How to stay safe from Viruses

Viruses are one of the most common problems for the PC users. They are very troublesome since they can result in slowdowns, instability, crashes, data loss, etc. So, here are some basic tips on being secure from viruses :

1. Use a good anti-virus software : This is the preliminary step towards a virus-free PC. AVG & Avast! Home Edition are powerful free anti-virus programs. Both of them provide excellent virus protection for the PC user.

Note : DO NOT use more than 1 anti-virus at the same time. Since anti-viruses offer real-time protection, using more than 1 anti-virus will cause conflicts between them, resulting in crashes. slowdowns & loss of efficiency.

2. Keep your Virus definitions updated before a scan : Virus definitions contain information on viruses for the anti-virus software, including removal details. Since several new viruses are created daily, these definitions are regularly updated by the anti-virus companies. If you scan your PC using old definitions, new viruses will not be detected. Thus, we should keep our virus definitions updated before scanning the PC.

3. Scan your PC regularly : As a general rule, you should scan your PC once a month (with updated virus definitions, of course) to ensure that you are protected from virus infections.

4. Scan removable media before use : Removable media (Pen Drives, CDs, DVDs, Floppies, etc.) are very useful as they facilitate easy moving of data between different PCs. But sometimes, an infected file may get copied onto the removable media. This infection can then spread to the other PCs where it is inserted. Thus, one should always scan any new removable media before copying any of its files to our PC .

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Why uninstall is better than delete

Many beginners are confused between the difference in deleting & un-installing a program. Sometimes, they simply delete the entire folder in which the software is located to remove the software. This is wrong. The reason is explained below :-

When a software is installed, the following things are added to your system :

• The main folder, with the software files.
• Entries in the Windows Registry, related to the particular software.
• Some softwares also store settings in My Documents or files in the System folders.

Now, the most natural way to remove the software is by un-installing it, since it removes all the items installed. Simply deleting the main software folder will result in the registry entries & other things remaining intact. These broken items (they are termed as broken since these become useless without the main software) clutter up your PC resulting in slowdown & wastage of space. Several broken items can hamper the PC performance drastically.

That is why, we should un-install the software to remove it.

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