The Computer Virus: 10 Ways to Protect Yourself
If you are the type of person that likes to download lots of files of the internet, you could be pushing your luck when it comes to getting a computer virus. If this is the case, I’ll assert that you have little understanding of just how vulnerable you are to getting infected. This article is my way of helping you avoid the dreaded infestations.
I have put together 10 tips that you can follow in order to avoid being infected by a nasty virus that could potentially turn your PC into a disaster zone.
1. Get yourself some antivirus software from a respected company such as Norton Antivirus software. You should set it up to run automatically every time you turn your computer on.
2. Your anti virus software must be kept up to date. You can do this by checking it manually on a weekly basis, or on some software, this can be set up automatically for you.
3. You can also set up your software to automatically scan for viruses each time you open a word document that you recieve through email. This virus is called a Macro Virus.
4. You should only download software from the internet if it is really neccessary. There maybe some great programs available online, but there are also many bad viruses too.
5. Tansfering data between storage devices like usb drives and discs, should only be done if really neccessary and they should be scanned for viruses before you install the data onto your machine.
6. When tranferring data using a floppy disc, the disc must be formatted first.
7. Don’t install any software that hasn’t been purchased from a well known and trusted vendor.
One of the most common ways of catching a virus is to install pirate software. This is illegal and should never be done.
9. You must scan all programs you download of the web, BEFORE you open and install them on your computer.
10. Back up your files on regular basis so that if you do get infected, you can delete the corrupted files and replace them with clean ones that were saved earlier.
I can’t guarantee, if you follow the step that I advise, that you won’t get a computer virus, but I can promise you that it will be a less likely occurence by far.
Filed under: Computers & Technology