Keeping safe online

Hello guys, I just had to write this because I can't believe how many people come in here with computers full of virus and spyware. I mean, sure, that is helping pay my bills, but if there is a way to help people understand how this works it would be a great help on us as well. So I am going to tell you about two programs that you can run to be safe, those are the same we use here. Also I'm going to give you some pointers -which am sure you've heard, but not really followed- about how to keep safe while browsing the web.

First of all there is a difference between viruses and spyware, please don't mistake them or you'll pay the consequences. The fact that you have an anti-virus program doesn't mean that you will be protected from spyware, one again, they are different! So you need to have both anti-virus and anti-spyware software on your computers. There are lots and lots of programs out there that will do the job, but am going to talk about two.

First let's talk about the anti-virus software. I will recommend the free version of AVG, it works great and best of all it's free! One of the great things about this program is that it gives you the option to automatically update itself and also to do an automatic scan as soon as you boot up your computer. The program is user friendly and very simple to use, so if you don't have an anti-virus program -you should- this is a good way to go.

As far as anti-spyware is concerned, I will have to go with Spybot Search and Destroy (Spybot S&D). This program also let's you do automatic updates on the software which is a must to really be protected. Spybot is a really powerful program and you have to be careful how you use it or you might damage your system, good thing that is also allows you to back up your registry, just in case you do mess it up. The tutorial that comes with the program will help you grasp all there is to know about the programs so read it and enjoy it.

Now, here is how everything comes together. Even if you have protection you have to 1. Keep it up to date (great if you have AVG and Spybot, they update automatically) 2. Run scans on your system to make sure you are virus and spyware clean (AVG scans automatically on start up) 3. (This is the most important of all) Don't download stuff if you are not sure what it is! There will be all sorts of web sites offering you software to make your computer faster, clean your system, or something else... don't click on them those are viruses! If you do click on them even if you have the most powerful anti-virus/spyware you will get hit and infected, so be extremely careful.

The above steps apply for any type of software that you are using for protection, so if you already have one make sure is up to date and that you scan your system. If you have any questions about how your software works, read the help files and it should give you and idea of how everything works. So there you go, these are basic online safety tips for you. I hope that this help you out and we don't see that many more computers in here for spyware or virus removal.