I get inundated with emails, messages from facebook, and tweets from twitter followers on what to do when they get hit with a virus.  It really is a daily occurance.

Even though the statistics prove it, I still get amazed (and somewhat peeved) when I find out that most people have little to no protection on their pc AT ALL!

First thing you should do is CLICK THIS LINK AND BOOKMARK IT! (it opens in a new window).  It’s step-by-step instructions on how to clean your pc of an infection using FREE SOFTWARE and it is a great first step to protecting your pc even if you don’t have a virus!  RUN THROUGH THESE STEPS TODAY!  IT WILL CLEAN OUT YOUR PC OF ANY DANGEROUS FILES AND GARBAGE FILES!

Second, even though some of these virus scams have been around for years – some of us still need to be warned again and again.

• Don’t open attachments in an email – ESPECIALLY FROM SOMEONE YOU KNOW!
  • If you really want to view it, save the attachment to your pc’s desktop (or wherever you prefer), run a virus scan on the file or files, and then if all is safe-then you may open it.
• Stop clicking on Pop-Ups!  ESPECIALLY ANTI-VIRUS/ANTI-SPYWARE POP-UPS.
  • If you click ANYWHERE on one of these pop-ups, you will get the infection.  Click the big red X in the top right hand corner – OR – use the ALT-F4 keystroke to close the window without using your mouse.
• If you are on sites dedicated to password cracks, hacking warez, and adult based sites – you have a much greater chance of getting infected with viruses and trojans! You probably shouldn’t be on those sites anyway, so don’t be surprised if you get hit.

There on hundreds of other ways your pc can get infected, but if you fall for the EASY TRICKS – why would hackers need to get elaborate?

Now if you have been reading any of my posts, I preach about two things:

• Protecting your pc from viruses, trojans, hackers, etc.
• Backing up your pc data

Now there is THIRD issue that I need to really pound on and that is keeping your pc CLEAN!  I’ve already shown you how to clean out your TEMP files in XP and in Vista which helps out your performance a bit (Click this link to read it), but that is only the one step in keeping your pc clean!

Another step would be to clean out your internet cache, but since we all use different browsers to surf the internet (I actually use a few, IE, Firefox, Google Chrome, and Opera) it makes it difficult to go into 4 different places just to clean out cache.

There are other garbage files that your pc keeps “hidden”, especially if you use Microsoft Office apps like Word or Excel.  Many other programs do the same thing, and even I don’t know where they all are!

Well there is a great tool available that will clean all of these files up off of your pc.  CCleaner.  (short for Crap Cleaner!).  This is one of the most valuable apps that I run.  I have it on every pc that I own, I often put it on my “Emergency” Flash Drive an use it on clients pc’s as well.

It will go out and find ALL of the garbage files on your pc and remove them.  It will also clean out entries in your registry (you registry is basically the list of instructions and permissions that your computer needs to run).

After running CCleaner and a few anti-spyware apps on a pc that is running very slow, I can see a DRAMATIC difference is speed and response.

I love this app, and HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you use it to clean your pc.  I would suggest running it at least once a month.

Watch the video below as I show you how to find the app, download it, install it, and run it.  (Be kind, this is one of my first vids)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ay67_rpljy8

I have a few other videos on YouTube.  Click the Subscribe button to show your support!