Antivirus Software- Are you really protected?

 Antivirus takes all shapes and styles in the PC world. The best ones are in my opinion: (In no particular order)

1. Trend Micro
2. Avast
3. CA
4. Kaspersky

If you have any of these antivirus engines, odds are you are quite safe if the downloaded definitions are up to date.
If you have any of the others, in my humble opinion, you are not as safe as you could be. This is especially true of older Norton product users.

However, if you have the FREE versions of these products, I am quite sure that you do not get the whole product for free. Nothing good is ever free.
Therefore, paying for the full version is better than using the free one.

There are users out there who may say "the free version has kept me secure for ages", but these are usually better than novice users who know a bad email/website better than most and how not open it/approach it.

Now to clarify, all PC users are not safe for a short time (astounding I know), because when a new virus is found, here is what needs to happen:

1. Get it to the labs at "insert antivirus company here"
2. Make an antivirus definition update
3. Put the update on the main download servers
4. Client computer downloads at next interval check
5. Client computer installs new definitions and is then ready to take on new threat

 All of these moves take time, and the time is different for all antivirus companies as well.

As we say in the IT trade, "you're only as good as your last update"
Another popular quote is "your only as good as your last backup" and you can read more about this in my other backup blogs.

Short answer:
Keep your antivirus up to date.

Also, if you have teenage boys (and sometimes some middle aged men) that are left alone near your computer, you better have bloody good antivirus protection for obvious reasons.
I won't go into it, but the most dangerous places to be on the internet ALL INVOLVE PORN, and like poker machines, these websites are built to lure these sections of the community in.


Also try to run a good Malware/Spyware scan manually every fortnight or monthly.
Just google:
"malwarebytes"
"spybot search and destroy"



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Using System Recovery- What you are in for?

This one is quite difficult, but I will attempt to lay it out for you. (Windows users only)

The "system recovery" is a tool that is built into your computer specifically to "wipe" your Windows system entirely, and rebuild it from scratch.

This is different from the "system restore" which is a function of Windows, that takes your computer back to a specific checkpoint in time, and restores "windows" files only.


This means that in most cases, ALL your data will be wiped by the system recovery option.
At this point you need to make sure that you have ALL your data backed up to somewhere other than your computer, and all the programs you run now to reinstall at the end of the system recovery.
The main things you will need are:

1. Microsoft Windows Serial Key (holographic sticker usually, with 5 sets of 5 alpha-numeric characters)
2. Microsoft Office Serial Key (same appearance)
3. Mail account user name(s) and passwords(s)
4. Drivers for the devices in or around your computer (web cam, printer, computer sound card and graphics card at the least)
5. Antivirus install disk and Serial Key
6. Other program installs and Serial Keys (such as: Photo shop/CD burning Programs/Digital camera discs etc)
7. Backups of your "my documents/email etc" (google where your mail file is located if you use: Outlook/Eudora/Windows Mail/Outlook express/incredimail/FireFox thunder bird or other Email client)
8. Everything else you will be able to download at the end (such as: Adobe acrobat/adobe flash player etc)

In a lot of cases you will have to look up the "hotlkeys" for starting the system recovery option at the computers boot time. (this can be done by putting the words "'Computer model'- recovery- hot key").
Example. google search "dell dimension 2120 recovery hot key".
Search results yield =  Ctrl key + F11 key whilst computer is booting up.

This is best done by holding the keys required "as soon as you turn on the machine" and holding them down until something different from the normal boot sequence appears on the screen.

At this point, you will be asked questions about whether or not you REALLY want to WIPE your system.
You had better be sure you have backed up ALL your data before this point!! 

Then the computer will "reset" itself to the "out of the box" settings and configurations.
Then you have to install configure and probably activate all the programs you had running before the wipe.

These actions are quite difficult for some users, but they do give you back the computer you bought originally, including the speed and cleanliness of a freshly bought computer.

I do this every 6 months to my computer to keep it fresh and fast, and also to get my money's worth from the computer. A computer that becomes slow, and stays slow, is not money well spent.

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