How to avoid computer virusses

Of all the problems that can occur with your computer, I've seen that the most common root cause is some type of virus or spyware. In this day an age, it is absolutely necessary to have an up-to-date virus scanner running on your computer. However, there are a few other things you can do to avoid viruses.

1. Don't click on Links in emails AND Messenger
   I know how hard this is... You get an email from a friend that says "is this photo really you?", and curiosity gets the best of you. Sure enough, it turns out to be a malicious website and now you've just sent that message to your contact list.
   TIP: Ask your friend if they meant to send the message before you click on it.
   
2. Update your virus definitions regularly
   Most anti virus software packages will automatically update the virus definitions. DO NOT disable this feature!
   
3. Set up a firewall (windows firewall is fine)
   By default, Windows has a firewall program. Keep it enabled! It will save you a lot of grief.

As for Virus Scanning software. There are some big leaders in this field. I've used both Norton and McAfee for a number of years, and I believe that both are mostly a waste of money. For the last few years I've been using a product called AVG. It is free and it is fantastic. I install it on the computers that I maintain and I've never seen a problem with this software.

How to set up your Hard Drive so that you can re-install or upgrade Windows without losing your data.

One of the most common jobs that I get called for in the residential sector is reinstalling an operating system. Over time, the registry gets all jumbled up and your computer starts to behave very poorly. Even worse, maybe you are running out of disk space and you go on a mission to free up some space... Oops, you deleted a critical Windows file.

I can say that by far, the most complicated part of a job like this is backing up your data before a reinstall. In my office, it's not a problem because I have the proper equipment, but a reinstall of the operating system wouldn't be all that difficult if you had a place to put your data while the hard drive is being reinstalled.

I've been using multiple partition strategies for years on my home computers. I set up 1 partition for the Operating System to live on, and 1 partition for all the personal files (email, documents, music). That way when it is time to reinstall the operating system, all I need to do is wipe the Windows Partition, reinstall and presto... all your files are still there.

I recommend that windows partition be at least 20GB these days. Windows is becoming more and more bloated and I've found that the old 8GB partition is no longer sufficient. However, with the low cost of hard drive space these days, you might as well just set up your windows partition to 1/4 of the disk.