If you are a daily or occasionally Facebook user then you should may be aware of its common concepts like adding or deleting friends, updating statuses, walls and profile, add and explore pages & applications, etc. But there are many more things which you might not know.

Yup, there are several tips and tricks which you might not know even if you’re a regular Facebook use. So today I am going to list out 10 tips and tricks of Facebook you might not know. If you also have any tips and tricks which I have not listed here, then simply share them in comments section below.

1. How to add a dislike button to your status updates??

You can find Like button everywhere on Facebook, but what if you want to add a dislike button to your posts or status updates? You can do that by the help of Status Magic Facebook app.

2. Access Facebook via Microsoft Outlook

If Facebook is blocked in your office, then you can try this trick for using Facebook using the Microsoft Outlook Software. Try FBLook plugin and you’ll be able to access FB using your Microsoft Outlook mail client. This is the only thing you need to continuously update your Facebook status and see your friends online without ever missing a day at work.

3. How to pre-schedule your status updates??

Yup, you can pre-schedule your status updates by using a free app named Later Bro. Just sign in with your Facebook account select your time zone, type in what it is you’d like to say, set the calendar and clock to when you’d like to say it, and presto!

4. How to integrate Facebook toolbar into your browser?

To make your Facebook experience more incredible, try using facebook toolbar. But folks, this feature will work only on Mozilla Firefox. To get this helpful add-on, just click on this link and click install and you’re done.

5. How to Create an FB Photo Collage?

If you’re a photo lover, then this app is probably for you. Just go to this link and install the application and this application will easily create a photo collage of your Facebook photos.

6. Add Fantastic Magic Circles on Facebook

Though this trick is very simple, still I was not able to do it in my first try. These magic circles appearing on your facebook page will make your page very stylish. You just need to-

Press Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Enter key then press up & down.

If this trick doesn’t work in first try, then refresh the page and try again.

7. How to see your status update statistics?

Have you ever wondered how many times you’ve updated your status on Facebook? Well, there is an app named Status Statistics which will allow you to view all of this.

8. How to view status updates from around the world?

If you want to take a look at what others are saying in their updates from around the world, then this app is specially for you. By using app named OpenBook you can do this.

9. How to turn your status updates into word clouds?

By using Status Analyzer 3D application, you can turn your status updates into pretty, colorful and animated 3D word cloud.

10. How to remove Facebook Adverts

Are you annoyed by Facebook Adverts? Then this script can help you a lot. Facebook: Cleaner script removes most annoying Facebook Adverts from your Facebook Page.

Like many other social networks, Facebook also contains tons of fake profiles unfortunately. Those fake profile holders use Social Engineering tactics to attack innocent people. Facebook has almost 500 Million Users and it is not surprising to have few thousands fake profiles. Below I have mentioned some funny but true tips to check whether a profile is fake or not.

1. Profile Picture. Always be suspicious of profiles featuring photos of professional models. Most of the fake profiles, especially that of females, have only one profile picture and that too a beautiful or sexy (ahem) picture!

2. Many Males. Their friends list will contain males mostly (Well, that’s not their fault, gender issue  ). It could be around 1000s or even more than that.

3. When Did They Joined? Check when she/he joined. If they have lots of friends and have only been on the Facebook a short amount of time, it’s likely to be a fake one.

4. Tag Me! He/she would be tagged in tons of cartoon pictures than his/her own picture.

5. Apps Requests. If he/she is in your friend list, then you will get lotta application or like requests from them. I got many requests like that, some include “Can you send me a chicken?”, “Can you send a buffalo?”.. LOL.

6. Facebook Albums. Most of the fake profiles photos are open to everyone. Well, not a promising tip, but worth it. It may contain lot of pictures but they would not have tags indicating other profiles. They may also contain really tiny photos.

7. Full Filled Profile. If a profile is lengthy and detailed, then you can be sure that it is a real person. Fake Profile creators won’t have time to create long and interesting profiles.

8. Favorite Pages. Most of the fake profiles have less than 20 pages, well almost.

9. Description. Most of the fake profiles have descriptions like “Accept My Farmville Request”, “Add Me In Mafia Wars”, and many more.

10. For Boys : Girls don’t send friend requests to strangers, I mean good girls!  So if, by chance, you get a friend request from girls, don’t confirm it without verifying the details. If you are not a handsome looking guy and you got a friend request from a hot babe. Then you really need to triple check!

