

Importantly, never open an email or link in an email from a sender whom you don’t know or don’t trust.

2. What is the best virus protection today? We get to deal with various malware protection
software, since a lot of infected machines are brought to us to remove viruses. Hence, we get to
see how often some security software do not do their job properly. Based on that experience we
know that some security software do a better job than others (at least at certain times).

The lesson is that you need to be aware that one virus protection software may be good in one
time period (say one year), but in a year or two another one may become better. This is where
professional advice (via us, or other professionals) can help you decide on what to buy. Cost
alone should not be a factor. We see changing trends and performances of various security
software, and can help you decide on what is best for your situation at a given point in time.

Feel free to get in touch with us about this.

As part of its offers to local Businesses, Alpha Computers now offers pre-paid computer service contracts,at a discount.

All you have to do is decide how many hours of service you want to pre- pay for, and buy that amount (just like your pre-paid mobile phone plans).

Then, whenever you need a technician to come and fix your computer or maintain your network, you just give
us a call, and we shall attend to your problem as soon as we can. Call us if you want to find out more about this service.

In case you didn’t know, Alpha computers now offer fast-speed internet access service (for a fee) to the public.

So, next time you are in Mornington, and need to access the internet, you can use the services provided by
Alpha Computers, during their opening hours. Their internet access rates are very reasonable, and it is fast.

If you have not been at Alpha for the past few months, next time you drive past take a look.

The old dark and dull blue colour is gone. This has been replaced by a bright
orange-ish external colour, whichyou could not possible miss!

This has been in response to feedback from customers that they
didn’t know Alpha computers was there, even if it has been around for over 20 years!

Alpha computers released its new website in late January 2010.

The website contains details of new services being introduced at Alpha.

These new services include:

Website design and build services, click here for more info.

Computer classes for both Apple (Macs)
and Windows machines. Details of classes and enrolment process can be found here.