Keep Your Computer Healthy: How to Avoid Contracting a Virus

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What do you do to keep yourself healthy? Perhaps you stay active, take vitamin supplements, eat fruits and vegetables and get lots of sleep to keep your immune system strong? If you feel a little run down, you go to bed early and give your body the rest that it needs to fight off an impending illness. However, although you take care of yourself to prevent illness, do you take the time to protect one of your most important possessions; your computer?

Your computer is just like you; if it gets exposed to viruses and it’s immune system is lowered then it is at risk of coming down with an illness. However, rather than causing stomach flu, headache or sore throat, a virus in your computer can compromise your personal information and even destroy the computer completely. Even though viruses have a devastating effect on your device, many people pay very little attention to the health of their personal computer until it is too late.

However, there are many ways that you can keep your computer healthy and ensure that it has a great “immune system” for fighting off potential viruses. Here are a few ideas of what you can do to stay one step ahead of computer viruses and keep your device safe:

Vaccinate with an Anti-Virus Program

When it comes to computers, an anti-virus program is like a vaccination, it allows your computer’s immune system to recognize any invading viruses and stop them before they cause infection. You should always have a quality, trusted anti-virus software installed on your computer from the very first day that you use it. Every time you surf the internet you are exposed to countless malware, viruses and spyware so it is crucial to be protected.

Keep Your Immune System Strong

Every now and then, your anti-virus software will ask you to do an update. You should always click “yes” because this is very important to the strength of your computer immune system. Internet hackers keep coming up with new viruses and so your anti-virus software needs to keep updating itself so that it stays one step ahead of infection. If you miss this step, your computer could be infected by a virus that your anti-virus software doesn’t recognize yet.

Avoid Possibly Infectious Websites

You wouldn’t lick the handrail on the subway, or share a straw with someone in an infectious disease ward, so why would you hang around suspicious websites which could harm your computer? If you have a good virus protection program it will warn you whenever you are visiting a website that will put your computer at risk. Whenever you get this warning, close the browser window or navigate away from the website; it’s not worth the risk.

Be Careful What You Download

If you are like most internet users, you will probably download music, movies and other fun things. However, these downloads could be hiding a virus. Make sure that you only accept them from websites that you trust and that you scan them before you open them.

Know the Symptoms

Sometimes your computer can be ill for a while before you even notice, because you don’t know what symptoms to look for. You should have an idea of what normal pop-up windows on your computer look like and be able to spot the tell-tale signs that your machine is coming down with something. This will help you catch virus risks right away and fix them before they cause too much harm.

These are just a few ways that you can keep your computer strong and healthy and avoid a virus which will erase all of your important data. Your computer is important to you, so take the time to look after its health and it will run smoothly for a long time.

Taking care of your computer’s health such as by installing a program like&McAfee antivirus , will help prevent the loss of your valuable information.

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ANTIVIRUS SYSTEM PRO “SPYWARE ALERT”?

The following popup:

“Spyware Alert! Vulnerabilities found. Your computer is infected by spyware – 34 serious threats have been found while scanning your files and registry. It is strongly recommended that you disinfect your computer and activate Real time secure protection against future instructions.”

The above may seem like a genuine spyware alert by a legitimate antivirus program, but it is actually a misleading advertisement displayed by the rogue anti-spyware Antivirus System Pro. This is done in order to trick users into thinking that their computer is infected, so that hopefully they would purchase the “full version” of this scare ware program. 

Can an antivirus be a virus? 

Yes and it is actually virus disguised as an antivirus software that opens a backdoor and downloads other virus into user’s computer system. The best thing to be made is download a legitimate antivirus that will fully take all viruses out of the computer. A legitimate antivirus never ruins the user’s computer. In no way will this legitimate antivirus ruin the user’s computer browser and no pop-ups usage. 

Symptoms of PC that has been infected by Antivirus System Pro

Slow PC Performance. Most Adware is not optimized and coded very poorly which causes the computer system to become unstable, slow and unreliable. This kind of adware is constantly running in the computer background.

