.Net Geek

In this fast paced IT world things are getting smaller, faster and better. Take the example of a pen drive. It’s now an essential component that one techie should have in widget list. So do I, but lately I have stopped using them as they are most vulnerable to a virus or worm. You can make sure that there is no one unwanted living in your hard drives but what about other’s PC, they can have viruses. And I really don’t want that my computer get affected with these things because of a pen drive which is used frequently between various devices for data transfer. Antivirus does help to some extent but seriously I cannot rely on them when it comes on my data security. What make things worst is that a pen drive execute (Autoplay) automatically when inserted into a PC. So here are my few suggestion for all to make sure things don’t run ugly when you use a pen drive.

• Make sure what are copying from a source computer. Try to copy individual files instead of a folder at once. When copying a folder it also copies the hidden content in it which is useless to you and may contain some hidden programs.
• Always copies from a secured network or computer. Source should be trusted and secured with an antivirus. Before copying it is a good idea to confirm with the owner (may be from your friend/colleague) of device if it is virus free.
• Most important, disable the Autoplay on all drives on your PC. To do this follow 1,2,3 –

1. 1. Go to start> run> type gpedit.msc
   2. Select ‘computer configuration’ from the left tree and then go to ->’administrative tempates’->’system’.
   3. In the right panel look for ‘Turn off Autoplay’, Double click on it and Select ‘enabled’ and then select ‘all drives’.

This will disable the auto-play of pen drive when you insert it in the PC. Most viruses attach them with the auto-play program and run automatically unknowingly. So the above steps make you little closure to the secure data transfer to your PC.

Last but not least, you should have an updated antivirus guarding your PC all time.

Happy Tweaking!