Top 8 Tips for a PC Clean and Safe From Viruses

Top 8 Tips for a PC Clean and Safe From Viruses

Viruses aren’t a mystery - there are some simple steps that everyone should take to avoid becoming a victim of computer viruses and also avoid spreading viruses to others. Unfortunately a lot of people don’t bother taking these precautions and make the evil work of spreading viruses much, much easier.

1. Never open an E-mail with an attachment you were not expecting.Many viruses are spread by E-mail automatically from an infected computer without the owner’s permission. This means that even if an email is addressed from someone you know and trust, don’t open it if you were not expecting it. Even if you were expecting something, avoid opening the attachment until you have scanned it with up-to-date virus software. Remember malicious code, like Trojan horses, can slip into your system by appearing to be from a friendly source.

2. Turn off the 'automatic preview' in your email program.A lot of people don’t realise that automatically previewing an email message has the exact same effect as opening and reading an email. Many of the newest internet worms, trojans, and viruses simply need to have an email message read in order for them to be activated. Turning off the preview feature allows you to scan any email BEFORE you actually read it.

3. Beware of the floppy disk!Floppies are still one of the most common ways viruses are transmitted. If you are using a floppy disk while working on your computer, remove it when you shut the machine off. If you don’t the computer will automatically try to boot from the floppy when you restart and this can launch any viruses on the disk. Similarly, don’t share floppies - even a well-meaning friend may unknowingly pass along a virus, Trojan horse, or worm. Label your floppies clearly so you know they're yours and don't loan them out - there are other methods of file sharing. In any case, scan floppies before using them. You could have easily picked up a virus from an insecure network and introduce it into your system. Running a virus scan before launching any of the programs on the disk will prevent infection.

4. Keep your web browser set to its highest security level.Of course it’s a pain to get the warning messages on every other web page you visit, but it is the best way to protect yourself - especially if you use Microsoft Internet Explorer and Outlook.

5. Don't download programs from the Web.Unreliable sources such as Internet newsgroups or Web sites that you haven't heard of may be willing providers of viruses for your computer. Avoiddownloading files you can't be sure are safe. This includes freeware, screensavers, games, and any other executable program. Executable files are those that end with a .com, .exe, .ovl, .drv, .sys, .bin extension – like something called "coolgame.exe." for example. Check to see if the site you are downloading from has anti-virus software running on their side. If in the end you do have to download from the Internet, be sure to scan each program before running it. Save all downloads to one folder, then run virus checks on everything in the folder before using it. Regardless of where you download from, ALWAYS scan downloaded software.

6. Clean any virus, worm or trojan off your computerUsing your antivirus software, perform a full system scan of your PC, hopefully it will detect and remove the virus. If a virus was detected, restart your computer and run the full scan again. Sometime the virus will keep reappearing, due to the evolving nature of viruses. If your machine got infected BEFORE you installed antivirus software, you may need a virus removal tool, which is simple software that will scan your computer for infections, and then remove them from your machine.

7. Install a FirewallIf you use broadband or a high-speed method to access the internet, you need to get a firewall. A firewall is a program that defends your computer from hackers who attempt to gain direct access to your computer over the Internet.

8. Install and use a high-quality anti-virus program.This is the key to protecting your computer. Buy one of the major anti-virus programs. The primary benefit of the commercial packages is the frequency and ease of updating the virus definition files that these programs use to detect viruses. With new viruses popping up all the time, unless your protection software is keep updated, you start to become ever more vulnerable to infection.