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7 Habits of Highly Infected Computers
With diligence and education, users can take several actions in preventing infections from starting or becoming worse. You are the best virus protection for your computer.
Actions that often lead to a service call:
1. Clicking on a link in an unsolicited email, or on Facebook that looks interesting, could actually take you to a malicious website. Remember that just visiting a bad website can infect a computer. Don’t click on links in email.
2. Opening email attachments: Just say no to all unsolicited attachments.
3. Not updating Windows: Don’t ignore the notification icon next to the time clock. These updates fix and prevent problems. Run Windows Update manually, located at the top of your “All Programs” list off the Start button.
4. Not updating applications: Adobe, for example, provides an update notification icon. Flash and Acrobat Reader are favorite avenues of attack. Keep all programs updated, using the “Check for Updates” link usually found under the Help menu.
5. Running an expired antivirus, or not running any antivirus. Check that antivirus is installed and current.
6. Reacting to “scareware”: Ignore popups on that say “we’ve scanned your PC and found viruses – click here to clean.” Click on the “X” to close this, and start a scan of the PC with antivirus software.
7. Assuming that antivirus will protect you 100%: Antivirus will not protect a computer from risky actions. Even with current antivirus protection installed, about one third of all computers have some kind of malware. Bad websites can still infect a computer, as well as sharing music, movies, and pictures.
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