Numerous undesirable and annoying pop-ups. A typical adware parasite keeps track of your internet browsing habits, sending your browsing history data to remote servers. This adware is owned by third party companies that use this information to advertise their products via numerous pop-ups, toolbars, hijacked homepages and spam letters. All these undesirable advertising methods are used for the victims of this Antivirus System Pro.

Slow internet connection. Antivirus System Pro is constantly using the user’s internet to send the user’s private information to remote server as well as receive ads ad pop-ups from the third party servers. This adware causes much slower internet connection speed and stability. 

Is Antivirus System Pro a SCAM?

Definitely it is a scam. Antivirus System Pro is a successor of some famous malware like System Guard 2009 and Spyware Protect 2009. It is installed through backdoor Trojans and rogue websites. Therefore users must not trust this application that might suggest the users to acquire this program. If Antivirus System Pro sneaks into the computer automatically it slows down the computer system, performs loads of systems scans and tries to scare the user with numerous false security warnings.  It is highly suggested that users must buy a licensed version of antivirus that will eliminate these “threats” and to avoid this scheme. 

Image by chrisdigo via Flickr

Beware that this Antivirus System Pro does not work as a security program. But instead, it’s a malicious software which is not able to provide any kind of fog system protection of the computer. The best thing to be done is remove the Antivirus System Pro as soon as it is detected. 

Another tip! Antivirus System Pro is an identical twin of recent Antivir System Pro malware.

Written by Frederic Lewmann a freelance writer who covers antivirus topics, pc tools antivirus social medias, android apps, registry cleaner review and other reviews.

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10 Ways a Computer Virus is Like the Flu

This Article is a guest post from Ms. Coleen of  Phonetvinternet.com and here is the link from the original article located at 10 Ways a Computer Virus is Like the Flu

I was noticing, a while back, that my computer and I have some things in common. In particular, we are seriously similar in how we act when we get sick. Here are 10 ways that a computer virus is like the flu, or, if you like, 10 ways my computer with a virus is like me with the flu.

         Almost Functional. When I’m sick, I always feel as though I should still be able to function. I get up   to do something. I try hard to remember what I was going to do after I get up, I say to heck with it, and lie down again. My computer does the same thing. It boots up. It tries hard to remember what it was going to do, and then it displays an error message and gives up.

        Whiney Messages. My computer acquired a virus and began sending out urgent messages to everyone in my address book. That’s just like me, too. I get the flu, and immediately start calling and text messaging everyone in my mobile phone contacts to whine about how rotten I feel.

        Feverish. When my computer has a virus, it tends to run a bit hotter than is normal, very much like me when I get feverish from the flu. Neither of us functions well at all, with a fever.

        Delirium. When I become feverish, I begin to have strange walking-around dreams while half-asleep, talking to people that aren’t there and ignoring people that are. My computer appears to have some of the same issues, as it ignores me and responds to the voices in its mother board.

        Wheezy Respiration. Because it runs hot when it has a virus, the computer hard drive and fan sound as if they are laboring to breathe. A rasping and cyclical series of wheezes and sighs issues forth with every click of the mouse. I’ve been told that I make similar noises when ill with the flu.

        Stubborn. My computer becomes very stubborn when it has a virus. It tries to work when it shouldn’t, if refuses to do what it should do, and is generally very uncooperative. Now, you may be as skeptical about this as I am, but my wife insists that this is another characteristic that the computer and I share, when ill with a virus. I include this on the list only in order to allow her to feel as if she’s helped with this article.

        Crashes. Yes, both of us do this, after an exhausting bout of trying to accomplish something while ill. I tend to crash and spill while preparing chicken soup. The computer tends to crash and delete while preparing important documents.

        Annoying Doctors. Both the computer and I, when sick enough, go to doctors that that have tendencies toward nagging. My doctor goes on about healthy living and flu shots. The computer’s doctor goes on about healthy web-surfing and anti-virus programs.

