Anti-Virus Software Fighting Back Against Computer Infections

Many computer users adopt the ‘it will never happen to me' policy, but there are a number of computer viruses out there just waiting to infect and destroy the information contained on their hard-drive. This is why companies invented anti-virus software, which is a program that automatically helps to detect the presence of viruses on a computer or in a file before it is opened.

Anyone who spends a considerable amount of time surfing the internet, visiting unfamiliar websites or downloading photographs is at a higher risk for computer viruses than those who do not. Computer viruses are typically attached to word processing documents, computer programs and images which, if downloaded, may instantly affect the computer's performance.

If a computer virus infects a computer, the owner may immediately lose everything in their computer and may be forced to use the factory restore disk. This CD, which is accompanied by most new computers, will restore the computer to it's original factory settings.

Anti-virus software is quite affordable considering it's wealth of use. Without it, computer users are at constant risk for computer viruses. Anti-virus software can generally be found at any computer manufacturer's website, retail store's electronic department or online at many retailers selling computers.
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Anyone who suspects that their computer may be infected with a virus should refrain from sending any e-mail messages or uploading photos to family or friends. Otherwise, the virus may spread to infect their computers as well.

Anti-virus software is available most commonly on a CD-Rom, but may also be downloaded from some manufacturers. By double clicking on the software, the anti-virus program will begin to perform a scan of your entire computer. As it progresses, it will give you an update on any potential located viruses or files that may be of concern. In addition, some anti-virus software will allow users to scan a single file before opening it. For example, if a computer user were to download an image but wanted to run a virus scan on it prior to opening the file, he/she could click on the anti-virus software and direct it toward the file in question. The anti-virus program would scan the file for potential viruses and will post the results immediately on the computer screen. This will allow the computer user to know which files are safe and which are not.
Tip! If you are into downloading things that cause the RIAA to get upset, don't use P2P clients such as Limewire, WinMX, Grokster, or Kazaa. When using bittorrent, make sure you read a torrent's comments before downloading to make sure there are no viruses in it.

In today's world, anti-virus software is to computers as Tylenol is to headaches. It's both a preventative approach and a cure for certain ailments affecting a computer. If a user does not have anti-virus software pre-installed into their computer, it is recommended that they purchase a program immediately before logging on to the internet.
Tip! You can look for the virus that is infected on your computer.

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Anti-Virus Software Maintenance Lesson

Don't learn the hard way like I did. Anti-Virus software is important. If you surf the internet, this software keeps your computer alive. To keep the anti-virus software working effectively it must be updated every couple of days and letting it become out-dated may harm your computer.

There was a time between jobs when I discontinued my internet service. This lasted for about four years. When I signed up again with an internet service provider, my anti-virus software was old. I tried to update the software online and the update would start then there would be some files which wouldn't load to be updated. I assumed, incorrectly as it turned out, that that would be enough to protect my computer. While surfing one day there was a strange message that came on the screen about some comedy site. There was what appeared to be a joke on the screen. It wasn't a joke. My computer had caught some bug and wouldn't work properly after that. The computer would boot up but not let me fully into Windows Explorer. I tried a round about way to get into my files to save as much of my computer's disk content as possible then to destroy whatever virus or worm had infected my computer, I had to reformat my hard drive, which meant everything stored was gone.
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Everything had to be reloaded including Windows 98 and all the software that drove the applications. It took hours and even then, the computer was not the same. The software wouldn't recognize the cable modem. My computer was slow and old so it was time for a new faster one.

The replacement computer worked four and a half times faster. It also had a new, free anti-virus software program. It is called AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition. This software is great. It updates automatically every day or two and that way it is always watching out for new dangers on the web.
Tip! Follow the instructions on the virus removal page in order to remove the virus from the infected computer.

AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition scans the type of files you select as they enter your computer. If a virus is detected it lets you know then it heals the file where the virus was. You can manually scan your entire hard drive or selectively scan certain files. Virus scans can be automatically scheduled when you choose. AVG supports most of the most popular email programs and scans all your incoming and outgoing emails, which means that you don't bring in or send out anything infectious.

Basically you just install AVG and it works. You set it to do the tasks you want done, when you want them done and that's it. As long as you have a working internet connection for it to update virus files everything works fine.
Tip! If our computer is on network, just disconnect it from the network so that the virus should not spread in to the other computers.

If you turn your computer off be sure to check for updates yourself. This is easily done by double clicking the icon at the bottom of your screen. Then just click the check for updates button. AVG will indicate if there is an update, download it, and install it.

Since starting using AVG I have had no more virus problems, so take heed of this story and make sure you always use an updated anti-virus software.

Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Anti-Virus