They say the best way to protect your computer from virus is to not go online. This may seem like an impossible task and rightly so. Of course you need to go online and if you work on the net you need good anti virus protection. If you are on a budget, or are going through a financial crunch, the only thing you can do is surf the internet and get yourself the best possible protection for free or for a fraction of the cost. Today we have so many highly sophisticated virus programs that can wreck your system, steal your identity, hack into your credit card and spoil your credit rating. You can follow these free tips and tools and protect your system
1. Get savvy about the free tools available to remove virus.
Most anti virus vendors release special tools to clean your system of all malicious programs, and give them away for free. Of course they compare poorly with installed anti virus programs, but if your system is infected and you can not afford a good anti virus program, the best thing to do is download them and clean your system. McAfee Avert Stinger is a good tool and so is the Symantec Virus Removal Tool. Windows also has its Malicious Software Removal Tool.
2. Combine many free anti virus programs that are free.
1. Get yourself a good free antivirus like Avira. Avast is also a good one
2. An anti spyware is also recommended. Spyware Doctor gives good protection.
3. A firewall really protects the system against any malicious program. Zone Alarm can help take care of this problem
4. Firefox, Chrome and Explorer 8 are very safe browsers to use.
If you download a lot of stuff from the net and this leaves your system vulnerable most of the time, you need to install a fraud and phishing filter and an anti hacker tool. There are several available for free on the net.
Of course these will protect your system to a great extent, but they can not provide you with the excellent protection that comes with a purchased version of anti virus software. The anti software companies have to earn too and they will not put all their goods out for free. Actually most anti virus software are not really expensive and you could easily purchase them.
Virus can disrupt the working of your antivirus software when they attack your computer thereby preventing them from updating themselves and sensing the virus and curing the infection Keep checking continuously and scan the computer regularly.
Constant vigilance is the only way to protect your system and keep your data safe. Keep constantly updating the software to the latest free version, download the patches available and these will help you.
Always back up your data, since you never know when your system can get infected. It is a good habit. It is the smartest thing to do even when you have full paid versions of anti virus, not only when you have the stripped down free versions.
At the first available opportunity, purchase a good quality anti virus that keeps updating the virus definitions and guards your system continuously.