A basic surge-protecting power strip is virtually a no-brainer for any kind of delicate electronic hardware, but if the power goes out suddenly, you can be stuck with corrupted data or, worse, damaged PCs.

A simple solution is an uninterruptible power supply, or UPS. Sitting between your computer and the power outlet, a UPS can keep your computer running for a few minutes to an hour or longer after a power outage occurs. Installation is easy--much like a power strip, you plug your UPS into a wall outlet, and your hardware into the UPS.

Interested in purchasing a UPS Power Supply? Click here for more information.

Since your PC is probably always on, always connected to the Internet, and always full of sensitive data, a firewall that keeps information safely tucked away inside the computer is a must. If your PCs are networked, layer your defenses by using both router-based hardware and desktop-based software firewall's. If you have only one computer connected to the Internet, a software firewall should suffice.

At SSCI we recommend the following:

• Software: Trend Micro PC-cillin Internet Security
• Network Hardware: NetGear Router with Build-in Firewall

Even with meticulously updated software, your data is still not 100 percent safe. Your PC's hard drives are vulnerable to mechanical failure or physical trauma caused by anything from a natural disaster to a spilled Diet Coke.

The best way to never lose important information is to make sure it exists in more than one place.

Setting up redundant drives in the same machine is a good start, but what if your PC is washed away in a flood or flattened by falling roof tiles? We strongly suggest saving important data to an external drive or to other backup solutions, such as tape or image-based backups.

One final step for data duplication is finding an offsite home for your backups.

For more information on SSCI's backup services click here.

A good antivirus program can shield you from viruses that try to infiltrate via Web sites, e-mail, or downloaded files. The catch, however, is that new viruses pop up every day. You need to keep your antivirus software up-to-date; vendors update their software almost daily. Once you buy a program, be prepared to renew your subscription on an annual basis (usually for around the retail price of the app) to keep those new virus definitions coming.

At SSCI, we recommend Trend Micro PC-cillin Internet Security.

* If you are interested in purchasing Trend Micro antivirus software, please contact us.

While not as outright lethal as viruses can be, spyware is arguably a more insidious problem. Tracking cookies and stealth registry entries are as common as spam. Fortunately, minimizing the problem is fairly easy, thanks to several freeware apps on the market. Lavasoft Ad-aware and Spybot Search and Destroy are the most common programs, and both have basic versions available free. Microsoft also offers a free version of its antispyware tool, called Windows Defender. Choosing which one to run is easy. The conventional wisdom says run all three, as each program will catch files the others might miss.

We also strongly recommend Spyware Doctor which can be purchased by calling us at 785-865-5111.