        Overnight Hospital Stays. There have been times when the flu has caused an overnight hospital stay, hooked up to monitors and saline drips. It’s the same for my computer. The last time it had a virus I had to leave it in a cold and uninviting room overnight, hooked up to a machine. The only thing missing at the computer hospital was a nurse to wake it up and poke at it every few hours.

        Infectious. Yep, the last time I was sick with the flu, I began showing symptoms after I was already at work, and managed to pass it along to several coworkers. The same thing happened with my computer, and I know of several friends’ computers that had to spend overnight time at a computer hospital, afterward. One even had to go in for an emergency hard drive transplant.

So, there you have it; 10 ways that a virus makes my computer act the same as I do when I have the flu, though I’m still not certain that number 6 really belongs on the list. 

This Article is a guest post from Ms. Coleen of  Phonetvinternet.com and here is the link from the original article located at 10 Ways a Computer Virus is Like the Flu

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Computer 101: Keeping your Computer Safe from Viruses and Other Threats P-2.

On my previous post, I emphasized on the self practice of safe browsing. Meaning do not just surf anywhere but be objected, think first of what you really need to do to get before surfing the internet that way you'll be able to get the information the you want at much faster time and less hazardous to your computer. Another thing about practicing self safe browsing technique is do not just click on the link or any link, there are a lot of link out there that once click will open the box of bad news for your computer. Also email, your email is one another source of those potentially harmful threats. The safe practice for avoiding virus from email is that avoid opening email that you do not know. Meaning if an email has been sent to you and the sender is a total stranger to you. DO NOT Open or click it, for once you click it then if it contains viruses those viruses will be let loose in your computer even if you have a anti-virus. Is that possible, my computer being infected even if i have an anti-virus installed? The answer is very big yes. Not all anti-virus can detect all viruses especially those new type and variants of viruses, especially if your anti-virus database is not updated regularly. Wait what do you mean Anti-virus database? Well you see all anti-virus as a list of virus and there corresponding mark. The terms for this are virus definitions files or database. Yup each one has this list of threats and only the virus listed on that threat and all its variants is the only detectable virus for the anti-virus. You will need other type of anti-virus to detect others. But there are anti-virus who offers complete detection from regular virus to, malware, ad-ware and spyware. This anti-virus suite does not come free. You have to buy them. Most free version can only scan and protect your computer for a certain degree that why is it recommended to practice safe browsing and opening of email on a regular basis. It's better to be safe than to be sorry.

 

Another potential source of virus is the very useful USB flash drive that rights that very small but very big container that is very easy to use. You just plug it in and presto you have an additional storage space. This is also their weakness, if this Flash disk contains an infected file or itself is infected with a virus, chances are when you plug it into your computer your anti-virus will detect and remover the threat or it will do nothing and will allow the virus to load itself onto your computer's hard drive. Some virus the commonly infect this type of devices, create a replica of itself but the picture is a folder or a file. When the user click on thinking it was the file or folder, presto there goes all your files and folder. Imagine a virus that looks like a folder. You can verify this by viewing the directories in detailed mode. A folder does not have an extension name correct. In an infected folder it has a DOT EXE as an extension name and it is not a folder but an application as verified by the directories listing. What happen to the real files? Well it's there; you just can't see it because it is hidden. To view it you need to unhide all system files and hidden files using the file view option in the control panel. But this is dangerous you. All system files and protected system folder are hidden for their protection. Un-hiding the greatly exposes each item of being deleted or manipulated so be very careful. A word of CAUTION and WARNING do not do the things mentioned above if you are new or not familiar with the procedure, it may cause more harm than good to you computer system. I try to provide with a step by step procedure in how to it complete with picture on my future blog. So before you plug one of these handy devices to your computer make sure you scan them first thoroughly and properly. Also if you one of this does not just plug it anywhere and everywhere, this will minimize it from being infected by viruses. So practice self know and restrained in using these devices. And lastly but not the list make sure to update your anti-virus database or virus definition file regularly. This at least will help you in keeping the most common virus away from your computer.