11. For Girls : Who said? I support boys too! But some boys usually send friend requests to girls. So it is better to confirm with others and verify. If you are not a hot babe and you got a friend request from a handsome looking guy. Then you should also really need to triple check!

12. Status Updates. Most probably fake profile’s status updates won’t get comments or likes. They may also share fake websites (Phishing attack). (Survey)

13. Celeb Request. If you are added by a celebrity!  Unless you are a celebrity please don’t add!  If they are claiming to be a model or actress or anything like that, then they will surely have professional pictures on their album.

14. Add Feeds. Fake profile’s feeds will contain only friend request adds.

I didn’t say don’t accept any strange friend requests. Trust, but verify!

So if you encounter any fake profiles, I mean if you really encounter, then you can report it to Facebook.

Did you encounter any fake profiles? Please share your experience, and at the same time, share and tweet!

Tired of wading through spam every time you check your mail? You’re not alone. Every day, millions of people receive large volumes of unwanted and even fraudulent emails. Here are a few things you can do about it.

Create and use a temporary email address.

Yahoo and Hotmail provide this feature in order to keep your private email address strictly for your friends and family members and only. The secondary address, you can use for your subscriptions and other purposes. If your secondary address is abused from spammers and your inbox is filled with spam messages, then you can delete it and create another secondary email address.

Dont Reple to Spam Mails.

Don’t reply to spam emails. Some spam emails contain a link for you to click on if you want to opt out. Some spammers simply use this link to determine whether or not they have a live address. .

Use your e-mail’s filters.

Almost all email applications have this feature. You can create filters blocking spam words like “make money, opportunities, Viagra, sex, e.t.c” .Doing that, you will block many of your spam messages but not all of them.

NEVER post your email.

Don’t post your email on forums, websites, message boards, guest books and other online places. You should also avoid posting your contact email address on your website. Spammers use software robots and extract email addresses from thousands of websites. If you want to display your email at your website change it to jpeg photo with Photoshop or other image design software.

The use of email blocking tools.

Yahoo for instance has this excellent tool which can block up to 500 email addresses (the Free option, the paid one provide more) and this amount of spam emails will never reach your mailbox. Other web mail services provide similar features too. The preinstalled filter in your email application.

If you use outlook express you can click “message” (from windows 98 versions and later) and then click “Block sender”. Just doing that you will block many of your unsolicited emails.

Do Not respond to spam at all costs.

When you receive a spam message which asks you to click a link for whatever reason (fake unsubscribe and other) do not click it. If you do that, the spammers will now instantly that they deal with a real email address. Do Not Ever open unknown messages with attachments.

This is critical. Most of the times the attachment will be a virus (especially if it’s exe or zip format) If you open it you will activate the virus it contains and harm your computer. Accept email attachments ONLY from well known resources such as friends, business colleagues e.t.c. You should also have installed an antivirus which scans your emails before they are saved into your hard drive.

Spam can be more than a nuisance. With these tips, you can cut down on the amount of spam you receive.

By now, many people have heard about companies that will buy your used laptop for cash. These companies buy your laptop and refurbish them to sell as used. It’s essentially laptop-recycling, and can be a great option for people who may have an extra laptop that isn’t being used or a laptop that doesn’t work (as many companies will buy it from you whether it’s working or not).

Selling your used laptop is also a great way to get some extra cash if you are trying to save up for a newer laptop. Technology is always changing, and eventually you will want to upgrade to a newer, faster computer that is more compatible with ever-changing software. Why not get rid of your old laptop while at the same time making some cash to put towards a new one?

No matter what the reason, once you decide to sell your laptop, there are a few things that you should know. There are many companies that will buy your laptop and some are better than others to do business with. The following paragraphs will help guide you through some of the important things to know when starting the process of selling your laptop.

The most important thing that you need to consider when selling your laptop is the protection of your personal information. It is vital to your security and identity that you choose a company that will remove all information from your hard drive before refurbishing it. This is especially important if your laptop isn’t working and you can’t access the information on it yourself. Make sure that the company that you sell your laptop to will erase all the information off your laptop as soon as it is received.

The next thing you’ll want to look for is a company that will get you the best used laptop value. Some companies will give you an instant quote for your laptop. If you can get an instant quote online this is the best way to find out right away of you are getting the best value for your laptop. Check this out and find out how much you may receive for selling your laptop before you send it in. And remember – you should never have to pay to ship your laptop. Sell your used laptop to a company that will pay for shipping and ensure that you pay absolutely nothing in the process.

