Protect your Computer from Viruses

1. Use updated anti virus software that support firewall function. Try to update your virus definicions for latest updates.There are lot of free ant virus software but they give basic versions & most of the time they are not enough. eg: Mcafee, Norton Anti virus Software

2. Use Backup software and take regular backups of your data. Ideally on to a location this is not on your computer. For example: a ZIP disk, Writable CD, Pen Drive etc. This way, if a virus infects your system (or another problem occurs) and you can not recover, you can always go back to the previous version of your data.

Do not overwrite your previous backup when taking a new backup. Problems have been known to occur during the backup process, so you want to make sure that you always have one complete backup available.

3. Do not open email attachments unless you were expecting to receive an email attachment from the person who sent the message. This includes email attachments from people you know - their computer may be infected, and the virus may be sending you email without their knowledge.

If you are not sure if the sender meant to send you an attachment, write to them and ask if they knew they sent you an an attachment and if they know what is in it.

When writing to a person who sent you a suspect attachment, be sure to use "New Message" (or the equivalent function) in your email program. Do not click "Reply" as you may easily inadvertently open the virus infected file.

4. Don't accept unknown files that sending via Instant Messengers from your friends. Before you accept them ask your friend that he or she really send a file. There are lot of viruses that effect your yahoo or MSN messenger & automatically send messages or files via IM network.

5. If prompted, do not run macros when opening Microsoft Word or Excel documents unless you put the macros there yourself. This is especially true for documents received via email, even from people you know.

6. When downloading files from Internet sites save the files to a temporary folder on your computer, or to a floppy disk etc. Scan them for viruses using your AntiVirus software before opening or running them

7. Avoid downloading files from disreputable sites. For example, do not download files from "crackz", "appz",. "warez" or other illegal/pirated software sites. Such files have been known to contain viruses, Trojans, etc. Now Google will warn about harmful sites cooperate with stopbadware.org.
Eg: Google Mal ware warning Message "Warning - visiting this web site may harm your computer!"

8. Check that there is not a floppy disk inadvertently left in the drive before rebooting or restarting your computer.

If you start your computer and there is an infected disk in the drive, you can catch a virus this way!

* Prepare a clean MS-DOS boot disk, and keep it in a safe place.

On most computers you can can make such a disk by opening an MS-DOS window and typing: