One comment that I hear over and over again in my IT career is something similar to this “Hey, I need to buy a new computer! This one has tons and tons of spy ware and viruses on it and I have no idea how they got on my computer! I always get pop-ups and Internet Explorer loads up a porn site whenever I open it! What do I do?”
Unfortunately, this situation is very common and really annoying to fix. Actually, most of the time it’s so bad that it’s impossible to fix and the computer has to re-formatted with a fresh install of Windows. However, everyone who seems to have this problem always says they have not done anything out of the ordinary and cannot understand how the spy ware got installed onto their computer! However, I browse tons of web sites everyday, read lots of emails, and download programs off the Internet and yet have no problem with spy ware or viruses making my computer super slow.
So this guide is going to be really basic: How to not mess up your entire computer by following a couple of simple rules. These rules, if followed correctly, will help ensure that your computer does not turn into slow crawling, ad-popping, IE-redirecting piece of junk!
DO NOT INSTALL USELESS PROGRAMS -
Everyone loves to customize their computer or to make it faster by installing some Internet “booster” or “accelerator” type of software. These will eventually lead to spy ware without a doubt! Unless the program is from a large vendor like Microsoft or from a trusted site like FileHippo, do not go around downloading those crappy free-ware programs that promise cool icons, cursors, faster response times, etc, etc.
DO NOT DOWNLOAD ILLEGAL SOFTWARE, VIDEOS, OR MUSIC -
Yes everyone is downloading movies and songs from BearShare or uTorrent, etc, but only a few actually know what they are doing! If you are not sure of how to protect yourself when you download something from a peer-to-peer sharing network, you will end up with a virus for sure! I have downloaded a lot of things before and many times the files were infected with a virus. Luckily, I know how to check before I open it and get rid of it if it’s something bad. Do it the right way and you might save yourself the $200 you will have to shell out to the Geek Squad!
BUY A REALLY GOOD SPAM FILTERING OR BLOCKING SOFTWARE -
I always find people trying to go cheap on this one! Yes there are a couple of free spam filtering programs out there, but if you are using Outlook and your email provider does not have spam filtering, it is ESSENTIAL to buy a high quality spam blocker! It’s ridiculous how easily spy ware can install itself from within Outlook, sometimes you do not even have to open it for it to get onto your computer.
AVOID FORWARDS LIKE YOU WOULD AVOID THE PLAGUE -
Oh how people love forwards! I hate them and delete all of them, even if they are from my family! Those cute PowerPoint presentations or hilarious flash animations are not that great afterwards when you cannot start your computer anymore! Forwards and attachments are deadly, so be SUPER careful when opening these files. Even if you know the person, a forward can contain spy ware passed down through tons of people. It’s best to simply delete forwards or view them on a computer that you do not care what happens to anymore.
DO NOT VISIT PORN, ADULT, OR WAREZ SITES AT ALL -
If you find that after your husband uses the computer for a few weeks, all of a sudden nothing works and there are porn ads popping up all over the place, you should be able to put two and two together! Sadly, most single and married men visit porn sites regularly and usually do so on a home computer without take extra precautions. Porn sites are like the sewage system, they have every filthy thing you could think of and even coming close to it will make you sick or dead. Avoid the porn and your computer will last a lot longer.
Notice here that I did not mention anti-virus software, Windows updates, firewall protection, Internet security software, etc, etc! The reason for that is simply this: You can have all of that software installed and still screw up your computer by doing the things listed above. People seem to think that just because they have anti-virus and anti-spy ware installed, they can do anything they want. Completely wrong! Personally, I think I could work fine everyday without anything installed except for Windows updates and be perfectly fine.
It’s all a matter of how you care you take and how diligent you are with your computer. Treat it nicely and think before you click!
Aseem Kishore has been working as an IT Analyst for over 6 years in New Orleans, LA. He enjoys computers, technology, and gadgets.
http://www.online-tech-tips.com/
Tags: computers, spyware, TECHONLOGY, VIRUSES
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