Once you find a good value with a good company and decide to sell your laptop, another thing to look into is when you will be paid for the laptop. You should be able to find out from the company approximately how long it will take for them to receive your laptop and send you your check. It might take a couple of weeks from the time you get your estimate, but if you know when to expect it, you shouldn’t have to worry. If you want to receive your check as soon as possible, you may even be able to get your check over-nighted for a fee.

You can use the cash to save up for a new laptop, or just make some money from a laptop that isn’t used or doesn’t work. No matter what your reasons, selling your laptop can be financially beneficial, environmentally-friendly, and a smart move for people who like to upgrade.

By following the practices suggested below, you can improve the overall security of your computer system. These recommendations apply both to individual users and to personnel responsible for managing groups of computers.

Set good passwords
Make sure all accounts on your computer, including the computer administrator’s account, have strong passwords. Follow this link to check, how strong or secure your passwords are. Change your password immediately if you suspect someone else may have guessed it.

Keep your software up-to-date
New versions of software are released on a regular basis to counter threats; without the current software, your computer is likely to be infected or compromised. Your operating system and Web browser are the two components most frequently attacked, and therefore it is most important to keep them up-to-date. A good way for Windows users to stay current is to allow your operating system to be updated automatically using Windows Update.

Run anti-virus software
Set antivirus software to automatically check for updates at least once a week. When informed that a new virus has been detected, update your virus definition files immediately by clicking on your Antivirus and running updates.

Be careful opening e-mail attachments
Many viruses are transmitted through e-mail, often as attachments. Never open an attachment unless you are sure who sent it and what it contains. Always use your antivirus software to scan attachments for viruses before opening them by clicking on your Antivirus icon and selecting Scan.

Control access to your machine
Never set up your system for anonymous or guest access. Make sure your system is configured to require a unique userid and password for any kind of access.

Routinely back up files on your system
Backing up your system not only allows you to recover files and data if your hard drive or computer fails, but also ensures that you can determine what data was stored on your system, should it be stolen or accessed without authorization. Because California law requires that individuals be notified if their personal information is stolen or inadvertently made available, it is especially important to be able to verify the existence of such information on a computer.

Turn your computer off when you leave for the day
Your computer cannot be infected or invaded when it is not connected to the network. Turn it off when you are done for the day. This is particularly important if you will be away from your system longer than a few days. If you haven’t turned on your computer in a few days, be sure to check for updates for software and antivirus files (see above) before you do anything else.

Install screen-saver passwords on your system
In addition to logging into your Windows system with your system userid and password, you should utilize a screen saver and enable its password feature. That way, if you leave your computer without turning it off, the screen saver will activate (after a pre-determined period of time) and you’ll need to enter a password to resume your Windows session.

Clean your hard drive before disposing of it
Before disposing of your current computer, make sure to remove all sensitive and confidential data from the hard drive. While deleting unwanted files using a delete or erase command might appear to remove files and data, in fact, the DOS and Windows delete commands simply remove pointers to the data but leave the actual data and files available for recovery. To make sure that data and files are not recoverable from a computer’s hard drive, it is important to over-write the space these files and data occupied with other, seemingly random, input. A number of utilities for doing this are available as freeware or shareware.

Take extra precautions with your laptop or other portable devices
By design, laptop computers (and other portable computing devices, PDAs, for example) are carried from place to place and thus are exposed to risks less prevalent in stationary environments where desktops are protected by firewalls, automated scheduled virus scanners, and automated critical updates and patch installations. To protect the UCOP network and the devices connected to it, all laptops must be updated with the latest Microsoft critical updates and patches and scanned using the latest virus definition files before they are brought into a UCOP facility and connected to the UCOP network. Also, invest in a laptop or PDA lockdown cable to deter easy theft of your portable device, and lock your office (where applicable) when you leave it.

Keylogger is a software program or hardware device that is used to monitor and log each of the keys a user types into a computer keyboard. The user who installed the program or hardware device can then view all keys typed in by that user. Because these programs and hardware devices monitor the keys typed in a user can easily find user passwords and other information a user may not wish others to know about.

Keyloggers, as a surveillance tool, are often used by employers to ensure employees use work computers for business purposes only. Unfortunately, keyloggers can also be embedded in spyware allowing your information to be transmitted to an unknown third party.

A keylogger is a program that runs in the background, recording all the keystrokes. Once keystrokes are logged, they are hidden in the machine for later retrieval, or shipped raw to the attacker. The attacker then peruses them carefully in the hopes of either finding passwords, or possibly other useful information that could be used to compromise the system or be used in a social engineering attack. For example, a keylogger will reveal the contents of all e-mail composed by the user. Keylogger is commonly included in rootkits.

