Viruses are computer programs that copies themselves on your computer system by hiding in e-mails and websites and even in downloaded programs such as music, pictures, and movies. They range from harmless pranks that only display an annoying message to programs that can destroy files and/or disable a computer altogether. Many times you do not even know you have these on your computer system until something does not work. There are different types of computer viruses such as Trojan Horses and Worms that disguise themselves differently - fooling both you and your computer.

One of the ways to protect yourself from these harmful programs is by using an antivirus utility program . Now most of the computer systems today come with some sort of antivirus utility program . In fact - I have many people tell me that their computer is safe - they run their antivirus utility program at least once a week on their computer.

However, what most people fail to understand is that there are always NEW harmful viruses appearing everyday in websites, in e-mails and in download programs. So any OLD antivirus utility programs will not be able to recognize the NEW viruses. What you need to do is update your antivirus utility program at least once a week. You may or may not have to pay additional money to update the antivirus utility program that was installed your computer.

The other thing that you need to know is you should only have one antivirus utility program on your system. Otherwise, one antivirus utility program may interfere with the other antivirus utility program . This means if you decide to use another antivirus utility program instead of the one that is installed on your computer now, you need to UNINSTALL your current antivirus utility program .

You can uninstall your current antivirus utility program by clicking on the "My Computer" icon on your desktop, then clicking on the "Control Panel" icon, and then clicking on the "Add/Remove Program" icon. The Add/Remove Window will open. Find your current antivirus utility program , click on it to uninstall it. When you get the prompt - "Are you sure you want to uninstall this program?", click on "OK" button. Now you can install your new antivirus utility program . We will be discussing more about downloading and installing computer programs later in today's lesson.

You can also check your system from an online free antivirus utility program at Housecall. You do not need to uninstall your current antivirus utility program to use the online antivirus utility program Housecall. It may be a good idea to do this first before you install or uninstall any antivirus utility program . If you do know you have a virus, Housecall can help you get rid of it. There is also another free online virus removal website Panda that gets rid of a specific virus once you have identified it. Both of these web addresses are listed below.

• http://housecall.antivirus.com/housecall/start_corp.asp

• http://www.pandasoftware.es/library/pqremove_en.htm

There is a very nice free antivirus utility program. that you can download - AVG from Grisoft. Below is the address for this website where you can download the free antivirus utility program . Again remember to check for updates for this antivirus utility program once a week or if your computer is always connected to the Internet you have it download each update automatically. This is one I personally am using now, and yes I got a virus when I did not take my own advice to download the antivirus utility program update before I opened my e-mail.

• http://www.grisoft.com/

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• () ValHaring - 23 Sep 2002
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