Spyware, viruses and worms... oh my!
If you are
connected to the internet, you need to make sure you get your computer
set up properly if you want to avoid problems down the road.
With
all the viruses, spyware and other threats on the internet today, no
computer should be set up without the proper protection.
And that protection needs to be in place as soon after you hook up your new machine as possible.
The
following five steps will make your computer a much harder target for
threats. You still won't be completely immune to problems, but 99% of
the time the threat will pass you by, looking for the easy mark.
1. Running a Personal Firewall
A
personal firewall is software that basically makes your computer
invisible to hackers, worms and other threats that can infect your
computer over the internet.
Setting up a firewall is the
absolute first thing you should do if you're going to connect to the
internet. Without a firewall, your computer could get infected in as
little as one minute after connecting.
If you have a brand new
computer running Windows XP Service Pack 2, there is a firewall built
into Windows. It will already have been turned on when you first set up
your computer.
If you're running an older version of Windows,
even an earlier version of Windows XP, there is no firewall
automatically set up for you. In this case there are two possibilities:
- Your computer came pre-loaded with a firewall such as Norton Internet Security or McAfee Internet Security
- You have no firewall installed and should download one ASAP.
If
you don't have any personal firewall software installed, you should do
so right away. Zone Alarm is a very good firewall program that has a
version that you can download and install for free.
You can download the free version of Zone Alarm from http://www.computer-help-squad.com/zonealarm
2. Turn on Windows Updates
Again,
if you're running Windows XP Service Pack 2 this is already set up, but
otherwise you should turn on Windows Updates. Microsoft releases
updates for security problems and other bugs in Windows on a regular
basis.
These updates will keep your computer running better, and
they often fix security issues that could compromise your information
or privacy.
If you are running Windows XP Service Pack 2, you
can double-check that automatic updates are turned on by clicking
Start, then click Control Panel, then double-click Security Center. The
window that opens will tell you if automatic updates are turned on, and
lets you turn them on if they're not.
To turn on automatic
updates in earlier versions of Windows XP, click on the Start menu,
click Control Panel and then double-click on System. On the "Automatic
Updates" tab, click the option to "Automatically download the updates
and install them on the schedule I specify."
To turn them on in
Windows 2000, click on Start, click Control Panel and then double-click
on Automatic Updates. Again, click the option to "automatically
download the updates and install them on the schedule I specify."
Now
when Microsoft releases updates, they will be downloaded for you
automatically and Windows will tell you when they are ready to be
installed.
3. Install & Update Antivirus Software
Most
new computers come with antivirus software these days. You might have
Norton, McAfee, PC-Cillin or another brand. No matter what program you
have, you will need to update it when you get connected to the internet.
It
doesn't matter how new your computer is - there will be new viruses,
and new updates for the antivirus software, since it was loaded.
The
exact process is different for each brand of antivirus program, but
most of them will have an icon in the bottom right corner of your
desktop, beside the time. The icon might be a picture of a shield
(McAfee), a stethoscope (Norton) or something else.
In most
cases, if you point to the icon for your antivirus and click the right
mouse button, a menu will pop up with an update option. It could be
simply called update or could be something like Live Update or Download
Latest Updates. If you click on the update option (with the left button
this time) it will install the newest updates for you.
If you're
not sure which icon is for your antivirus software, just point to each
one for a few seconds and a little title should pop up telling you what
it is.
4. Install Anti-Spyware Software
Spyware - and
other things known as adware and malware - is becoming as big a problem
as viruses. Spyware programs can cause a lot of problems with your
computer, not to mention they can track your personal information and
you never know where it's being sent.
Some new computers might
includes antispyware software, but most of them don't yet. There are
quite a few anti-spyware programs available, some free and some not.
The one I recommend is from Microsoft and is one of the free ones.
One
of the reasons I like it is because it always runs in the background
and will automatically catch a lot of spyware before it gets on your
computer.
Many of the other programs don't catch it until you
run a scan. Not only does this allow things to get on your computer, it
also means you have to actually remember to run a scan.
You can download the free Microsoft Antispyware from http://www.computer-help-squad.com/antispyware
5. Set up a Free Email Account
This
last item is not as critical as the first four, but I would highly
recommend you set up an email account with one of the free services
like Hotmail or Gmail.
Once you're on the internet, you'll find
a lot of useful information that you want that requires you to provide
an email address. In some cases, these people will end up sending you a
bunch of spam.
If you use a free email account to sign up for
anything that you don't know for sure you can trust, it's not going to
fill your main email with a bunch of junk.
This goes for
anything really, not just online information. If you're entering a
contest or signing up for anything offline and you don't know where
your information could end up being used, I would suggest using your
free email address.
If worse comes to worse, and your free email
address gets inundated with spam, you can always just set up a new one
and let the old one expire.
Some of the better free email services are www.hotmail.com, www.gmail.com and www.yahoomail.com.
If
you've had your computer for a while and never done any of these
things, you should still take these steps to get it set up properly. It
will definitely save you a lot of time - and possibly money - as you
use your system.
About the Author
John Lenaghan offers easy-to-understand advice at the Computer
Help Squad website. Find out more about these 5 steps - sign up for our
newsletter and receive your free 5-part guide at http://www.computer-help-squad.com/5steps
Written by: John Lenaghan
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