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Top Tips for Avoiding Viruses

When it comes to dealing with the hazards posed by viruses, prevention is much easier than a cure. By taking the following simple precautions, you can help reduce the risk of your computer being infected by a virus or malware:

Don't open suspicious e-mail messages or files. Email is a key method for spreading viruses. A basic plain text email is unable to transmit most viruses, it is the attachment to the email that contains the potential hazard. If the attachment is unexpected or unsolicited and from an unknown sender, the wisest decision would be to delete the email without opening the attachment. If the email is from a known and trusted source, but you did not expect an attached file from that source, you may want to contact the sender to confirm that the attachment is genuine.

Use an anti virus program to scan all incoming email attachments and all files or programs that came from someone else's computer. Whenever someone puts a file or a program on their computer, there is always some risk that some virus may infect that file or program and remain undetected. By scanning all incoming files and programs, you may uncover a virus that the other person may have overlooked.

Don't respond to fake virus warnings. Only trust anti virus products you have already installed or have come from genuine sources. You may visit a website and a virus warning flashes up. The warnings look real, mimicking Microsoft or well known anti virus products and the names sound legitimate. Once you click the link, it will direct you to buy a product and whether you pay or decline it will install malicious software on your computer.

Avoid forwarding email attachments unless you first scan the attachment for viruses. If you have an anti-virus program that scans all incoming email attachments, or if you scan the attachment after it arrives, then it is probably safe to forward the attachment. Otherwise, do not forward the attachment.

Use an anti-virus program to regularly scan your hard drive. Even when you exercise reasonable caution, you may still be infected by a virus. An anti-virus program can be set up to regularly check your computer and incoming email attachments for viruses. These programs can usually be configured to run in the background while you continue to work on your computer.

Update your anti-virus program regularly. New or improved viruses are being regularly unleashed on the Internet. Updating your anti-virus software so that it contains the latest virus definitions will decrease the likelihood that you are affected by a new type of virus. Most programs come configured to automatically update, check that yours is so configured.

Back up your data regularly. If a virus erases or corrupts files on your hard disk, a recent backup may be the only way to recover your data. Back up your entire system regularly. At the minimum, back up files that you can't afford to lose, such as documents, pictures, favourite links, address books, and important e-mail messages.

Look for an unexpected file extension on any attachment. If the subject line or the body of an email states that the attachment is a certain type of file or if the file icon implies a certain type of file and the file extension does not match, delete the file.

Which Anti Virus package to use? Which package you use is really down to personal preference and so long as you go to a reputable anti virus company. Microsoft have a product called Microsoft Security Essentials and best of all, it's free! Other free packages are available from Avast (AVG) and PC Tools. A note of caution when using the free packages, some do not carry out automated scans, so you need to run the program manually on a regular basis - you get what you pay for!