So you've got just got yourself a computer and connected to the Internet? Congratulations! Guess you don't need any hype as to all the benefits of being online, and I'm not going start preaching to you either :) But, now that you are online, you should make the most of what you have sat right in front of you!


Privacy, security and e-mail + Internet safety

In exactly the same way that you lock your doors when you leave the home, have smoke alarms fitted and a burglar alarm protecting yourself from intruders, there are plenty of quick and simple ways you can protect both you and your computer whilst on the Internet.

You may well have heard in the news about fraud on the Internet, people hacking in to your computer and using it for illegal purposes, and viruses completely breaking your new computer. Whilst all of all these problems do exist, don't become a victim!

There are dozens of free applications on the Internet that can protect your from viruses, spyware, fraud + spam e-mails, etc. and Richard Rossbauer has written the excellent eBook titled 'How to Protect Your Privacy and Security Online'.

As an added bonus, a free eBook is also included when purchasing 'How to Protect Your Privacy and Security Online' called 'PC Security' which expands on some topics to further enable you to feel safe + secure on the Internet.

Both books are aimed at people with little or no computing experience, so don't feel like it all sounds too complicated! If you are unhappy with the contents of the books or simply feel you don't understand how to do anything on your computer, these two books come with a full 60-day money-back guarantee. At only $7 for the two books, it's a great investment.


Protect Yourself from Spyware/Adware
Although a lot of the problems you may hear or read about in the news will be about computer viruses (which are just like cold + flu people can get), spyware/adware is what really causes problems!

It's hard to explain what spyware/adware is, but it can vary from small bits of naughty software that will spy on what sites you look to filling your e-mail with spam adverts or loading up bad websites on your computer without you clicking on anything.

Thankfully, with only a little bit of reading from David Baseley's book 'How to Protect Yourself from Spyware/Adware' you can make sure you never run into any problems!

At only $5, it's a great read for making you understand exactly what spyware/adware is, how it can cause you problems, and more importantly, what you can to stop it! Although his site doesn't do a great deal of telling you about the book itself, it's definitely worth it if you're wanting a bit information having already read 'How to Protect Your Privacy and Security Online'.


Control E-mail Spam and Avoid Fraud
E-mail is probably one of the main reasons people at home get themselves connected to the Internet. Being able to keep in touch with family + friends from around the country or even the whole world at the click of a button in only a few seconds is very appealing! No more stamps or trips to the Post Office!

From being able to chat with old school friends, keeping in touch with your kids when they head off to college, or receiving news + photos of your grandkids, there's no reason not to take full of advantage of your e-mail!

But, in the same way you may well get mailings at home advertising everything from savings off your phone bill to a new credit card application, e-mail suffers from the same problem. For advertisers, it costs them next to nothing to send out millions of e-mails trying to lure in new customers, but for the Average Joe, it's not what you want every time you check your e-mail.

Over time, spam e-mail can very quickly build up, making it hard to read the genuine e-mails from friends + family. There's also naughty e-mails trying trying to trick you into sharing your bank details or lead you to websites selling fraud products.

Of course, it's easy to take control! In the same way you can opt-out of circulars and mailings or register on no-call databases for telemarketers, stopping the flood of e-mail on the Internet can be painless. 'How to Control E-mail Spam and Avoid Fraud' guides through what spam is and where it comes from, how to keep it under control and filter it out so you never have to see it again, and how to protect yourself from fraud online. A very comprehensive eBook, it's certainly something you should read, especially if you have kids using e-mail at home!


PC Protection Guide
Hopefully, all the time you spend on your computer and on the Internet will be free from problems, especially if you've already read through some of the previous eBooks! At some point though, you may run into problems. Just like your car may break down, or your refrigerator could fail, computers will run into problems too.

Even situations like floods, fire damage, lightning storms or a burglary can cause problems if you have all your digital photos on your computer, documents for work, or even your tax records. What would you do if something happened to your computer and it looked like you might loose all you files?

Thankfully, it's very easy to give yourself some breathing room and a good night's sleep without worrying about all this! The 'PC Protection Guide' shows you what you can do to first prevent any loss of data, and how you can make sure you always have copies of your important files in case something happens beyond your control.

For me, this is definitely a book everyone should read, as there's nothing worse than going to turn on your computer and finding something has broken! Taking it into a PC repair shop, you may find you need something inside replacing and they can't recover your files. If you've got always got a backup, and know how to quickly and easily get everything working again once you have your computer repaired, you don't have to worry anymore. With a 60-day money-back guarantee, I wouldn't hesitate to spend another $7 on this book!


Instant File Recovery
Even if you've taken precautions outlined in the previous book, 'PC Protection Guide', sometimes you may accidentally delete a photo or document you've just been working on and you don't have a disc or CD with a backup copy on.

It's something I've done plenty of times, and I've had 15 years of computer experience! Especially when it's late at night and you've been trying to finish an assignment or proposal for work, deleting a file by accident can be a big, big problem!

'Instant File Recovery' from Joern Lillehagen has saved me on more times than I can remember! This may not be something you want to purchase right away, but it's always there for you to purchase for only $7 when you do run into problems and need to recover a file, fast!

Working on pretty much any computer, operating system, drive format, etc. you're guaranteed to recover your file or your money back! The author provides a 56-day money-back guarantee, so if you do accidentally delete a file and need to recover it quickly, give 'Instant File Recovery' a try before spending hundreds of dollars on commercial software or a specialist IT consultant!


Creating Your First Website
The Internet has billions of websites, a lot of which are simply personal sites used to showcase photos of your family or holidays and let people read what you're up to at work or college. This is a great way to let people keep in touch - rather than e-mail a bunch of holiday photos to all your friends + family (which will take a long time both for you to send and them to download!), you can simply add them to your website and send a short e-mail telling everyone to go check them out! It also means old classmates or co-workers you've lost touch with would be able to find your website through a search engine such as Google and can e-mail you.

Most books can get quite complex and daunting when you're just starting out, but I found a really cool little program that includes video tutorials and example websites to get your started right away! 'How to Create Your First Website' guides you through the different options for getting your website on the Internet, how to change how it looks, upload your own photos, and much more!

The best part is your computer probably already comes with the software needed to build your websites, so there's nothing else you need to pay for!