Gotta make mention of this most essential know-how in this connected world, especially if you are on a Windows laptop or desktop. I've just gotten through another bout of cleaning up my computer from virus attacks where I've been losing disk space and experiencing a slow down in the response of my computer. I'm still lucky, cuz it was not yet a case where i've lost files or worse yet where the system has gone haywire like in my bro-in-law's laptop recently.
I figured it was worth to let everyone know how to avoid getting into these irritating situations right from the get-go when you have your computer. So here are some 5 simple steps that I would recommend to keep virus from making its home in your computer.
1. Install an antivirus as the first software and before you connect to anything other than your power supply: after your windows operating system install an antivirus software right away. Luckily new computers usually have some limited trial version of McAfee or Symantec installed. Personally I'm a satisfied user of GriSoft's AVG Free Edition. You can later purchase licensed versions of these trial versions if you like, but do also consider Kaspersky's and BitDefender when you are willing to shell out the dough for more security. Why install it as the first software, well, if you don't a virus will install itself before the antivirus and then it's harder to clean in up. Mark my words, the moment you plug your computer onto the internet, or any network for that matter, it's going to get attacked and in this connected world of today, what do we first do with our computers.... hmmm? So install the antivirus first and you will be protected very early on.
2. Browse the Internet using Firefox or Safari - for a myriad of reasons a lot of malicious software out there attack the feature rich application known as IE or use it to get in to your computer. Now this may be a myth, but that's what I believe. I usually install the browser next after the antivirus. I trust Firefox with its default security features,. If you're an IE lover at least upgrade to IE7, but I wouldn't suggest using IE 6 to do that. Safari for you Mac wannabees, comes with iTunes upgrade.
3. Watch out for those pop-ups when you browse - Ain't the Internet grand. Where else can you get any info you want on any topic, right at the comfort of your home, cafe, work, or even car. Now watch out for those sites that have any pop-up that asks you to click on something to join a promo or event. Worse is a site that asks you to install programs so you can get more info. ON your next click, you might just be allowing a malicious program to install itself on your computer. Mini-games, free wall papers, video viewers are sometimes hiding these virus, trojans, or malwares. They can also get tricky, some popups are designed to let you click a button to cancel the installation, but they may also be using the same button to activate the installation by misleading you to think that you were going to "cancel" it. Me I avoid trying to click anything on those pop-ups. Just hit ALT-F4 on your keyboard and the pop-up window should close itself without having to click on any of the buttons.
4. USB flash drives are our friends, but scan your USB drives from your friends before opening them in your computer - the virus on a USB drive works right at the moment you open the USB drive when it is shown on your computer. Avoid any triggered virus by scanning the USB drive before you open the folder to view the files in the drive. It's a bummer that this might take long for 2GB-16GB flash drives, but you know what the consequences are, right? Now, it's not just USB drives mind you. CF cards, SD, MMC are also flash drives. They can get infected with virus and pass it on to other computers. They don't do any harm to your digital cameras or phones or MP3 players, but when you take it out and stick it in to other computers, then the virus comes alive again to infect its next host. Better make sure your Photo Printing store has virus free computers when you give them your Flash Memory cards.
5. Love those torrents, but scan after downloading - torrents are home made files shared by peers on the internet. It might be the case that during the "home made" process that these files were also infected with Virus so just take the extra care to double check what's inside the torrent downloads before you use them. Video and audio files are relatively safe so long as they don't come in zip files which you have to run first to extract. Definitely scan the installers and the like. I use azureus vuze for torrent downloads.
I've done it this way and my computer has lived a relatively virus free life. I know that it get's attacked every now and then, but have always managed to keep virus from staying rooted for long.
At least once a year, I would run a full virus scan with the latest updates using the Trinity Rescue Disk for that "really clean feeling". ..... Trinity? what's that.... Some reference to the heroine in the Matrix series?... If your interested about this I can post this as a next blog topic, so let me know. If you can't wait that long, there's always Google, right?
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