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?

OK, so I know I beat this issue to death – but it is what it is.

My last article was about having all of the applications required to protect your pc from attacks, and it just so happens that my kids pc got hit…hard!

On the Saturday before Christmas, my dog Toby (a lab/border collie mix) died. If you have a pet, you know just how distressing this event is.  Our pets are part of the family.  So I was in the process of handling all of the details of the aftermath of Toby’s passing, and when I got home from all of that I was a bit sullen. My youngest daughter (10 yrs old) came to me complaining about her computer not working right, so I told her that I would get around to it later when I had some time.  I still had Christmas gifts to wrap, and I just wasn’t in the mood to sit in front of a computer.

So later that afternoon, I found my daughter and asked her what the computer was doing.  She gave me a list of the symptoms, and it sounded like she was hit by a virus – but that was strange because that pc was fully protected…or so I thought!

Come to find out, my oldest daughter had been running some video editing software and had TURNED OFF the virus protection because it was causing problems with her ability to finish the project she was running.  She failed to restart the software.

Later that day, my youngest daughter got on to do some stuff, googled something and followed the trail and BAM she got hit.  It was a nasty one too!

It was one of those YOU HAVE SPYWARE ON YOUR COMPUTER pop-ups that install all kinds of nasty stuff on your pc.  It had the VUNDO virus, a ROOTKIT (which is very bad), some TROJANS and removed any ability to load or install programs.

Well, the VUNDO (I pronounce it VeeUndo) virus was tricky, but I was able to take care of that and the trojan.  But the RootKit is forcing me to wipe the hard drive clean, and start completely over.  That was after about 20 hours of working on the pc.

There are vicious threats all over the web.  Hackers are out in force, trying to steal your information and your identity.  It is up to you to know what the threats are, and how to protect yourself.

I still use free anti-virus software and all of the other protection apps I use are free too.  You can download them at the PowersZone.