Computer viruses are becoming more and more of a threat every day. As hackers try to stay ahead of the security curve and defense professionals try to stay ahead of the hackers. Viruses come in all forms to exploit your data, change it, steal specific information or just annoy you. The affects of the virus on a computer can be tangible or downright nasty. These programs thrive on eating away at your operating system making your computer slow on performance and taking up additional memory. They can track your online movements steal your bank account information and even crash your hard drive. Can protect your computer and remove these nasty critters. Have you ever experienced a virus? Do you think you caught a viral infection from a specific website? There are a lot of things on a personal computer that need to be protected and we will talk about some ways you

Antivirus Software

The first thing every computer should have to help protect it against a virus is antivirus software. This software can be used to scan active memory i.e programs that are all ready loaded in the background with a running process. You can also do a manual full scan of your system which will detect any viruses hidden in files and hidden locations. Keeping your antivirus updated and scanning on a regular schedule will help keep you protected. There are some antiviruses that you can get for free from the internet that do a pretty good job or others where they offer you a trial and then you would need to purchase it. Always before downloading something from the net that you know the source or they are trustworthy a lot of viruses come in pretending to be products that are suppose to get rid of viruses not distribute them. Also beware of pop up advertisements these are 99.9% of the time another form of virus called malware.

Anti spyware Software

Along with antivirus programs the good ones will also come with a form of protection against malware. These programs root out advertisements and annoyances that pop up while you are web surfing. This software is not as dangerous but it does limit your invisibility while surfing because it records and monitors your surfing habits. When it has discovered a pattern it will then use pop up annoyances to advertise products that you may be interested in. If you’re antivirus product does not have antispyware support you can purchase this program separately.

 Firewall

Another way to protect you from computer viruses is either in the form of hardware or software called a firewall. It helps keep you uninfected in two different ways. One way is that it does not allow intruders or fishers in from the outside in. it also keeps your data safe because it limits the flow of traffic in and out of your computer which will keep invaders out. Installing the firewall not your machine can be a little disconcerting if you are not to familure with setups. Depending on your home setup it may need to be configured specifically for certain components on your network to work properly or an IP address for your network imported. Most firewall companies come with pretty good tech support even if it’s from India.  

Registry Cleaners

Some viruses after being removed with a antivirus or a antispyware program leave holes that can still cause your system to crash in the registry. One way that you can get your machine to work better after removing a virus is to use a registry cleaner program. Again there are free ones but in this department be careful who you download from and make sure it is a source that you can trust. This program will remove any invalid entries that were left by the virus and speed up your computer it is recommended that you run it at least monthly to keep it organized.

Reinstalling Your OS

If none of the above options are not available to you or have not worked at all there is a surefire way to get rid of your virus that is to back up your data and reinstall your operating system. This should be used only in a last ditch effort because it will erase all your data. You have been warned.

But, if you wish not to experience the thrills of having a computer virus on your machine follow protection measures above. . Then prevention is the best suggestion keeps updated antivirus and it antispyware on your computer. Keep up with your weekly scans and become proactive in protecting your valuable data instead of reactive.