| It is essential to protect your computer
against viruses and similar malicious code (viruses and their relatives
are software). There are thousands of known viruses. They can be transmitted
via E-mail, over the Web and on portable media such as floppy disks
and CDs. The effect that the various viruses have on your computer
and its stored data will vary. But, some can spread very rapidly and
cause major difficulties for many people.
Most infections now occur when someone opens an infected E-mail
attachment. Email-borne viruses can be disguised to look like they
come from people you know. If the computers of these people have
been infected, the owners are probably unaware of the infection
and do not know that they are sending copies of viruses to people
in their address books.
Most potential viruses can be avoided by practicing "safe
computing":
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Do not open any files attached to an email from an unknown
or suspicious source.
-
Do not open any files attached to an email unless you know
what it is, or at least confirm that it is not a virus, even
if it appears to come from someone you know. Many people do
not actually know they are sending you a virus.
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If you need to open a questionable file, save it to your hard
drive and scan it before doing so.
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Do not download any files from strangers via instant chats
or messengers.
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Use caution when downloading files from the Internet.
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Back up your files on a regular basis. If a virus destroys
your files, at least you can replace them with your back-up
copy. Do not store the back up files on your computer!
One mistake can reek havoc on your computer. To protect yourself,
it's wise to run antivirus software.
Antivirus software is available from many vendors. The quality
of their products varies but the best of them do a good job. When
shopping for antivirus software, check product reviews, or stick
to well-known names.
You can obtain antivirus software by purchasing a disk in a store,
or it can be downloaded from the Web. Prices vary, and some software
is free. Many of the major vendors offer free downloadable trials
of their product.
No matter what product you use, remember:
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Antivirus software uses system resources (disk space, memory,
processing power). Check system requirements of a product before
buying to make sure your machine can handle it.
-
Make sure the product you buy will run on your operating system
(e.g. your version of Windows). Some products will not run on
some operating systems.
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Update regularly via the Internet. Virus writers are
busy around the clock. Although antivirus vendors can predict
some possible future virus code and protect against it, they
can't predict everything. Most vendors provide a year of updates
to their virus definition files, so take advantage of it.
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No product will be 100% effective. Continue practicing "safe
computing".
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All software, including antivirus products, can have unforeseen
side-effects. These can include things like a slowdown in your
system or conflicts with other software or peripherals such
as printers. At least one version of Norton changes settings
in Outlook Express, preventing you from collecting mail until
settings are corrected.
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