Before you connect to the Internet, you should have anti-virus and anti-spyware protection enabled. You don’t need to pay for these software because they are free.
- Get the free Grisoft AVG Anti-Virus.
- If you are using Windows XP, get the free Microsoft anti-spyware Windows Defender. (Windows Defender is included with Vista.)
If you are on a slower computer, just installing the anti-virus is sufficient. During installation of AVG Anti-Virus, you should disable the daily scans.
If you have been infected by spyware (ex: popups appear all the time), then you may wish to run a full spyware scan of your computer with Windows Defender. If this action doesn’t solve your problem, then install and run scans with these anti-spyware programs:
If you use Norton AntiVirus or McAfee VirusScan and they have expired, you can still update them manually:
- McAfee VirusScan Update
- McAfee SuperDat Updates – the normal McAfee update plus the engine update (not always necessary)
- Norton AntiVirus Update