Protect Yourself Against Viruses

Your computer can fall victim to many destructive events: power surges, coffee spills, a failed hard drive, or worse. But your computer is also susceptible to a digital invader called a virus.

A virus is a program that attaches itself to another program and spreads from one file to another,

causing varying degrees of damage. You may not even notice some viruses, but malicious ones can erase your data files, corrupt your applications, cause your computer to crash, and, in certain cases, render your hard drive completely useless. For more on computer viruses, see Understanding Computer Viruses.

Avoiding Viruses

Viruses can be transmitted via e-mail attachments, so monitor your in-box for suspicious messages. If you don't know the person who sent you a message, don't open any attachment that came with it.

You can't get a virus from simply opening an e-mail message, but your e-mail client may be configured to automatically open attachments, in which case you should disable that feature. Be especially aware of attachments with the suffixes .exe or .com. If you activate this type of virus, it can attack executable files, overwrite code, and cause irrevocable damage.

Beyond keeping a watchful eye on your incoming e-mail, you should also be careful about using removable media, especially from unknown sources. Floppy disks, Zip disks, and CD-ROMs can also transmit viruses.

Preventive Measures

Without a doubt, the best way to protect yourself against viruses is to install antivirus software. These utilities will scan for many types of viruses and keep watch over your system files, boot files, and data files.

Set your virus program to run a basic startup scan every time you turn on your computer and a full system scan every few weeks. Most antivirus utilities let you either set an automatic schedule for a full scan or do it manually. If the utility finds a virus, it alerts you and tries to disinfect the file. If the file can't be disinfected, you'll probably have to delete it.

It's also important to download updates to your virus software so that it will recognize and protect you against the latest viruses. Keeping your antivirus software up-to-date greatly reduces the chances that you'll have to delete any files.

If you find that your network has succumbed to a virus, make sure to read Responding to and Recovering from a Virus.