A keylogger normally consists of two files: a DLL which does all the work and an EXE which loads the DLL and sets the hook. Therefore when you deploy the hooker on a system, two such files must be present in the same directory.

There are other approaches to capturing info about what you are doing.

Some keyloggers capture screens, rather than keystrokes.
Other keyloggers will secretly turn on video or audio recorders, and transmit what they capture over your internet connection.

A keyloggers might be as simple as an exe and a dll that are placed on a machine and invoked at boot via an entry in the registry. Or a keyloggers could be which boasts these features:

Stealth: invisible in process list
Includes kernel keylogger driver that captures keystrokes even when user is logged off (Windows 2000 / XP)
ProBot program files and registry entries are hidden (Windows 2000 / XP)
Includes Remote Deployment wizard
Active window titles and process names logging
Keystroke / password logging
Regional keyboard support
Keylogging in NT console windows
Launched applications list
Text snapshots of active applications.
Visited Internet URL logger
Capture HTTP POST data (including logins/passwords)
File and Folder creation/removal logging
Mouse activities
Workstation user and timestamp recording
Log file archiving, separate log files for each user
Log file secure encryption
Password authentication
Invisible operation
Native GUI session log presentation
Easy log file reports with Instant Viewer 2 Web interface
HTML and Text log file export
Automatic E-mail log file delivery
Easy setup & uninstall wizards
Support for Windows (R) 95/98/ME and Windows (R) NT/2000/XP

Because a keylogger can involve dozens of files, and has as a primary goal complete stealth from the user, removing one manually can be a terrifying challenge to any computer user. Incorrect removal efforts can result in damage to the operating system, instability, inability to use the mouse or keyboard, or worse. Further, some key loggers will survive manual efforts to remove them, re-installing themselves before the user even reboots.

We have passwords to access various aspects of our lives. You may be using the same password for all of your logins so it is very easy to remember. Or you may have selected a password based on someone’s name or town, or birthday, special day or some other common event.

All of these are poor decisions. You see, one of the simplest ways to gain access to your information is by logging in as you. Your identity online is determined by your username and password. If a hacker has those two items, they can essentially be you – online.

How can hackers obtain your login and password?

Through the use of either a “brute force attack” or a dictionary attack hackers can obtain your password.

A brute force attack attempts to try every possible password. Some brute force attacks programs are Brutus, and THC-Hydra. These programs will dynamically attempt all possible passwords as it generates them. They don’t work with lists of possibilities, you can feed it various parameters like all numeric, all upper-case alpha, combination of upper and lower case alpha, and it then proceeds to launch it’s own login attempts on the target.

In a dictionary attack, extensive lists of possible passwords are generated ahead of time. These lists are then launched against the target. Only the combinations in the dictionary are attempted.

However, the dictionaries used typically contain:

1) Words in various languages
2) Names of people
3) Places
4) Commonly used passwords

If any of these categories are what you use for your passwords, it might be time to change. Many times people wonder how the hackers get a list of commonly used passwords. They get those by cracking someone’s password. They know that if one person uses that password, others may as well.

Cyber criminals have programs that will generate large lists of passwords. You might be thinking, how long would it take them to create millions or billions of usernames and passwords that will have one matching your password?

That depends on two main things, the length and complexity of your password and the speed of the hacker’s computer. Assuming the hacker has a reasonably fast PC (ie., dual processor) here is an estimate of the amount of time it would take to generate every possible combination of passwords for a given number of characters. After generating the list it’s just a matter of time before the computer runs through all the possibilities – or gets shut down trying.

A password of all numbers and 8 characters in length will contain 100 million possible combinations and take only 10 seconds to generate.

If your password is all letters, either all upper or all lower case, it will contain 200 billion possible combinations and take only 5.8 hours to generate. The time to generate all 53 trillion possible combinations of a password comprised of mixed upper case and lower case letters grows to 62 days. When your password has 8 characters of upper case, lower case and numbers the possible combinations grows to 218 trillion and the time required to generate the list grows to 253 days.

When you create a password with upper case, lower case letters, numbers and special characters, your list of possible combinations grows to 7.2 quadrillion and will take 23 years just to generate.

Notice the difference in Time to Generate by going from either all upper or all lower case characters (5.8 hours), to using mixed upper case, lower case, numbers and special characters; ie., ~!@#$%^&*() (23 years).

