Top 10 Tricks and Tips to maintain a Virus Free Computer

If anybody of your's computer is virus infected or you are getting mysterious messages, then these tricks and tips are for you. This is a common problem faced by almost all the computer users across the globe. There are many viruses and worms out that could infect your computer. Some are harmless but they do have the capacity to do any number of nasty things like erasing all data from computer.

However here are tricks and tips to keep viruses away from the computer. Top 10 tricks and tips to maintain a virus free computer are given below:

1) Email is one of the common ways by which computer can catch a virus. So it is always recommended to stay away from spams. Open only those emails that has its origin from a trusted source such as those which comes from the contact list. It is highly recommended to use a good anti-spam software. Never open any email attachments that come from un trusted sources. If it seems to be a picture, text or sound file, we are probably safe, but still don't trust them. Do a scan before opening them.

2) USB pen drives is another common way by which viruses spread rapidly. So always have a good habit to perform a virus scan before copying any data onto the computer. Never double click the pen drive to open it, instead right click on it and select the option open. This is a safe way to open a pen drive.

3) Be careful about using MS Outlook. Outlook is more susceptible to worms than other e-mail programs. Unless having efficient antivirus programs running, you should not use MS Outlook.

4) As we all know, internet is the main source of all the malicious programs including viruses, worms, Trojans etc. In fact internet contributes to virus infection by up to 80%. So for safe surfing habits, don’t click on popup windows that announce a sudden disaster in any city or announce that you have won an hourly prize or any others. They are the ways to mislead internet users and we should never trust them. For this we can also use a popup blocker to automatically block those popups.

5) Most of us use search engines like Google to find what we are looking for. It is quite obvious for a malicious website to get listed in the search results. So to avoid visiting those un trusted malicious websites, you can download and install the best link scanner of your choice. This tool can become very handy and will help you stay away from malicious websites. It is recommended not to visit the websites that feature illegal / unwanted stuffs such as cracks, serials, warez etc. Since these contribute much in spreading of viruses and other malicious programs.

6) Install a good antivirus software and keep it updated. Also perform full system scan periodically. It is highly recommended to turn on the automatic updates feature. This is the most essential task to protect the computer from virus. If computer security is the first option then it is recommended to go for a shareware antivirus software over the free ones. Most of the antivirus supports the auto-protect feature that provides real-time security to our computer.

You may chose one of the good anti virus software from given below list.

• Top 10 Antivirus Softwares

7) Do not use the unknown disks that other people gave you, even the people from work. The disk could be unknowingly infected with a virus. If it is necessary then of course run a virus scan on it first to check it out.

8) Set up windows updates to automatically download patches and upgrades. This will allow your computer to automatically download any updates to both the operating system and internet explorer. These updates fix security holes in both pieces of software.

9) Also install a good anti-spyware program that operates against internet malware and spyware.

10) While you download files from un trusted websites or sources such as torrents, warez etc. make sure to run a virus scan before executing them.

So these are the simple top 10 tricks and tips to maintain a virus free computer.