Over the last few months I have been helping more and more of my clients deal with spyware and viruses that infected their computers.  Many of my clients are like you - professionals who work from home.  Although not in every case, many of them let their kids or teens use their computer after hours.  Not that you shouldn't trust your kids, but it may not be a good idea to get a separate computer for the kids.

No matter your intentions, your kids may end up infecting your computer with a spyware or virus (or to an equal extent spill a food or drink in it).  This could result in a slew of pop-up ads, fake spyware programs installing themselves, losing the ability to connect to the Internet, inability to send or receive email, or even worse.

If you are thinking that a new computer isn't in the cards for your kids consider getting a new one for yourself and give the old one to your kids.

If this isn't viable, then consider getting your kids a used one.  Goodwill's Computer Works (in Austin) http://www.austincomputerworks.org/store.html and DiscountElectronics (in Austin) http://www.discountelectronics.com/ are excellent sources of refurbished computers that are ready-to-use.

Be sure to install protection software on the kid's computer (Perhaps AVG AntiVirus 8.0 Free http://www.avg.com/product-avg-anti-virus-free-edition).  For the kiddos, install some parental control software so you can make sure they don't visit sites they shouldn't (http://www.consumersearch.com/parental-control-software).

As an extra measure, set a password for your computer.  (In Windows XP: Start > Control Panel > User Accounts > Click your Account Name > Change my password.  Be sure to set your computer to turn-on the screen saver and the password when it kicks in (Start > control Panel > Display > Click the Screen Saver-tab > Check 'On resume, password protect', Click Apply, Click OK.)

A few hundred bucks now to purchase your kids a computer will be much cheaper in time and money it would take to recover your computer to get your operations up & running.  Something to think about.

That's it!

September 10 2007
Before you give your old computer away, you should probably take a few moments ensure that you don't leave any personal information on it.  You may think that deleting files and old programs will do an effective job, but this is a misperception because deleted files and programs can be easily recovered.  The best way to remove your personal information is with a Hard Drive Clean-up program.

Once installed, a hard drive clean-up program will erase your entire hard drive including all files, programs, and even the operating system.  In addition, it will overwrite the deleted files with several random characters making the recovery of the deleted files virtually impossible.

These programs start about $30 and can be purchased in most electronics or business products store.  Here are just a few:
-Drive Scrubber: http://www.iolo.com/ds/3/
-Window Washer (the System Eraser utility in Window Washer): http://www.webroot.com/consumer/products/windowwasher/?id=H2-HHO_Links-WW&WRSID=3071fb61c6fe68131c28fe4a363413d2
-WipeDrive: http://www.whitecanyon.com/wipedrive-erase-hard-drive.php

Once the process is started, it will take some time to complete so please plan accordingly.  Depending on the number of sweeps of random characters, wiping your hard drive may take a few hours to a full day.  The clean-up program you choose should provide an estimated time for completion when you start the process.

After you have wiped your hard drive, you can sell, donate, or recycle it.  If you decide to sell it, expect to only get a fraction for what you paid.

If you want to sell your computer:
Ebay is a popular venue to sell old computers:  http://www.ebay.com

If you choose to donate it and live in Austin:
You can do so at Goodwill Industries:  https://www.austincomputerworks.org/

If you want to recycle it:
Both Dell and HP offer recycling programs:

Dell
http://www.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/dell_recycling?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs
Free recycling on Dell brand computers also including:
-Printers
-Printer Toners
-Printer Cartridges

HP
https://warp1.external.hp.com/recycle/
Accepts all computer brands for a nominal fee.

That's it!