Another potential source of infection is chatting; yup your computer could also be infected via this avenue if you are not careful and vigilant. What even in chatting? Yup that correct, how is this so? Well there are a lot of ways where you talk or chat with friends on the internet. Also a lot of programs that offers this kind feature and much more.. More than that in chatting sometimes you talk about a lot or you request a file to be sent to you, not via email, but who want it sent through the chatting software that you are using. If that is possible so the virus being sent thru is also possible, disguise as an important file or picture from a supposedly friend of yours, when you click on it to download it. It will immediately activate and infect your computer. So while chatting with friends practice being vigilant to avoid unnecessary problems with virus infection in you computer. Whenever your computer is connected to the internet and attaching devices to your computer, being vigilant and thorough will help keep your computer from being infected and therefore more productive time and usage from your machine. 

Computer 101: Keeping your Computer Safe from Viruses and Other Threats.

People get sick, the most common sickness is the common cold and it’s relative running noise, flu and head-ache. We get sick because we caught the virus that causes this sickness from other people in our home, work and other places where there are sick people. But this sickness is not life threatening except maybe for a few who has complication from this sickness. But this common sickness can be treated by much home based medicine or at least get our body to use its natural ability to fight off this viruses. Some just need to rest and drink a lot of water to let the body heal itself. Still others buy medicine for this type of sickness especially if the young one or children is sick. These viruses spread themselves thru air or sharing of things with the sick person.  Well there is another kind of virus that is not dangerous to people but is very deadly to the things people use like the computer and its entire relative.

Ever since the computer was invented and created, viruses have been one of the main threat to its healthy and useful existence. Just like the original organic virus to which it was pattern by its early creator, this viruses has already change from just being annoying to become a real threat to all computer devices. It has already metamorphosis to several different kinds to Trojan Horses, Malware, Adware, Spyware and other type which attack different type of files in our computer. I don’t need to get into the detail of what they do inside your computer. Where going to focus on the basic of keeping your computer devices free of these dangerous programs. Well how does a computer get infected by these viruses? Well first of all there’s the internet, it one of the main source of computer infection and chances are your computer is online for most of the time, then the percentage of getting infected by these virus and its cousin is very high. In this age and time, people can no longer afford not to use the internet so the viruses have become very abundant.

Okay now how do you protect your computer from being infected by this malicious and dangerous program from the internet? Well the common ways of protecting yourself is to use an anti-virus. This anti-virus is a program that detects the virus before it can infect or spread itself inside your computer. There are free type and paid type of anti-virus out here. Use any one of them or better yet use two if you know how to configure each so that they will both work in harmony not getting in the way of another. The most common way is installing one of these programs to keep an eye on your computer while you work. Now that’s done you have an anti-virus installed in my computer, my computer is safe now. I can surf to all of my heart content. Woo hold on there, your computer not totally secure yet from viruses and its cousin. You just can go to any website or location on the internet because even if you have anti-virus chances are it will not be enough to combat viruses if you keep going to the those site which has a lot of viruses or contain viruses and other deadly program whose intentions is just to destroy your files and computer. Yes folks this site is really and they don’t offer anything but virus and its cousin. So need to practice safe browsing and downloading habit to help make your computer safe from all type of viruses.

I still remember the experiment that i did way back then. The experiment was i used a computer where only the Operating system and anti-virus programs is installed only. I updated the virus definition of the anti-virus and make sure every thing is working as they should be. Then after this i connect that computer to the internet and surf away. I jump from site to another click on all kinds of links that lead from site to another and then when i thought that it was okay and my computer is still working and the anti-virus is doing its job from getting my computer infected, WHAMMM i run onto a brick wall or website that is full of viruses that the moment my computer made contact, they overwhelm my anti-virus and the computer has stop working. It has been paralyzed by the viruses that attack it. The good news is this is just an experiment. Well i quickly reformatted my hard drive not once but twice and have it scanned by an antivirus software just to make nothing is left from my previous encounter. The result of my experiment clearly shows that even with an anti-virus installed on your computer. You still need to practice safe browsing technique while connected to the internet. More on my next post.