Remember, these times are just for a single, dual processor computer, and these results assume you aren’t using any common words in the dictionary. If a number of remotely controlled computers (read hacked) were put to work on it to generate the lists, they’d finish about 1,000 times faster.

Here are some password tips:

1. Randomly substitute numbers or special characters for letters that look similar. The letter “o” becomes the number 0 or the letter “a” becomes @ or the letter ‘t’ becomes “+” and randomly throw in capital letters (i.e. Oceans11 becomes 0C3@n$_E1eV3n)

2. Use a phrase that’s memorable to you, just do not use someone’s name. Every name plus every word in the dictionary will quickly be discovered under a simple brute force attack. We’ve seen dictionaries used by hackers that contain over 6 million words.

3. You really should have a different username / password combination for each site you frequent. Remember, the technique is to break into anything you access just to figure out your standard password then compromise everything else. This doesn’t work if you don’t use the same password everywhere.
 
4. Since it can be difficult to remember a ton of passwords, you may want to consider a password manager like Roboform. It will store all of your passwords in an encrypted format and allow you to use just one master password to access all of them. It will also automatically fill in forms on Web pages, and you can even get versions that allow you to take your password list with you on your PDA, phone or a USB key.

5. Once you’ve thought of a password, try Microsoft’s password strength tester to find out how secure it is.

http://www.microsoft.com/protect/yourself/password/checker.mspx

Teen identity theft becomes a growing problem! Although many adults have been victims of identity theft and many more are concerned about this kind of crime, this new wave of identity theft focuses on teenagers and even preteens.

In fact, one study reports that the age group most affected with teen identity theft is between 10 and 16. And this presents a difficult challenge for young people. Because sadly, young victims like teens often do not know how to protect themselves. And before they can even get a good start in life, they already have a big problem on their hands.

It may surprise you to know that some parents or step parents are using their own children’s identities. They are usually parents that are in a bind and they may think they can just use their child’s identity to get out of the situation. But like with everything thing else, once they get started the abuse continues. Teen identity theft is especially sad since the victim is totally unaware of this for years and since the person is someone they should be able to trust the most is the predator. Of course, in most cases, the parent does not mean to harm their child and probably does not think of it as committing teen identity theft. They may think they are just borrowing their child’s name until they are clear of the problem they are having with their finances. The teen may not find out about this until some years later when applying for a student loan, for example.

But there are also other dangers for teens to become victims of identity theft. Places like My Space, for example, where kids give out information about themselves that may be just the right kind of information that can be used by a person who is committing teen identity theft.

Responsible parents who know of this growing problem can help other teens to protect themselves from being victims of teen identity theft. Here are some points a parent needs to discuss with their child:

1. Do not give any personal information like birth date and social security to anyone over the phone or on the internet, unless you are dealing with a reputable company

2. If you are applying for a student loan, for example, check your credit history first by contacting a credit bureau or your bank for more information.

3. When going to college or any other school, ask them not to use your social security number as your ID number.

You also want to tell your child the consequences of a stolen identity. Keeping in mind that your teen is just getting to know about life and serious consequences of wrong behavior. A young person has not had the experiences in life that you have had, so you want to help them to keep from being a victim of teen identity theft.

For children who have been victims of teen identity theft because of their own parents have the option to report the incident. A parent who has committed this kind of crime against their own child should take care of this in a responsible manner and have the account removed from their child’s name so that the teen can start his or her life in the right direction.

When traveling, the main point is to keep your laptop in sight and it is not at all wise to leave it unattended. Try not to leave your laptop in a motor vehicle; it should be covered when placed in the trunk. Some companies provide a fully bonded security box with high-density safety cables to maximize security when the laptop out of the usual protected surroundings, such as while traveling in a vehicle. Don’t ever forget and leave a conference room without your laptop; it should be taken along or it may not be there when you return. Locking your laptop is the best way if you leave it in your office or workplace out of hours. Top security systems can be used to lock laptops securely away.

Therefore, the security of a laptop is a matter of great concern for those with large IT assets and people who are constantly traveling. Laptops represent a nearly impossible temptation for thieves, in the workplace, at the coffee shop, or on campus. They’re small, portable, usually of high value, and next to impossible to trace.

Current estimates say that a laptop is stolen about once every minute in this country, or half a million of them per year, and 97% of them are never recovered. Even more frustrating than losing the hardware is losing any data that’s on them – particularly if it’s a corporate laptop, where the files may be more valuable than the hardware!

