Virus Prevention Guidelines

Virus Prevention Guidelines

Make sure your computer runs anti-virus software. If not, buy and install it immediately.  Free programs are also available such as:

http://free.avg.com/223204  Free AVG

http://www.free-av.com/  Free Avira

http://www.support.microsoft.com/en-us/help14210/security_essentials/-download.  Free Microsoft Security Essentials for Windows 7 or earlier. For Windows 10 choose Windows defender.

Even if you have Antivirus and AntiSpyware software, it has to be updated regularly, as new viruses and Spyware appear daily. Many products have a feature that will automatically download updates, making it easy to stay protected. Otherwise, periodically download the updates manually.

DO NOT OPEN an e-mail attachment unless you know who sent it. Even then, it’s not totally safe, as a sneaky virus that has infected a friend’s computer can access the e-mail address book, send a message to everyone, and attach itself. To be completely safe, scan the attachment with your anti-virus software before you open it.
NEVER respond to an e-mail asking for your password or other private information.

If you receive a suspicious message, delete it immediately from your In Box. When you delete a message, however, it’s still on your system. Go into the Deleted Mail folder and delete the message again to permanently remove it.

Regularly back-up your files. Should your system become infected, you won’t lose your valuable data.

For more tips on preventing viruses, visit this Microsoft website.