In PC Tips, I recommend NOT allowing virus scanners to run continuously in the background.  That advice is sure to make many PC users uncomfortable.  PC users have long been the victims of marketers who are in the business of selling anti-virus software.  Before they can sell the software, they have to generate fear.  The reality is that there is no need to fear viruses.

You probably don't fear trains - because you don't spend your days sitting on railroad tracks.   You don't fear being attacked by a shark if you don't swim in shark infested waters.  You don't need to fear computer viruses if you don't do the things that allow viruses to get on to your PC in the first place.

I'll be sending you more Tips on how to protect your PC from viruses in future newsletters.  Today, I will cover some of the most basic - and most effective - ways to protect your PC from viruses.

Viruses can only get onto your PC is if you let them on or put them on. 

1.  NEVER open any e-mail attachment without knowing the source and NEVER open any e-mail attachment that you are not expecting! Even if it APPEARS to be from someone you know, do NOT open it unless you are expecting the file.

2.  NEVER open any file that you have downloaded from the Internet without checking it for viruses.

3.  ALWAYS have Javascript turned OFF in your e-mail client software.

4.  NEVER visit websites from a link in an unsolicited e-mail unless you now what the website is and who operates it.

5.  ALWAYS temporarily turn off Java and JavaScript when visiting a website for the first time.

Follow these basic preventative steps and you will not have to worry about viruses.  I had been working on computers for many years by the time I bought my first home computer in 1979.

I've never been run over by a train.  I've never been bitten by a shark.  I have never had a serious problem with a computer virus - not ever!  I NEVER allow virus scanners to run in the background.  

I have found viruses on my PCs!  I do NOT allow them to run.  When I download anything from the the World Wide Web, Usenet, or e-mail, I scan the files before I open them.  

I recently downloaded a demo of video conversion program from a website.  It was infected with not one but two viruses.  That wasn't a problem though.  Before I opened the file, I scanned it for viruses with Windows Live OneCare.  Windows Live OneCare removed the viruses and I installed the Program. 

I occasionally run Windows Live OneCare on the entire PC at night.  It often finds viruses that are in e-mail attachments that were never opened.  It cleans them and no harm is done.

We have several old PCs in our offices that outperform most newer more powerful PCs because nothing unnecessary is allowed to run in the background.  What is the point in having a new powerful PC if you are going to allow anti-virus software to emasculate it.  

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