We all know how computers are open to the vulnerabilities on the internet and it becomes extremely difficult to keep the computers safe from these BAD MONSTERS of the internet but there are always Good things around to help good people, so I've decided to come up with a guide which will keep your computers' safe from these spywares, viruses, adwares and what not and the best thing about this technical article is that the softwares which are included in this are all free, so you dont have to invest anything in order to keep your computer safe except your precious time but this small investement is for a better tommorow.
How can I find out my computer is infected?Well, it is very simple to find out that your computer is infected from the virus, spywares or adwares. The key to find out is that if you notice any kind of strange things happening in your computer then your computer is infected. However, there are some specific symptoms which can help you come to conclusion really fast and here is the list of such symptoms :
- You start to get constant pop-ups.
- Porn sites start to open up automatically.
- Computer becomes extremely slow.
Well, these are some of the symptoms, there can be a lot others because Viruses can even do more damage and you'll come to know about this straight away.
Now that I know my computer is infected, how can I keep it safe?Hmm, nice question. Well, to keep your computer safe you'll need few softwares like anti-virus, anti-spyware, host file and there are some other tools. In this technical article, I will explain about the softwares which will help you in keeping your computer safe and that too for free. So, here's the sweetest part of this technical article or guide.
Now, let me explain you on how to deal with Viruses : In order to deal with viruses we need to take care about certain small things and that will certainly help in keeping the computer safe. Here's the list of small steps you can do :
- Get an antivirus.
- Dont download things from the internet which are not from trusted source.
- If it is email then try to use webmail services like Gmail, Hotmail or Yahoo, because they provide free anti-virus scanner.
- Also, dont download the email attachment from unknown person but if it is from known person then also scan the file with the anti-virus.
As far as having a free anti-virus software is concerned I can suggest you two antivirus softwares, one of them is
AVG antivirus and another one is
Avast! 4 Home Edition. Both these softwares are excellent and are free for non-commercial use only. Please read their documentation to find out what they have to offer in free version and what not. But, dont worry about the limitations as there are more things coming up which will help you in fixing the major limitations. Anothe tool which is required to keep viruses out of the computer is a free Firewall software and there are bunch of them which are free but I can suggest you to use
ZONE ALARM FREE EDITION, this is the best free firewall product available on the internet.
So, Having two out of these three software and installing them can keep your computer safe from viruses to an extent but you will have to be cautious in handling the files which come from the internet and if you follow the instruction which I've mentioned above.
How to be safe from Spywares?well, If viruses are considered to be bad then Spywares can be called bad too :). Infact both of them create problems and their main work is to cause trouble and we've got fight against them to keep ourselves safe. Anyways enough talking let me get back to work..Well, there a collection of softwares and tools which can help us in getting safe from spywares and here are the steps which can help you in getting safe.
- Get an Anti-spyware software.
- Try to use a different browser other than Internet explorer or if you want to stick with Internet explorer then raise the security level and use the softwares which I'll mention.
- Stop visiting unethical sites like Porn or Crack sites.
- Dont accept any file from the internet from any untrusted source.
Now, here comes the list of softwares which are going to help you in getting safe :
First of all I'll suggest you to use two softwares which actually scan your computer for existing threats and help in removing them and these softwares are
Ad-aware &
SpyBot Search & Destroy. You can keep both the softwares together and both of them give the extra boost in security.
And, another better way of getting safe from spywares is to stop using Internet Explorer, its not that I am against Internet Explorer but it's the support of active x and the fact that it is the most used browser in the world so the spyware makers target Internet Explorer only..so as to get the maximum impact. So, it will be better if you can switch to an alternative like Firefox. But for those who can't leave Internet Explorer (for any reason) then they can use the following softwares and keep themselves safe :
First of all, they'll need to download a software which is called Spyware blaster.
Secondly, they'll need to use
IE-SPYAD, a program which puts the bad sites in the restricted zone of the internet explorer.
Thirdly, they can use the HOSTS file to keep things under control. So far this is the best
HOST FILE available on the internet.
(note : these steps can be used by those users who dont use Internet Explorer, infact I'll suggest them to use these softwares.)
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