WAYS TO PREVENT COMPUTER VIRUSES

I have watched and wondered the ways people especially the ignorant ones use to complain bitterly about the damage the computer viruses had caused them and still causing them! This is amazing! To say the truth, no one is safe unless if you take a very serious measure to prevent or fight computer virus. I believe that anyone who is my friend or the reader of my articles and the general public including you should 

not be a victim; thus, in this post, I’m going to tell you what computer viruses are and the ways to tackle and prevent the occurrences. First, what is computer Virus?

A computer virus is a destructive program code which dwells in other files and can cause irreparable and serious damage to your computer once it is infected. Apart from that, computer virus can
steal passwords, bank/credit card details, and

email addresses details.

Computer viruses spread easily between computers through shared files, from the internet and through attachments in email messages. Having said this far, let us look into the manner viruses get into your computer and ways to prevent them. Actually, there are many ways to prevent computer viruses, but I have selected some keys ones here. Let us look into them one by one

ALWAYS MAKE SURE YOUR ANTIVIRUS IS UP TO DATE.

An antivirus as the name appears is a program that fights viruses. Always have the latest updates on your system. Don’t go to sleep after installing antivirus thinking that no updates are needed! I say this because of the experience in the ICT industry. Virus-writers come up with different version every day to cause havoc and loss. Thus, a good antivirus company will always come up with an update to tackle such. It is advisable to automatically enable your antivirus. Some antivirus programs are set to update automatically. If it so with yours, don’t alter it not to automatically enable. At least, a good antivirus supposes come up with update 2 to 3 times in a week, which is good. If not, it is better you find another good one. There is a lot of licensed antivirus-programs out there that you can use – for example - AVG, Avast, McAfee antivirus just to mention few are good ones if you don’t mind. I will recommend you use a licensed one instead of a free one. It is strongly advisable!!

ALSO READ WAYS TO SPEED UP YOUR COMPUTER HERE

DON’T OPEN EMAIL ATTACHMENT/FILES UNLESS YOU ARE SO SURE OF IT.

This may sound funny but it is true. Virus-writer can cajole you into believing that a special gift is there for you by clicking on a link or open an attachment. Even if you get an email attachment from a friend but unsure of it, it is better to save it in an external storage device like flash drive and scan it first with your already installed antivirus program in your PC, doing this will save you a lot of stress. One thing is sure, an email carrying virus cannot infect your computer unless you open it. That means that, if you don’t directly open an attachment but you first scan it, you are 100% save of its virus and it is one of the surest ways to prevent computer viruses but doing otherwise, you are on your own!

ALWAYS MAKE SURE YOU SCAN EXTERNAL STORAGE DEVICES BEFORE OPENING THE CONTENTS

This is very crucial too. You must not take anything for granted when it comes to scanning of any form of external storage devices coming to your system. If you don’t want virus to attack or “kill” your system, make it an habit to scan any form of storage devices coming to your system. Take for instance, the flash drive, CD, DVD, memory card, diskettes and so on must be scanned very well first before opening the content.

BE TOTALLY CAREFUL OF WEBSITES THAT ASK YOU TO INSTALL “PLUG-IN”

Plug-In is a data file that alters or extends the operation of any form of program or application in the computer. You must be cautious of any form of file you are downloading to your system from the internet as this may bring in virus. Never open any document you are not sure of, don’t listen or agree with anything on the internet telling you to open or click on a link to win an unsolicited gifts. Just as I was saying before, the best way to go is to download it first in an external storage device like flash drive, scan it and then open it.

ALWAYS HAVE YOUR “FIREWALL” ON

If you don’t know, firewall on your system can help a lot when it comes to virus spreading from computer to computer. It blocks viruses and keep your PC safe. You should have your firewall switched on all the times. Apart from the PC firewall, your antivirus program installed if good must have a firewall. Make sure you turn it on always and watched it when prompts you for a warning message to block or unblock. If not sure of the program being asking you to block or unblock, it is better to stop what you are doing and watch carefully before proceeding.

MAKE A COPY OF YOUR FILE IN AN EXTERNAL STORAGE DEVICE

With all the aforementioned steps, you can still be infected with virus if your antivirus is not up to date. That is the reason why I’m advising you to always have your antivirus updated always. Prevention is better than cure as they say, one of the best things you can do is to have your files being securely saved in external disk. You can buy an external hard drive to achieve this. Save your files in a safe place especially when you run your computer on a shared-network either at work or in a public place like hotel or airport. Doing this will save you from future headache of needlessly losing your important files and documents to virus infection

I do hope all these ways mentioned here to prevent computer viruses in this article will be of great help to you. Your files are important, your password-detail is important too. You have to guard and protect them very well against virus infection and that is why I come up with these tips. Hope u enjoy reading it.

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