Protecting Your Computer from Viruses and Spyware

Transcription

1 Protecting Your Computer from Viruses and Spyware PROTECTING YOUR COMPUTER FROM VIRUSES AND SPYWARE A virus is a program that runs on your computer without asking permission and makes copies of itself. If a virus gets into your computer it can cause lots of problems, including completely preventing the computer from working. To avoid this there is an anti-virus program called AVG installed in your PC. Follow these simple instructions to ensure that your PC remains virus free: 1

2 AVG ANTI-VIRUS The AVG icon appears on your desktop and also at the bottom right hand corner of the screen. By default, AVG Anti-Virus will be protecting your computer whenever you use it. If however your computer does start behaving in an unusual way you may like to manually perform a virus scan. Similarly, if someone gives you a disk, manually performing a virus scan on it before you use it, is a good idea. You can scan your PC any time you wish by following a few simple steps: Click on the AVG desktop icon to reveal the following window: Click on "Computer Scanner". The following window will open and you can choose whether to Scan whole computer or Scan specific files or folders : 2

3 Choose Scan whole computer. A complete scan can take from half an hour to several hours, the exact time depends on how many files are stored on your computer. When the scan is finished, AVG will display the results and tell you how many viruses (if any) were found. If there were any issues, the AVG program deals with them and displays the actions taken. Scanning Specific Files and Folders It is also possible to scan specific files on your computer, floppy disks, thumb drives, CDs or DVDs. This is wise if someone has given you a disk or CD that could import viruses into your PC. To do this, insert the disk, drive, CD or DVD into the computer, click on Scan specific files or folders and choose the areas you wish to scan. 3

4 Updating AVG The AVG program may also prompt you when there are updates to download from the Internet. An information bubble will appear at the bottom right hand side of the screen and the AVG icon below it will have lost its colour and display an exclamation mark over it. Before you update the AVG program ensure that you are connected to the Internet. 4

5 Click on Update Now to see the following window: You will notice a green bar which will indicate how the update process is going. Broadband connections will progress very quickly while dial-up connections can take quite some time. However, do not think that this is time wasted as the program needs regular updates to keep abreast of new viruses that are being created and the more often the updates are done then the less time each will take. When the download is finished, the files will install automatically. If you scan your PC on a regular basis, say once a week, then you should be able to keep it virus free. SPYBOT SEARCH AND DESTROY AVG Free Anti-Virus program includes the ability to detect and remove Spyware. Spyware are programs that enter your computer when you access certain web sites. They can often install toolbars or even homepages that you did not choose. Apart from being a nuisance they can also slow down your PC considerably. There is another free spyware detection program that compliments AVG Free, which you could try if, after running an AVG Free scan, 5

6 you are still experiencing unrequired pop-ups or adverts whilst surfing the internet. The program is called Spybot Search and Destroy and is free. It can be downloaded from: Once installed the following icon will appear on your desktop: Spybot - Search & Destroy.lnk The Spybot icon is on your desktop Click on the icon on your desktop to see the following: To run the spyware scan, click on 'check for problems'. When Spybot has finished it will display a window with a list of problems (if any) that it found. Ensure that all the boxes (if any) are ticked and then select Fix selected problems and Spybot will automatically do that. 6

7 Immunizing with Spybot. It is also useful to immunize your PC using Spybot. Simply click on Immunize in the left hand panel and Spybot will display a list of things that it can immunize against. Now click on the green Immunize cross and let Spybot do the rest. Updating Spybot Make sure you are connected to the internet before performing this task It is advisable to update the Spybot Search and Destroy program on a regular basis. This is very easy to do. Click on the Spybot icon on the desktop and choose the 'Search for updates' button: 7

8 A new window will open and Spybot will display the available updates. Check the boxes of everything it has found and follow the onscreen instructions. When the updates have been downloaded, they will be installed automatically. Close the application and Spybot will be up to date. 8 LCOL002 March 2009