Even if it’s not a corporate laptop, it may have your passwords for web sites, financial sites like PayPal or eBay embedded in it, or your bank. This can let a laptop thief make utter hash of your accounts in minutes with virtually no way to trace it back.

Holding on to your laptop is critically important and there are some simple, common sense guidelines to help you do this.

- Don’t advertise. Carry your laptop in something that carries other things as well. Obvious laptop bags are tempting targets on campus and in airports.

- Keep your eyes on it. Don’t let it out of your sight. If that means you wait to go to the bathroom until after you’ve put it in the car, you do that.

- Deterrence counts. Use a visible lock and cable to latch a laptop down to the table or chair you’re at – you don’t need to make this fool proof, but you do need to make it look hard to steal.

- When you’re computing in a public place, use passwords, use encryption, and read all the network availability lists carefully. One particularly ruthless trick is to impersonate the WiFi network of a public place, generally by changing the letter “l” to the number “1? in the name, and hope someone connects to them thinking they’re connecting to the real network, and using a keystroke logger.

- Don’t be afraid to encrypt important data. You can even set these things up so that someone who has your laptop needs to have your thumb drive to read the data on the hard drive.

- Look at all security options – marking your laptop with UV markings, including your name and phone number means that if it’s recovered, it may be returned. You can also buy software called LoJack for Laptops that will secretly report it as stolen after you’ve notified the company, and is hooked up on the internet.

- If you’re doing corporate laptop management, have policies in place – laptops will get stolen. Look into remote data destruction; in conjunction with a unique ID, to remove sensitive data from laptops that are stolen. Likewise, back up everything on a laptop – nothing should ever exist on a laptop that’s company critical that doesn’t have a backup on your servers.

So take care. Guard your laptop and keep your information safe.

So stay alert! Beware!

I observe all the time with my home pc customers. Their computer, for whatever reason, has been rendered unbootable and they are suddenly (and understandably) worried about the contents of the hard drive. Whether it’s hundreds (or thousands) of rupees/dollars worth of downloaded music and movies, software that was purchased and paid for online, countless hours of work on personal or business documents or the unthinkable loss of all their family photos, the sudden realization that you have never safeguarded these things can be a very unsettling prospect.

One of the first questions I ask when someone calls and tells me that their pc won’t start is if they have a recent backup of their data. It’s very rare for anyone to answer that question in the affirmative. Usually, after a moment of silence, the customer will sheepishly admit that they always intended to start backing up but never did because… [insert your favorite excuse here]. I always hate to hear this because backing up your data is vitally important and (here’s the BIG SECRET) it’s not at all difficult.

There are backup utilities and services available to consumers now that make the process so simple and automated that anyone can do it easily and quickly. And the best part is, there are so many competing products you will easily find one to fit your budget if you shop around. One word of caution, though. Don’t use the built-in backup utility in Windows. Yeah, I know, it’s already there and it’s “free”.

Trust me though, it’s cumbersome, featureless and not very dependable. You won’t like it so you won’t use it and then the next time your hard drive crashes (it will happen sooner or later), you won’t have a backup. I’ve seen it happen too many times! Third party software is definitely the way to go.

Anyway, whatever backup application you decide to use, It’s important to understand what needs to be backed up. Following is a list of things you should DEFINITELY include in your backups:

The ‘My Documents Folder’ - This is hands down the most critical folder for most people in terms of data backup. This is where all of your personal and sometimes irreplaceable data is stored. By default, it contains all of your photos, music, documents, videos, etc. In some cases, such as photos and home videos, if these items are lost or corrupted, they are gone forever and cannot be replaced. (Imagine telling your wife that all of the baby pictures are gone!)

Your Accounting Data - If you use personal or business accounting software on your pc, backing up the data file on a regular basis is an absolute MUST! Enough said.

Your Email Address Book - You have a lot of important contact information that you have gathered over the years. Backing up this data is especially critical if you are a business person and you utilize email in your daily business schedule.
 
A couple of things you may want to consider backing up even though they aren’t critical are:

Your Internet ‘Favorites’ Folder - Although it’s not the end of the world if the contents of this folder are lost, trying to remeber the url’s of your favorite websites can be a daunting task.
 
Your Windows User Settings – These are the setting that ‘personalize’ your user account. Desktop backgrounds, screensavers, etc.

Things you don’t need to bother with backing up include:

Windows – You should already have a copy of your OS on disk.

Any programs that you installed from disks – You need to back up the data files, but not the program itself. Reinstall that from the disk.