All about Anti-virus

The way you use your computer will determine your vulnerability to a virus attack. Read our segments on Good browsing Habitsand How do I secure my PCto safeguard yourself.

With all the precautions that you take, you still need an Anti-Virus software to prevent a virus attack and also to get rid of some of those pesky viruses that might have wormed their way into your system. You can find an anti-virus software to suit your requirements easily at your local computer store or even on the internet. If you are new to this, remember always to stick to the widely used, popular brands available in the market like Norton Anti-virus or McAfee.

Anti-virus programs are efficient in allowing you to scan your computer and identify any virus that may be present in your system. They also provide regular updates to protect you from any new virus that may have surfaced. They can also scan your e-mails and sniff out any viruses before you download anything onto your system. Present day anti-virus programs come integrated with a firewall, a spam and pop-up blocker. Some programs also include Spy-ware blockers. Spyware are software that can watch and keep track of your pc and internet usage.

Installing your Anti-Virus Software:

Now that you have acquired your software, let’s go about installing it into your system.
Before you run the installation:

• Close all other programs running on your system.
• Create a back up of your files on a CD or another hard disk.
• Uninstall any existing older anti-virus programs using the Add or Remove Programs option in your control panel.

If you have downloaded your software from the internet, run the installed program. If you have a CD, run the CD on your system. The installation process loads automatically. Follow through with the wizard on the installation process and register. Make sure that:

• You specify the drive/folder where you want your software to be installed.
• The anti-virus software should start when the computer boots.
• The anti-virus software should scan any removable media like floppy disks or CDs before the computer shuts down.
• The anti-virus software should look for viruses in all types of files.
• The anti-virus software regularly scans your entire computer for viruses.

You might have to reboot your system once the installation is complete. Most anti-viruses ask you to create a Rescue Disk. Go ahead and create one on a floppy disk and use it when you run into boot issues caused by a virus.

Remember, just installing your anti-virus software doesn’t ensure complete safety for your computer. You must scan your system periodically. Scanning your entire hard drive could take a really long time depending on the speed of your computer and the size of your files and hard disk space.

You can schedule your anti-virus to scan your computer every week when you are not working . Read our segment on How to schedule Windows to perform tasks Automatically. You must also update your software from time to time and install the latest security patches from the internet.