Antivirus Blog

There are countless types of viruses designed to do nothing other than harm computers. At the very least, a virus can be difficult to remove nuisance, but in some cases a virus can even completely wipeout your entire hard drive. The following are 9 steps that you can take to effectively protect your system from such harmful infections.

1. First and foremost, install antivirus software. There are countless brands of antivirus software, and there is a pretty broad range of price and quality available. Trusted names like McAfee, Norton, and TrendMicro are leaders in the industry and offer maximum protection. Do your own research online or in computer magazines to find reviews that will help you make an informed decision as to which antivirus product is right for you.
2. Always keep your antivirus software up to date. Most paid antivirus utilities come with at least a year long subscription service that gives you access to regular updates. Usually youíll have an option to either receive updates automatically or manually. Automatic updates are highly recommended. New types of viruses are created every single day, so it is imperative that your antivirus software is constantly updated with the latest virus definitions.
3. Make sure that your antivirus software is always active, and set to scan all incoming and outgoing email messages, as well as downloads and any software that you initialize.
4. Keep your OS (operating system) up to date. If updates to your OS are not delivered automatically, be sure to manually check for them periodically. Windows XP as well as Windows Vista both regularly check for updates automatically as long as they are enabled to do so (which they are, be default). These updates may correct security faults that are discovered to further protect your computer from virus attacks.
5. If you use USB drives or floppy disks on public computers such as those at your school computer lab or at the library, be sure to scan them for viruses when you return to your computer to make sure they have not contracted any computer viruses from those public computers.
6. Always be wary of email attachments. Consider any email from an unknown sender to be potentially hazardous. In some cases, even emails from trusted senders may have potentially been sent by a virus running on their computer, so even then you must use your best discretion. Never download an attachment unless you know exactly what it is.
7. Use the same caution with instant messaging that you use with email. If you receive an IM with a link from an unknown sender, it is never a good idea to click on the link. In many cases the link will direct you to a site that will load some type of malware onto your computer through your browser.
8. When looking for software to download, try to only download from popular and trusted sites that have a good reputation and regularly scan the programs uploaded to their site for viruses. As an additional precaution you should also scan the software yourself before you install it onto your system.
9. Last, but certainly not least, you should regularly make backups of all your data. The best ways to do this are to either copy your data from your hard drive to CDs, DVDs, or USB drives. With this added precaution, even if all of your data is wiped out by a virus, you will still have backup copies of everything. This is especially important for personal files such as images and videos that may not be replaceable.