How to Protect Your Computer from Viruses and Malware

If you have been using computers very long, chances are that you or someone you know has had a computer virus or some other form of malware. Malware is basically a program that has been downloaded onto a computer that is meant to do harm in some way. Malware can access your email accounts and send spam or change settings on your computer, making it extremely slow. It is really upsetting and takes some time to clean up a malware infection. There are some ways to protect your computer from viruses and malware.

First of all, install an anti-virus program. Surfing the internet without an anti-virus program is like driving a car without doing ever any maintenance on it. It might run fine for a while but eventually problems will pop up and before you know it, there are too many problems to fix. I know it's overwhelming to find an anti-virus program that's easy to use, free, and safe. Here are some of the ones that I recommend to non-techies:

1. Microsoft Security Essentials: It's fast, easy to use, and it was designed by Microsoft. If anybody knows how to protect a computer against viruses, it's the people who designed Microsoft.

2. Avira: It's fast, easy to use, and it ranks very highly ranked among computer experts.

3. AVG: Like Avira, it's fast, easy to use, and ranks highly among computer experts.

Of the three, Microsoft Security Essentials is THE easiest program to use. Once you set it up and run the first scan, it runs completely behind the scenes. It will only alert you when it needs to. The others do this too but they tend to "remind" you often to upgrade to their non-free counterparts. Microsoft Security Essentials never does this. It runs and updates totally on its own. The only thing you ever need to do is click on "Clean this Computer" if it does find any malware.

Secondly, on top of anti-virus software, you also need a firewall. If you are running Windows, you already have one built in. It is called Windows Firewall. Make sure that you have this running. If you don't know how to do that, you can look for tutorials at YouTube or Microsoft.com.

Then, it's a good idea to have an anti-spyware and anti-malware programs on your computer. You should run each of these programs approximately once a month AND any time you feel you may have a virus on your computer. These programs can sniff out threats quickly and get rid of them before they do any real damage. I suggest SUPERAntiSpyware and MalwareBytes Anti Malware. These programs will not run themselves unless you pay for the full version so you will need to initiate a scan every so often. Don't be too concerned if you miss a scan or two because your anti-virus software should be cleaning everything up but it is a good idea to run these programs too because they find things that anti-virus software doesn't always find.

Next, you should focus on prevention. First of all, you should download Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome for internet browsers. Internet Explorer is just not safe. There are too many problems with Internet Explorer that leave you wide open for viruses. Firefox and Chrome have built-in safety features to avoid viruses. In addition to safety features, Firefox and Chrome tend to be much faster than Internet Explorer.

Focusing on Firefox, there are some great add-ons that you can download that will make internet browsing even safer. Here are some of my favorites:

1. Ad Block Plus - it blocks advertisements. Need I say more?

2. WOT (Web of Trust) - WOT notifies you if a website is untrustworthy. WOT shows you a green, yellow or red circle next to your home button on Firefox. If the circle is green, it is safe to surf, download or buy from this website. If it is yellow, it's ok to view but don't download anything or buy anything from this website. If it is red, you should get away as fast as you can!

3. Long URL Please - Long URL Please expands those links that you see that have been shortened such as tinyurl, bit.ly, etc. It shows you where the link will take you. If you don't recognize the website address, you probably shouldn't click on it. Many viruses come from these links.

4. NoScript - This is fairly advanced but it is an excellent protection against malware attacks. NoScript blocks active content (flash media, java, etc.) unless you specifically allow it.

Google Chrome has many of the same add-ons.

1. Adsweep - blocks ads (like Ad Block Plus).

2. WOT (Web of Trust)

3. Explode - expands short URLs (like Long URL Please).

Finally, the best defense is a good offense. Be cautious when clicking on links. Do a Google search if you think an email might be a scam. Don't open email attachments unless you know the person and you were expecting an email from them. If you do know the person but you weren't expecting the email, call them up and ask if they sent the email. Many viruses spread through email attachments and virus writers know how to write code that will use a person's address book to send the virus out.

If you follow all of these steps to protect your computer, it is very unlikely that your computer will be infected by a virus or malware again. Just be vigilant and proactive and your computer woes will fly out the window.