Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Flu Season and Viruses

I hope you've gotten your flu vaccinations, but if not, remember that hand washing in any event is a great way to reduce the likelihood of passing along (and receiving) viruses.

I say that to say this: Computers, as we all too-well know, are prone to virus infestations without a degree of maintenance and updating.

This week I went into a mobile lab. Just two of the 25 laptops I examined were HEAVILY infected. Preventative,  periodic maintenance takes only minutes, versus hours spent trying to sanitize infected systems!

My multi-pronged approach to system integrity and the prevention of the nasties includes:

1. Norton AntiVirus (NOT Norton Securities)
2. Hard Drive Powerwash
3. SUPERAntispyware
4. Malwarebyte's "Antimalware"

The last two require periodic (weekly for me) updating. Items 2 - 4 are free. Norton Antivirus isn't free. Download these free programs. Install, and update items #3 and #4.

Learn how to disable "System Restore" before conducting full-system scans and deleting suspicious files. Once scanned and deleted, "System Restore" can be re-enabled.
Don't forget to defragment the hard drive after all has been cleaned.

To defragment the hard drive, I use one or both of the following free programs, because they are faster and more efficient than that which is included with windows:

1. UltraDefrag
2. Smart Defrag

I run checkdisk (Windows XP) to find and correct hard drive errors.  Click here to learn how. Basically you click "Run", type chkdsk /f, then press enter.  Enter Y at the prompt, then restart the computer.

Because of regular maintenance, my home computer (now 10 years old) runs faster than many I see that are 3 or 4 years old.


Stay safe and healthy!!!