Antivirus Updates

This situation is commonplace both with businesses and with individuals. There are three steps to complete protection from menacing computer viruses:

1. Get a good virus protection program. (My favorites are Norton AntiVirus and McAffee Virus Scan.)
2. Install the software; set it to run in the background and keep it on.
3. Update the your anti-virus software on a regular basis.

All three of these steps must be followed to have a good virus protection program in place.

Get Virus Protection

Purchasing a good virus protection program is the easiest part of this equation. You can purchase the program at almost any computer or electronics store. Many bookstores and department stores also carry software today. You can also download an anti-virus program directly from the Internet, so you don't even have to leave home.

Installation

When you install your anti-virus program, you will have various options to choose. Set the program to automatically scan all files. If your program is already installed, just start the program and find the area where you can check to make sure the program is set to scan automatically.

Regular Updates

Unfortunately, most people stop after the first two steps. If you have installed a virus protection program and set it to run in the background, constantly checking for viruses, you may feel that you deserve a certain amount of comfort. You may even think you are completely covered and that no viruses can hurt your computer. However, you must be aware that the third step is an essential one.

You must update your virus protection program on a regular basis to keep it up to date. Most virus programs consist of two main parts: heuristic scanning, which searches for virus-type behavior; and a virus pattern database, sometimes called virus signature files, that identifies specific, known viruses. The database is the part that needs to be updated. More than 250 new viruses are detected each month. Companies that manufacture anti-virus software incorporate the detection processes for the new viruses almost as quickly as they are detected. Symantec and McAfee, two of the largest anti-virus manufacturers, had the cure for Melissa posted on their websites within hours after its detection. However, the anti-virus software on your computer will not detect or eliminate new viruses or variants until you download the new anti-virus update.

How you update your anti-virus software depends on the type and version of the software that you own. Start your anti-virus program. In Windows 95/98, click on the Start button, choose Programs and look for the anti-virus program. The two most common programs that come pre-installed on new computers are Norton Anti-Virus and McAfee Virus Scan. They are listed in the Program menu under Norton and McAfee, respectively.

Automatic Updates

Most of the newer versions of these anti-virus programs have an automatic update feature. To use this feature, just connect to the Internet, start the anti-virus program and click on the Update button. The Update process is completely automated. The problem is that the automatic update does not always work.

If the update doesn't work, or you don't have an automatic update feature, you will have to go to the website of the manufacturer to find the latest updates. For Norton Anti-Virus go to www.symantec.com. For McAfee VirusScan go to www.mcafee.com. Find the latest update for the operating system that you are using and download it to your computer. After you download the update, you must install it by finding the file and double-clicking on it.

Staying Virus Free

Many anti-virus programs offer free updates, but some will charge you a slight fee for the updates. Also, if you have an older version of an anti-virus program, you may have to pay to upgrade to a more current version in order to be fully protected from the many new viruses that appear every day. Consider the investment that you make in anti-virus software as an insurance expense. In today's world, it is insurance that you don't want to be without.

After you update your virus protection program, you will want to scan your hard disk to make sure that you haven't picked up any new viruses since your last update. Remember that many viruses are date triggered. They can exist in your computer system long before they do any damage.

If the virus scan finds any viruses, it will prompt you and then remove the virus. This is a quick and easy process, which requires very little knowledge or intervention on the part of the end-user. In many cases, the virus protection program will remove the virus and repair your files without any data loss. However, it is always better to be safe than sorry, so be sure to backup any important files on a regular basis.

Windows Vista : A Clear Advantage

What is an Operating System? A good answer would be “A set of programs that provide a GUI to interact with various devices in a computer”. This definition would hold good until a few years back, when an operating system is just a few icons and menus that you see when you switch on your computer. Operating systems provided file and device management using a Basic GUI.

But with the development of computers, operating systems also evolved a lot. From simple file and device management solution, modern day operating systems should be stable and secure the data stored on a computer. The data stored on a computer can be anything from music, movies and photos to data that you have generated and stored in different files. It takes only a small virus, a power surge or a device failure to destroy data.

Today’s operating systems try to anticipate such scenarios and issue warning messages and take pro-active steps to minimize the data loss. I would talk about Windows XP and Windows Vista because 80% of computers run on Windows Operating system and Windows Vista is an upgrade to Windows XP.

Windows XP has been around for 8 years now and in considered one of the best operating systems released by Microsoft. When Windows XP was released it was considered a resource hogger. Windows XP required 128 MB of RAM to run smoothly. And there are many complaints from long installation times to frequent crashes. Microsoft released Service Pack 1 and things changed. Most of the security holes are fixed and Windows XP became stable. Windows XP was built to give a better user experience by easy installation and plug & play capability.

After a few years with XP, internet threats have grown and Microsoft started bundling Anti-spyware products along with Windows XP. This didn’t help much, and since Windows XP is the most used, hackers tried to find ways to break into Windows XP systems. This triggered the need for a more secure operating system and there came Windows Vista into picture.

Some of the problems with Windows XP are that password protection is not secure enough, users can use Bootable live CD’s like miniPE or Road Starter to bypass Passwords and access the file system. The other major issue is Internet Explorer 6 which is the number one target for hackers. By exploiting the security homes in IE6 hackers can take control of IE and hence the Windows XP box. And last but not least, when you try to search for a file under Windows XP, you have a terribly slow search tool.

Now its Windows Vista which is structurally more robust and is much more visually appealing. Vista comes with Encrypted File System (EFS) which takes care of file level security. Vista allows one to encode an entire partition or hard disk with just a few clicks. In Windows Vista Internet Explorer runs with restricted permission. If a malicious piece of code enters the system through the browser it cannot do much harm, since Vista simply refuses to permit to run it. File Searching has improved a lot with Vista.