How Do I Keep My Computer Virus Free?
With years of enjoying eliminating viruses (AKA Malware), I recognize firsthand how hard and impossible doing away with viruses can be. I have spent endless hours fighting, kicking, and screaming at a computer display screen in hopes of sending the virus to a violent cyber-death. However, my pc has never been infected with an endemic. Therefore, I am writing a ‘user manual for virus-free computing. Many valuable websites provide simple steps to stay smooth; however, I will try to go one step similarly and explain several lesser-realized techniques.
There are several motivations behind the advent of viruses. Traditionally, malware was written to university children for ‘bragging rights’ or by using disgruntled employees. Today, the general public of malware is written for economic advantage. There are many methods in which a malware creator can make cash off of you or your laptop. Their fundamental supply of profits is using a rogue Anti-Virus software program to ‘scare’ the person into inputting their credit score card to ‘smooth’ their laptop. This is an entire scam! What starts offevolved as a seemingly innocent caution about a virus on your gadget quickly will become numerous pop-America and nag screens because you cannot use the laptop. All the displays point you to ‘registering’ the software to remove most of these viruses. Once you “register the software,” the pc remains infected because the program asks to register the virus.
If you do appear to give them your credit score card, you could contact your economic organization and request a brand new credit card and money back for the cash charged. Clients of mine have carried out this with no primary complications, but some banks will be more difficult to deal with than others.
Although there are technical things that may prevent viruses from infecting your system, this text focuses on the person and what you can do to prevent them from getting infected. Whether it is opening an electronic mail message, downloading a tune file, or trying to look at a video, someone sent you on Facebook, (nearly) all infections require the consumer to do something to get inflamed.
Avoid All Peer-to-Peer Downloads – Peer-to-Peer networks consist of Limewire, Bit-torrent, Frostwire, Gnutella, Kazaa, and Bearshare. These report-sharing networks alternate files from one consumer to the other. Due to their high publicity and the fact that viruses may be disguised as legitimate files without problems, peer-to-peer networks can be prevented in any respect. If you are the handiest downloading track or movie documents, you’re still EXTREMELY exposed to infections. Once I put off a virus from a pc, and the computer has a peer-to-peer application set up, I also do away with the peer-to-peer application. NEVER DOWNLOAD FROM PEER-TO-PEER NETWORKS.
Never Open E-Mail Attachments From Forwards. I know you could experience the pretty PowerPoint displays that your co-employees send you; however, they could get you inflamed. This consists of all forwards who have attachments. I will no longer discuss which document types can contain malware. Rather, DO NOT OPEN ATTACHMENTS WHICH ARE FORWARDED to you.
Never Search For ‘Free’ Things – This consists of games, coupons, software, etc. If your kids use the Internet to locate loose video games, it depends on time before you get inflamed. Suppose you’re searching out software, using the term ‘open source’ in preference to ‘free.’ Searching at no cost for games, coupons, and software programs will not most effectively contaminate your laptop. However, it will heighten your threat of being worried about other styles of scams.
Never View Unethical Sites – Never visit any ‘unethical’ websites on the Internet. This consists of pornography, hacking, and software piracy websites. Depending on your supply, most porn websites do not comprise viruses, but I could live far away from any ‘unethical’ website. As I said during the creation, those are steps I have used to live virus loss since the inception of the ARPAnet.
Never Watch Videos that Request a Download – This is a new tactic the malware authors use these days; whilst seeking to view a video, you receive a request to “replace your java/Adobe Flash/different participant” or “download codec to view the video.” The update/codec isn’t a valid download, and once it’s far downloaded, your PC starts offevolving a downward spiral into a deep cyber-virus pit.
Always Download Drivers from the Manufacturer Website—I always need to seek and download drivers in my career. I do not have evidence that the 1/3-birthday party driving force websites incorporate viruses, but there’s no need to use them, as you may download them directly from the manufacturer’s website. Once again, I have been doing this for years to stay virus-free.
If you have been writing a piece of a malicious software program to be profitable, you’ll write the software to run on the most usually used platform. Therefore, if you, the person, are using an operating gadget or browser that isn’t always the ‘maximum used,’ you are substantially lowering (and likely doing away with) your threat of being inflamed.
These exchange options have become less complicated to apply. I use a flavor of Linux, referred to as Ubuntu, on my personal computer. An Ubuntu or a Mac OS X gadget will not see an endemic for LONG. The more of the non-public computer market proportion that Macs or Ubuntu start taking, the more likely malware authors will begin considering writing malware for those structures. It is not that those structures are free from contamination (something techies like to debate). Still, as a substitute, it’s no longer practical for malware authors to spend time locating a vulnerability, after which writing software is used to exploit that hole.
Bonus
What to do once inflamed – There are many assets you may make use of too easy for your device. Online assets include ‘malware removal forums’ wherein educated technicians will paint with you and develop step-by-step instructions for cleaning your system. Some famous websites with a skilled technician who can help eliminate viruses are GeeksToGo.Com and BleepingComputer.Com. You may contact a neighborhood computer repair store if you no longer want to address disposing of the virus yourself. I run a neighborhood computer restore keep that services the primary Ohio regions.
Rick L. Jones is the proprietor of Integrity Computer Services, Which offers laptop restore and community management solutions to the greater Ohio area. He will graduate from Western Governors University with a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology and presently holds five industry-recognized I.T. Certifications.
