- Why You Should Worry About Keeping Your Computer Safe
- Getting to Everything Security Related in Vista
- What Spyware and Malware Are and How Your Computer Gets Them
- Symptoms of Malware on Your Computer
- Getting Rid of and Keeping Malware Off Your Computer
- Windows Defender
- What to Do If You Suspect Malware But Can't Get a Pop-Up to Close
- What Is a Virus and How Is It Different from Spyware?
- Protecting Your Computer from Viruses
- Determining If You Have a Virus
- The Importance of Automatic Updates
- Turning On Automatic Updating
- What Is Windows Firewall?
- Why You Should Back Up Your Computer
- Backing Up the Files on Your Computer
- Backing Up Your Entire Computer
- Where to Store Backups
- Restoring Your Computer from a Backup
- Automatically Backing Up Your Computer
- What Is Service Pack 1 (a.k.a. SP1)?
- How Do I Get SP1?
- How Do I Install SP1?
Determining If You Have a Virus
If you’ve read any of the previous tips about viruses, then you already know Vista doesn’t come with antivirus software. Out of the box, there’s no way for Vista to tell if you have a virus let alone get rid of that virus for you. That’s why you need some type of third-party antivirus software as mentioned in the earlier tips. These programs not only monitor your computer for viruses, but they can remove them if you already have one. There are quite a few companies that provide antivirus software at a reasonable price for Windows, but here are some good recommendations (all of which provide free trial downloads):
- Windows Live One Care (http://onecare.live.com)
- Symantec (www.symantec.com)
- McAfee (www.mcafee.com)