Chapter 26

Ten Things to Avoid Like the Plague

In This Chapter

Overheating is the enemy

Phishing (without a pole)

Using a single password

Liquid Mac meltdowns

Antique utility software

Illegal software

That nasty root account

Cheap surge protectors

Refurbished stuff

Just plain dirt

If you’ve read other books that I’ve written in the For Dummies series, you might recognize the title of this chapter: It’s a favorite Part of Tens subject of mine that appears often in my work. I don’t like to see any computer owner fall prey to pitfalls. Some of these pitfalls are minor — like being less than diligent about keeping your iMac clean — but others are downright catastrophic, like providing valuable information over the Internet to persons unknown.

All these potential mistakes, however, have one thing in common: They’re easily prevented with a little common sense — as long as you’re aware of them. That’s my job. In this chapter, I fill in what you need to know. Consider these pages as experience gained easily (for you, that is!).

Keep Things Cool

I’ve met a number of iMac owners over the years who’ve parked their supercomputers next to a heat source, “shoehorned” an iMac under a shelf, or draped something over the top of the screen. (That last one happens more often than you think, just because such a cover helps prevent dust from accumulating on the top of any computer.)

What, dear reader, do these three mistakes have in common? In a word, heat, which is something you must avoid. Don’t forget that your iMac has the same heat-generating CPU, video card, and internal devices that any other computer has these days, but only a single pathway for air to flow. Trust me: Your motherboard and internal devices will suffer if you don’t allow your iMac’s internal fan to perform its job!

As I discuss in Chapter 1, the fan exhaust on your iMac is the slot at the top back of the case, so don’t ever cover that slot with anything, and locate your iMac in a spot where there’s plenty of ventilation directly above the computer. Also, avoid major heat sources anywhere around your iMac that could significantly raise its temperature.

Phishing Is No Phun

Phishing refers to an attempt by criminals to illegally obtain your personal information. If that sounds like an invitation to identity theft, it is — and thousands of sites have defrauded individuals like you and me (along with banks and credit card companies) out of billions of dollars.

A phishing scam works like this: You get an e-mail purporting to be from a major company or business (think eBay), government agency, social networking site, or major credit card company. The message warns you that you have to “update” your login or financial information to keep it current, or that you have to “validate” your information every so often — and the message ever-so-conveniently even provides you with a link to an official-looking web page (although sometimes full of spelling errors, and always with a bogus address). After you enter information on that bogus page, it’s piped directly to the bad guys, and they’re off to the races.

Here’s a Mark’s Maxim that every Internet user should take to heart:

No legitimate company or agency will ever solicit your personal information through an e-mail message!

Never respond to these messages. Don’t use the link provided in the phishing e-mail! If you smell something phishy, open your web browser and visit the company’s site (the real one) by typing in the address directly; then contact the company’s customer support department to report the scam.

In fact, sending any valuable financial information through unencrypted e-mail — even to those whom you know and trust — is a bad idea. E-mail messages can be intercepted or can be read from any e-mail server that stores your message.

Don’t Rely on a Single Password

Okay, confess: Are you using a single password for everything you do on your Mac? Is your Apple ID password the same as your user account password — and also the same as your password on every website you visit? Even your online banking? (Oh, my!)

If so, you’re taking a big risk with both your personal data and your online reputation. All it takes is a single moment of weakness (perhaps when your friend or co-worker asks to use your Mac, or you use that “oh-so-convenient” universal password on a phishing website). No matter how your password gets out, you and your Mac are suddenly wide open to malicious attacks.

I recommend the same security measure that I recommend to my clients, family, and friends: Use a different password for each of the important websites you visit often, and keep a completely separate password reserved for your user account. I know it’s a hassle to remember multiple passwords, but the alternative is no security at all.

Do You Really Want a Submerged Keyboard?

Your answer should be an unequivocal “No!” — and that’s why everyone should make it a rule to park all beverages well out of range of keyboards, speakers, mice, backup drives, and any other piece of external hardware. Especially when kids or cats are in close proximity to your iMac.

Cleaning up a hazardous soda spill is hard enough in the clear, but if that liquid comes in contact with your hardware, you’re likely to be visited with intermittent keyboard problems (or, in the worst-case scenario, a short in an external peripheral or your iMac’s motherboard).

