Virus protection

Here we will discuss some ways to help prevent a virus, mal-ware, or spyware from infecting your computer as well as our choice for an anti-virus program, Microsoft Security Essentials.  It is free, does not slow down your system, and has not failed us to date.

How to prevent spyware

First off, always make sure your updates are current.  Microsoft issues security updates with their regular updates.  These need to be installed and your computer needs to be shut down (often to finish the installation) at least once a week.

Allow Java and Adobe updates to install as needed.  We have seen spyware come through older Java versions that do not have the newest security patch.

Insure that your anti-virus program (McAfee, Norton, MSE, etc.) is updated and active.  If your pay for service subscription expires you will not recieve the latest updates and therefore be unprotected.

Try to avoid questionable website, this can be hard to determine ahead of time.

Never allow a pop-up program to perform a a scan.  This is a ploy to allow their virus or spyware to install with your permission and bypass your anti-virus program.  Your installed program will always identify itself by it's proper name if it finds a problem during it's scan.

These are some tips to help prevent spyware, sometimes it gets through though.  Caution can prevent the majority though.

Microsoft Security Essentials

This is a free anti-virus program offered by Microsoft.It not only scans your system at a preset time you define, it will also provide real time protection of the files you download.

It is a "light" program, this means it does not take up a lot of system resources when it runs.  You can even limit the amount of processor usage it will use when it scans.
The identifier installed is a house that sits next to your clock to inform you of the state of your computer.  It is color coded for easy use and understanding.

     A green house means everything is ok and functioning as it should
 
     An orange house means that there is an update or upgrade needed for MSE

     A red house means that the program is turned off or there is a threat

If a threat if found during a scan or download a window will pop up in the lower left of the screen, it will identify MSE as the program and give you an option to clean the computer and then proceed to show you the threat it has found.

For more information on MSE please follow this link. http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/