Keep Your Computer From Catching a Cold
As an IT guy, people often ask me how to prevent problems from occurring with their PCs. Beyond my first answer, which is usually, "Buy a Mac," the best thing anyone can do to prevent computer problems is do everything you can to keep your machine virus-free. If you are reading this blog, it means you are on the internet, which also means you are exposing your machine to potential risks with every click of your mouse. I cannot stress this enough: If you're going to be online you MUST have a virus scanner. If you surf the web without one, there chances are your computer is already infected. There are a couple free virus scanners that are good and reliable, for your average computer user. Of course the ones you pay for are better but I am writing this for those on a budget.
Note: I don't care what operating system you are using, virus scanners are still essential to network defense. Mac OS and Linux are seeing more and more viruses these days. It’s not just Windows XP, and Windows Vista you need to worry about anymore, contrary to popular myth. Below are the two most reliable free anit-virus systems I've found during my IT career thus far.
AVG AntiVirus (http://www.avg.com/)
Avira AntiVir (http://www.free-av.com/)
Why do I recommend these? Other than the price being right (free), I have used both of these on different systems with great results, and these are the two free programs I see most often utilized by my fellow IT professionals. Listing the free ones I don't use would be pointless, as scammers change their "company" names too frequently for me to keep up with, and I'd rather not waste your time or mine in the attempt.
When you're looking at freebies, the list of what works is rather short, but if you're willing to spend money, the choices are more varied. Norton Antivirus, Mcafee Antivirus, Trend Micro PCcillin, Computer Associates Antivirus, and Windows Live OneCare are the paid programs I suggest to everyone I know. A simple Bing or Google search for any of these will get you where you need to go if you're interested in any of these.
Personally speaking, we use a combinaton of Norton Antivirus and AVIRA's Antivir on our home network and haven't had a single problem with viruses on any of our machines in the last three years. To clarify, we have three PCs at home, and two have one program, and the other has something different. Installing and running two anti-virus programs on a single machine is unnecessary and will actually cause problems such as freezing, crashing, and the ever-dreaded Blue Screen of Death. It will also bring your processing speed to a crawl, so best to avoid this altogether and pick a single program per machine.
Once you've chosen one (AND ONLY ONE) program, be it free or otherwise, install it to your computer and run a full scan. When I say, "full scan," I mean scan EVERYTHING. Every folder, every drive, no matter how insignificant you think it is, SCAN IT. The program should provide instructions for dealing with any problems it might uncover. After you've completed your initial scan, schedule full scans about once a week and make sure you turn on the active internet scanner. This should detect anything as it attempts to attack your computer and quarantine anything that actually breaks through your defenses before it has a chance to cause damage.
Anti-virus software is one of the most important components of your home network defense grid, and having a program in place will pay off long before you even realize it. Not only do such programs prevent performance problems, but they also protect you from identity and information theft. A little preventive maintenance such as this can keep your life much simpler and problem-free.
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