Section 7 - How do I protect my computer from viruses?

There is no absolute protection to prevent computer viruses entirely, but protection is necessary to limit the chance of an infection. Some ways to protect your computer are:

• Implement safe computing practices.
• Use up-to-date antivirus software.
• Have clean, up-to-date backups of all your important data.
• Have a clean, and fairly new boot diskette.
• Scan all removable media, downloads, and email attachments; always scan any new files before executing them.
• Take removable media out of the computer when finished with them and especially before starting or restarting the computer.
• Don't let your email system automatically open documents or execute file attachments.
• Don't use illegal software, since they have a higher chance of being infected than legitimate commercial or shareware software.
• Make sure anyone who uses your computer also follows your safe computing practices.