Windows Security: Preventative

Computer security has become a very hot topic lately in the news and in everyday life. There is very good reason for this trend, especially with more technology becoming available. Windows is the largest operating system used on personal computers in almost ever house on the Earth, and sometimes more than 1 computer per household. Therefore it stands to reason why viruses and security issues with Windows operating systems are much more rampant than any other operating system. Microsoft does it's best to secure your personal computer but just like all things you must meet Microsoft half way and do your part. I am not saying to switch operating systems nor learn complicated security measures but there are small things that can set your security above the rest and place you computer farther from risk.

The first step in security is prevention, without prevention there is no need to go any further. By preventing any security breech in the first place you have saved yourself many headaches and pains in the rear! The very first step is the back up functions of your computer, This is the safety boat of you computer, if anything disastrous should happen you can pop in a disk and reload your computer just as it was before you lost the "battle". Always make sure to keep any backups on CD or DVD that way you have a hard copy and if you need to erase the whole hard drive to get rid of a virus or security breech you will be able to without too much regret.

The next step is to make sure that the firewalls within the Windows operating system are up and running. This is not the only firewall that you should use, next I suggest going to the Sygate firewall web page and getting their free firewall. The Sygate firewall is more of an port watcher, it tracks all information coming and going from your computer and allows you to block or allow all incoming or outgoing information. Sygate does harass you the first 2-3 times using it about everything on your system trying to get out or in but once you tell it what to do it stays quite.

The next protection is to install an anti-virus, there are million or anti virus programs out there on the market. If your computer came with one USE IT, if it did not come with a free anti virus program there is also one of those. Checking out the AVG web page, you can download the free anti virus that is trusted by network professionals and some of the highest security personnel in the world. AVG updates almost daily with new definitions and protections and in nearly 8 years of using them I have never received a virus. This combination of Sygate firewall and AVG anti virus programs in 8 years of computer use has in my experience and many other around the globe been the strongest combination of programs to prevent any security breeches. Of course you can still get a virus or security breech, but these will make it very hard as long as you update AVG and keep both running. That and of course attention, if your computer is acting strangely its time to pull out the big guns and do a full system scan and sweep, its attention to detail that will save your personal computer in the end not some computer program. The number one rule in computer security is to know your computer well enough to catch files out of place or any strange actions from your computer. With these tips computer security becomes a thing of prevention and not a game of killing current viruses or closing loop holes in your security.