How do you keep your computer safe?

[Malice]

Many people have asked me personally, do I have problems with my computer being infected with viruses/spyware and possible other computer security issues.

I tell them, I have not had a virus on any of my personal computers in about 7 years. I dont have spyware either.

How do I do it?

Well, I will tell you how I do it and how my PCs stay RESONABLY safe.

1) AntiVirus Software
Always have AV software. This is not an option. If you have not bought one, download one IMMEDIATELY. AVG Fee is a fairly good one.

2) Computer Patches
If you dont like Automatic Updates for the computer. You need to visit WindowsUpdate ONCE A WEEK. Download all security updates.

3) Browser Safety
I personally use Firefox so I never have to worry about spyware for the most part. Regardless of the browser, you need to be vigilant of the websites you visit. A bad website could have malicious code embedded in it, so the best protection from it, is not to go there.

4) Spyware Protection
I actually no longer have this on my PC, but I would reccommend this for everyone.

5) Email
Simply put, ANYTHING I dont recognize, I delete, IMMEDIATELY. Simple as that. The other rule I setup in my mailbox is, if it has a send date of UNKNOWN, delete it immediately. That means its spam.

Simply put, you need to be vigilant, updating your virus definitions yourself once a week, aside from letting it update itself, this way you ALWAYS know you have a recent version.
Get your patches once a week.
Dont visit stupid websites that can be unsafe.
Email is where most people get nailed via viruses. Follow my lead, if you dont recognize the sender, just delete.

I hope this helps a little.

 

[Kable24]

That's basically what I do. My AV is Avast Professional, I use Ad-Aware Pro to get rid of any spy and adware. I update whenever it downloads from MS. I use Firefox and for my emails that I don't know, I go to my Verizon site and just click them into the Spamdetector folders.

I have explained this to people over and over again and they just don't seem to care so their pc gets trashed very quickly

 

[Drakon]

I vehemently recommend CCleaner.

 

[black_dust]

Dont go on the internet

 

[DOG LIPS]

Dont go on the internet

That's unpossible!

 

[Drakon]

Nice Simpsons' reference, Ralph.

 

[Morg]

You forgot to mention stay out of porn sites Malice

I have McAfee virus and use 3 different spyware programs I run once a week and have 2 firewalls and I never open any mail if I don't know who's it from

 

[Kirk Langstrom]

This should be a sticky.