If you’re like most people, you use your computer for work, entertainment, and communication. But what do you do if your computer starts acting strange? There are a lot of things that can go wrong with a computer, but the most common problems are viruses and spyware. Viruses are tiny pieces of software that can damage your computer and steal your personal information. Spyware is software that tracks your online activity and sends this information back to the company who created it. To protect yourself from viruses and spyware, follow these tips:

  1. Keep your computer up-to-date with the latest security patches. Security patches contain fixes for known viruses and spyware threats. If you don’t install these updates, your computer is more likely to be infected with viruses or spyware in the future.
  2. Use a firewall to protect yourself from unauthorized access to your computer by other people on the internet. A firewall blocks all traffic except what is necessary for connecting to websites you trust. This will help keep hackers out of your system and protect your personal information from being stolen.
  3. Use anti-virus software to scan all of the files on your computer for viruses and spyware before you open them. Anti-virus software can detect many viruses and spyware threats before they damage your system, saving you time and money in repairs later on down the road. ..

Now for the more knowledgeable user let’s look at some other configuration scenarios.  This is not to be intended as a “Greatest Ever” list you would see on Digg.  These are simply the tools I use and have proven effective.

Now, in using these utilities, you’re not necessarily be able to “set it and forget it”.  I set a day either Saturday or Sunday when I go through my system and update and/or run scans with each of these programs.  Sure it may not be as “user friendly” but since I am a geek …

Clamwin will do auto database updates, but does not yet currently provide real-time protection.  You can also set it up for scheduled scans.

You can the scheduler scans in Spybot Search and Destroy via Windows Scheduled Tasks as shown below.  I manually run a scan maybe once a week or so.

I manually update Spybot once a week as well.

Spyware Blaster I update manually once a week.

Updating Ad-Aware.

A hardware firewall.  This is much more secure than a software firewall IMHO.  You can pick up a decent Linksys router for $50.  If you’re broadcasting wireless make sure you use WEP as a minimum (WPA2) is much better  … and do not broadcast the SSID.

If you don’t have a hardware firewall use the one built into XP or Vista as a minimum.  For more control over outgoing traffic and programs trying to phone home, I recommend Comodo Personal Firewall.

Finally, use common sense.  Don’t open e-mail attachments from somebody you do not know.  Make sure whatever e-mail client you use has an updated SPAM filter.  Keep your version of Windows up to date with Auto updates – (though you may want to exercise caution on Vista by manually updating it.  Wait a couple weeks before installing the latest updates just to see what problems they may cause).

Always scan any file you download before opening it.  Especially if it is an executable.  If a virus is contained your virus protection software will let you know.  Forget about P2P networks such as Kazaa, Bearshare, Azureus, etc …