Do You Have a New PC? Make Sure You Have PC Protection Software Installed!

Getting a new computer is exciting. Now you are ready to surf the World Wide Web, connect with your friends, and avail yourself of the vast amounts of information, not to mention shopping opportunities, available to you online. Hold on just a minute! Before you even connect to the Internet, you need to make sure you have complete PC protection from viruses, malware, spyware, and many other dangerous bugs that are out there. The good news is that you do not have to pay a lot of money for PC virus protection. There are many free PC protection software options out there if you know where to look. But first, you need to know what you need and how to set it up correctly.

Setting up Your Firewall

One important piece of complete PC protection is a good firewall. However, firewalls are not that easy to install. Unlike many other protection software programs, you cannot simply plug in your firewall and go. It will either end up blocking everything or nothing at all if you do.

First, set up the firewall to allow you to interact with the other computers and applications on your network. This will allow you to access your printer or someone else’s computer in your home without having to work around the firewall. Then, choose the option that only alerts you to serious threats, as you do not want to be alerted too frequently by your firewall.

Choosing the type of network is important as well. Chances are you have a home network. When you add your network address and the type of network to the firewall, it will configure itself to allow certain types of traffic through automatically. This will allow you to access your favorite websites fairly easily. These are the basic steps to take to set up your firewall and add a level of protection to your computer.

PC Virus Protection

PC virus protection is simply not optional. This, however, is one of the easiest pieces of protection to put on your computer. Start by scanning PC virus protection review websites. You will probably be able to find several good free PC protection programs that will filter viruses away from your computer. Choose one, and install it.

Most virus protection programs will allow you to create a recovery disk once you install them. Do this if you can. This will give you a starting place if your computer does succumb to a virus.

Immediately after installing your virus protection, set it up to check for updates automatically. Viruses are constantly being developed, and any minute that you leave your computer without an up-to-date virus protector is dangerous. Then, have it do a full system scan. You will not need to do these all of the time, but doing one at the initial install is important.

After the full system scan is complete, enable the option for on-access scanning. This will scan all files that you download or use on your system. This is one of the most important features of a good PC virus protection program. Then, schedule some automatic scans and checks. You should be scanning at least once a week. If your program detects a virus, quarantine it. This will protect you from the virus and the damage it intended to do to your computer.

Anti-spyware Programs

Anti-spyware programs are another easy solution for complete PC protection. If you are protecting a personal computer, you will be able to find many free PC protection programs when it comes to anti-spyware programming. Start using this program by installing it and performing a scan. Then, set it up so that it scans automatically at least one time a week.

When you get your scan results, you will need to decide what to do with them. Your program should tell you which of the items it has detected are dangerous. Quarantine these, but don’t be afraid to leave the others on your computer. Some types of spyware are actually useful, as they allow you to revisit your favorite sites without retyping them and help your computer to remember your name and password at your favorite discussion forum.

Finding Free Protection

The companies that make PC virus protection software make most of their money off of corporations with large computer networks. They often allow home users to download their applications for free, hoping that by doing so they can get the word out about their program. For this reason, you can easily find free PC protection that is also good quality. However, as with most types of software, there can be a catch when you find free protection programs. Make sure you check PC virus protection review websites before you download a program on to your computer. If it checks out well, then download it, install it, and start protecting your computer!