Suffice it to say that 12 inches of open space can make the difference between a simple cleanup and an expensive replacement!

Don’t Use Antiquated Utility Software

If you’re using OS X Mavericks, you should upgrade your older utility programs. These older disk utility applications can actually do more damage than good to a hard drive under OS X Mavericks. A number of things always change when Apple makes the leap to a new version of OS X, including subtle changes to disk formats and memory management within applications. With an out-of-date utility, you could find yourself with corrupted data.

Make sure that you diagnose and repair disk and file errors by using only a utility application that’s specifically designed to run in Mavericks, like Drive Genius 3 from Prosoft Engineering (www.prosofteng.com). Your iMac’s hard drive will definitely thank you.

(Oh, and while you’re at it, don’t forget to check the manufacturer’s website for any updates to drivers or application software for your third-party external hardware! ’Nuff said.)

Don’t Endorse Software Piracy

This one’s a real no-brainer. Bear in mind that Apple’s overall market share among worldwide computer users currently weighs in at little more than 17 percent. Software developers know this, and they have to expect (and receive) a return on their investment or they’re going to find something more lucrative to do with their time. As a shareware author, I can attest to this fact firsthand.

An iMac is a great machine, and Mavericks is a great operating system, but even the best hardware and the sexiest desktop won’t make up for an absence of good applications. Pay for what you use, and everyone benefits.

Call It the Forbidden Account

You might never have encountered the root, or System Administrator, account within OS X — and that’s always A Good Thing. Note that I’m not talking about a standard administrator (or admin) account here. Every iMac needs at least one admin account (in fact, it might be the only visible account on your computer), and any standard user account can be toggled between standard and admin status with no trouble at all (by another admin account).

The root account, though, is a different beast altogether, and that’s why it’s disabled by default. All Unix systems have a root account; because Mavericks is based on a Unix foundation, it has one, too. Anyone logging in with the root account can do anything on your system, including deleting or modifying files in the System folder (which no other account can access). Believe me: Deliberately formatting your hard drive is about the only thing worse than screwing up the files in your System folder.

Luckily, no one can accidentally access the root/System Administrator account. In fact, you can’t assign the root account with System Preferences; you must use the Terminal application in Utilities (within your Applications folder). Unless an Apple support technician tells you to enable and use it, you should promptly forget that the root account even exists.

Don’t Settle for a Surge Suppressor

Technically, nothing is wrong with using a surge suppressor to feed power to your iMac and all your external peripherals, but it doesn’t do the entire job. Your system is still wide open to problems caused by momentary brownouts, not to mention the occasional full-fledged blackout. Losing power in the middle of a computing session will likely lead to lost documents and might even result in disk or file errors later. With an uninterruptible power supply (UPS), you can rest more easily, knowing that your iMac will have a few minutes more of “ilife.”

Most Mac owners know about the backup battery power that a UPS provides, but they don’t know about the extra work performed by most UPS units: namely, filtering your AC current. A filtering UPS prevents electronic noise (think about a vacuum being used next to a TV set) and momentary current spikes. These days, you’ll find good UPS models for less than $100.

Refurbished Hardware Is No Deal at All

Boy, howdy, do I hate refurbished stuff. To quote someone famous, “If the deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”

Examine what you get when you buy a refurbished (often called recertified) hard drive. It’s likely that the drive was returned as defective, of course, and was then sent back to the factory. There, the manufacturer probably performed the most cursory of repairs, perhaps tested the unit for a few seconds, and then packed it back up again. (I should, however, note that Apple sells refurbished Macs and generally has a good reputation for value on these computers.)

Before you spend a dime on a bargain that’s remanufactured — I can’t get over that term — make sure that you find out how long a warranty you’ll receive, if any.

If at all possible, I recommend spending the extra cash on trouble-free, brand-new hardware that has a full warranty.

iMacs Appreciate iCleanliness

Clean your machine, including your keyboard, mouse, and trackpad. Your iMac case needs only a thorough wiping job with a soft cloth to stay spotless, but don’t be surprised at the primordial nastiness that can build up on your keyboard and the underside of your mouse over time!

Your screen should be cleaned at least once every two or three days. Never spray anything — cleaners, water, anything! — directly on your screen or your iMac’s case. I highly recommend using premoistened LCD cleaning wipes to safely clean your iMac monitor.