Networking: Protecting your MP3s

UPI ^ | July 25, 2006 | UPI

[2Jim_Brown]

You probably have a lot of MP3 files -- like the smash hit "Crazy" by the U.K.'s Gnarls Barkley -- on your PC. Maybe some oldies too, and a lot of other computer files, with extensions like .EXE, .MPEG, .JPEG, and other, often confusing, file formats. With all that valuable content, maybe you should think about maximizing your Windows XP operating system, getting more out of it than just playing MP3s, and also securing those expensive files from iTunes? By Gene Koprowski

[2Jim_Brown]

Maybe you should think about maximizing your Windows XP operating system?

[stainlessbanner]

Maximize XP by adding A/V software and auditing? No thanks!

[raybbr]

How about just putting them on a seperate disk?

[proxy_user]

If you must use Windows, the best thing to do is to keep all your valuable stuff on a computer with no connection to the Internet. You can block access at the router so you can still FTP on your local subnet.

[sittnick]

Regarding losing mp3 files, the best way to deal with that is to do what you must to remove the DRM (digital rights management aka copy protection) and back up in normal mp3 format to CD or DVD.

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

If you don't have a spare computer; you can use an external hard drive to store things you want to keep safe. Run a virus check, and disconnect from the Internet before plugging in the drive.

[El Gran Salseron]

AVG anti-virus program.....freeware and the best anti-virus product on the planet.

ZoneAlarm or Kerio Personal Firewall, both freeware.

Microsoft Windows Defender, beta, and/or SpyBot, Search And Destroy, freeware. I personally like SpyBot because there is the ability to monitor and deny unauthorized changes to the registry.

Any questions?

[wideawake]

the U.K.'s Gnarls Barkley

???

One of the members of Gnarls Barkley is from White Plains and the other one is from Atlanta.

And their record label is based in NYC.

[editor-surveyor]

XP is nothing but a game platform as it is; what more do they want? 98SE is the last OS those clowns made that is capable of doing work.

[spinestein]

[...computer files, with extensions like .EXE, .MPEG, .JPEG, and other, often confusing, file formats. With all that valuable content, maybe you should think about maximizing your Windows XP operating system, getting more out of it than just playing MP3s, and also securing those expensive files from iTunes?]



Or maybe, because I care about quality, I don't play important audio if comes with an mp3 extension and I don't play important video if it comes with an mpg extension. It's bad enough having to play most stuff on CD and DVD format without having to crap it up further by compressing the hell out of it.

[Izzy Dunne]

The anti-virus software developer McAfee recently released a report that indicated that the number of vulnerabilities discovered on the Macintosh OS X platform had increased by 228 percent, from 2003 to 2005, while Windows vulnerabilities discovered in the same time period had increased by "only" 73 percent.

What a pantload.

NONE of the rest of the column pertains to Macintosh (well, maybe the "don't let folks steal the computer" part), but he had to throw this phony little "statistic" in there. Never mind that "vulnerability statistics" from an anti-virus maker are about as useful as burglary statistics from a lock salesman. Never mind that the "228 percent" covers an increase from 3 to 7, while the "73" percent is an increase from 1000 to 1700...

[jdm]

"You probably have a lot of MP3 files -- like the smash hit "Crazy" by the U.K.'s Gnarls Barkley -- on your PC."

Ummmmmmmmmmmm.... no.

Only the Hoff for me.

[editor-surveyor]

"If you must use Windows, the best thing to do is to keep all your valuable stuff on a computer with no connection to the Internet."

Very sound advice! I keep a copy of my key files on an 8GB pocket drive, and in the last 3 months I've had to use it twice.

[spinestein]

[If you must use Windows, the best thing to do is to keep all your valuable stuff on a computer with no connection to the Internet.]



This is great advice. I've been successfully doing that for years with never any worries about contaminating my valuable programs and files.

[proxy_user]

Mmm'yes. But my 4000 LPs seem to be immune to viruses and trojans.

[CheneyChick]

I was just listening to "Crazy".... Love that song. Did you see the video clip of the kid dancing to it in his room - too funny.

[wideawake]

It's hilarious. Just a really fun group. The producer, Danger Mouse, also did an excellent mash-up called The Grey Album in which he craftily layers Jay-Z's vocals from The Black Album over music from the Beatles' The White Album.

[spinestein]

I love LP's. I've got about 400 of them (I've also got a ways to go to catch up with you) and the quality is wonderful if you've got the right equipment to play them properly.

Now if only I had a music collection on 1/2" 15ips reel to reel tape, then I'd be somewhere.

:^)

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Regarding losing mp3 files, the best way to deal with that is to do what you must to remove the DRM (digital rights management aka copy protection) and back up in normal mp3 format to CD or DVD.

Hymn will do it.

A dandy little utility...if you must use iTunes.

[Syntyr]

"and back up in normal mp3 format to CD or DVD."

Be careful in using DVD for back up. YMMV but in my experience DVD's are not nearly as hardy as CD's are for data storage. Especially when I have been storing large files.

I have moved to NAS. I have a 1.6 Terabyte NAS station that I back up my photos and mp3's too.