Safeguard Your Cell Phone Data With a Backup

Increasingly, people have essential data stored on a fragile, easily misplaced communications device that they carelessly toss around. Here's how to back up the data on your cell phone.
First, check your handset's manual or product Web page: A backup program designed specifically for that phone may be available for download. For phones with a USB charger, connect the handset to your PC via a USB cable with a mini-USB plug on one end. Use the software you find on the vendor's site to back up contact information to your PC.
If your phone doesn't have such an application, check out [Only Registered and Activated Users Can See Links. Click Here To Register...], a $30 utility that supports most cell phones. Click the Is my phone supported? link on its site to make sure yours is on the list. A data cable costs an additional $30. SnapSync can also sync your data with Microsoft Outlook, as well as export numbers back to the phone. If SnapSync doesn't support your phone, consider [Only Registered and Activated Users Can See Links. Click Here To Register...], which includes seven phone connectors, iPod and Bluetooth adapters, and backup software for $80. It supports hundreds of phones; to check for yours before you buy, go to Susteen's [Only Registered and Activated Users Can See Links. Click Here To Register...] page.
For SIM-equipped cell phones, use the [Only Registered and Activated Users Can See Links. Click Here To Register...] ($20) to make a backup copy of the card in less than a minute (but you can't then back up SIM Saver to your PC; it talks only with the SIM card).
Another option is [Only Registered and Activated Users Can See Links. Click Here To Register...] ($40), which looks like a USB thumb drive and attaches directly to your phone. A USB connector on the other end lets you hook up to a PC to back up and edit the data, which you can then transfer to the phone.



Eradicate Your Web and Windows Tracks




Hey, it's nobody's business but yours what you're doing on your own PC. If you share a system with a nosy roommate or family member, or if you're stuck using public PCs at a conference, you may want to scrub your tracks--Windows' memory of what you've done over the last few hours or days--each time you sign off.
First, set up a browser for sensitive surfing, and use it only for work in which you need maximum security. Clear your secure browser's history and configure it to remember as little as possible. In the chart below are instructions for the most commonly used browsers.
You can also get rid of your Windows history on PCs that you own or share, but the easiest way to keep prying eyes away from your Windows history is to prevent it from being recorded. Download Tweak UI (see "[Only Registered and Activated Users Can See Links. Click Here To Register...]") and run it. Make these changes:

• Under 'Explorer' check Clear document history on exit. Uncheck Allow Recent Documents on Start menu, Maintain document history, and Maintain network history.
• Under 'Common Dialogs' uncheck Enable AutoComplete and Remember previously-used filenames.

Don't Leave Browsing Tracks
Browser Initial tweaks To manually clear history
Internet Explorer 6
Initial tweaks- Click Tools, Internet Options, set 'Days to keep pages in history' to 0.
clear history- In Internet Options, click Delete Cookies..., Delete Files..., and Clear History.
Internet Explorer 7
Initial tweaks- Click Tools, Internet Options; under 'Browsing history' click Settings. Set 'Days to keep pages in history' to 0.
clear history- Click Tools, Delete Browsing History, and then Delete All...
Firefox 2
Initial tweaks- Click Tools, Privacy; uncheck all items under History section. Check Always clear my private data when I close Firefox.
clear history-Click Tools, Privacy, and then Clear Now...