182 Tips to Maintain a Virus Free Computer

Is your computer infected with virus? Do you often get mysterious error messages?
Well this is a common problem faced by almost all the computer users across the globe.
There are many viruses and worms out there that could infect your computer.
Some are harmless,but,they do have the capacity to do any number of nasty things,
up to and including, erasing all data from your computer.
However there are ways to keep viruses away from your PC.
Here are the 12 tips to maintain a virus free computer.

1. Email is one of the common ways by which your computer can catch a virus.
So it is always recommended to stay away from *SPAM*. Open only those emails
that has it's origin from a trusted source such as those which comes from
your contact list. If you are using your own private email host (other than
gmail, yahoo, hotmail etc.) then it is highly recommended that you use a
good anti-spam software. And finally *NEVER click* on any links in the
emails that comes from untrusted sources.

2. USB thumb/pen drives is another common way by which viruses spread
rapidly. So it is always a good habit to perform a virus scan before copying
any data onto your computer. NEVER double-click the pen drive to open it.
Instead right-click on it and select the option "open". This is a safe
way to open a pen drive.

3. Be careful about using MS Outlook. Outlook is more susceptible to worms
than other e-mail programs, unless you have efficient Anti-Virus programs
running. Use Pegasus or Thunderbird (by Mozilla), or a web-based program
such as Hotmail or Yahoo (In Firefox).

4. As we all know, Internet is the main source of all the malicious programs
including viruses, worms, trojans etc. In fact Internet contributes to virus
infection by up to 80%. So here are the tips for safe surfing habits so that
you can ward off virus infection up to the maximum extent.

   - Don't click on pop-up windows that announce a sudden disaster in your
   city or announce that you've won an hourly prize.
   They are the ways tomislead Internet users and you should never trust them.
   - You can also use a pop-up blocker to automatically block those pop-ups.

5. Most of us use search engines like Google to find what we are looking
for. It is quite obvious for a malicious website to get listed in the search results.
So to avoid visiting those untrusted malicious websites, you can
download and install the AVG LinkScanner <http://linkscanner.avg.com/> which
is a freeware. This tool can become very handy and will help you to
stay away from malicious websites.

6. Install a good antivirus software and keep it updated. Also perform full
system scan periodically. It is highly recommended that you turn on the
automatic update feature. This is the most essential task to protect
your PC from virues. If PC security is your first option then it is recommended that
you go for a shareware antivirus software over the free ones.
Most of the antivirus supports the Auto-Protect feature that provides realtime security
for your PC. Make sure that this feature is turned on.

7. Install a Good Anti-Spyware program, that operates against Internet
malware and spyware.

8. Never open any email attachments that come from untrusted sources.
If it is a picture, text or sound file (these attachments end in the extensions
.txt, .jpeg, .gif, .bmp, .tif, .mp3, .htm, .html, and .avi), you are
probably safe, but still do a scan before opening.

9. Do not use disks that other people gave you, even from work. The disk
could be infected with a virus. Of course, you can run a virus scan on
it first to check it out.

10. Set up your Windows Update to automatically download patches and
upgrades. This will allow your computer to automatically download any
updates to both the operating system and Internet Explorer. These
updates fix security holes in both pieces of software.

11. While you download files from untrusted websites/sources such as
torrents, warez etc. make sure that you run a virus scan before
executing them.

12. And finally it is recommended not to visit the websites that
feature illegal/unwanted stuffs such as cracks, serials, warez etc.
since they contribute much in spreading of viruses and other malicious
programs.

Please Pass your suggestions and comments at the above Topic Which is
Available at these Group and the Group http://groups.google.com/group/tsksoft


--
---Regards,
T.Saikrishna
Public Website: www.tsksoft.co.cc