Protect your system from VIRUS

[Alexxx]

Hello, From past some days my pc got slower down, and there is much more problems. I guess it some virus attacked on my system. How can i protect my system from VIRUS ?
Please help

[Shikhar]

Nothing can guarantee the security of your computer 100 percent.
But don't worry, i have some tips which you can follow to protect your system from Viruses, but you must unhide the system files.

1. Have an updated anti virus program.Keep downloading Windows Updates because it not only keeps your copy of Windows current, it also contains necessary fixes for possible vulnerabilities.

To use Microsoft's version of Windows Update you must use Internet Explorer because it needs to download certain ActiveX controls which are only available for Internet Explorer. See the next section if you want to use Mozilla Firefox.

• Go to the Microsoft Windows Update site.
  
• Windows Update will check to make sure you have the proper ActiveX controls.
  
• If you do not have the proper controls, you will be prompted to install them; go ahead and do so without any hesitation.
  
• Click the Express button.
  
• Windows Update will now begin scanning for available updates.
  
• After Windows Update loads it will present a list of available updates.
  
• Click Install Updates.
  
• The updates will now download and install.
  
• After the updates are installed it may ask you to restart your computer. If it does, click on Restart Now.
  
• Your computer is now fully updated.

2. If u receive an email attachment from an unknown source delete it

3. If u receive an email attachment from one of your friend, first confirm from it and before opening read the complete file name of the attachment.

4. When you want to use a pen drive or any usb drive, CD/DVD Drive then as soon as you connect the drive press SHIFT key it disables AUTORUN. Now scan it from your antivirus program. If u r not satisfied then do the following:-

open cmd

type the drive letter of ur usb drive say H: and press enter

now look for the Autorun file if any using DIR command

If there exist AUTORUN file then type AUTORUN.INF and press enter

the autorun file is now opened in notepad, Observe which program is executing automatically

Foo.exe, setup.exe, option1.exe, option2.exe are executing automatically

so to delete them go to cmd prompt

type the drive letter say h:

and then type

attrib autorun.inf -s -a -h -r

del autorun.inf

attrib foo.exe -s -a -h -r

del foo.exe

attrib setup.exe -s -a -h -r

del setup.exe.exe

attrib option1.exe -s -a -h -r

del option1.exe

attrib option2.exe -s -a -h -r

del option2.exe

Now u r safe to open your drive.


5. If you have created setting in your email to view the emails without opening it that is on clicking one of the email its preview is enabled then also

disable it, because it also harms your computer

[aalbaiz]

You can continue to improve your computer's security from virus by using a firewall, keeping your system up-to-date, maintaining a current antivirus software subscription.
Although spyware programs are different from viruses, some can behave like viruses and pose similar and other risks. To help protect against spyware, use antispyware software such as Windows Defender. Windows Defender comes with Windows Vista. If you use Windows XP SP2, you can download Windows Defender.
No security method is guaranteed, it's important to back up critical files on a regular basis before you encounter a virus or other problems.

Note down some useful steps tp protect your PC from viruse:-

1. Use an Internet firewall.Windows Vista and Windows XP with SP2 has a firewall already built-in and turned on by default.

2.Visit Microsoft Update and turn on automatic updating. If you've installed the most recent version of Microsoft Office, Automatic Updates will also update your Office programs. If you have an earlier version of Office, use Office Update.

3.Subscribe to industry standard antivirus software, such as Windows Live OneCare and keep it current.

4.Never open an e-mail attachment from someone you don't know.

5.Avoid opening an e-mail attachment from someone you know, unless you know exactly what the attachment is. The sender may be unaware that it contains a virus.

[Steinbach]

Here’s another tool, in the collection of tools for protecting your system from virus that spread via USB pendrives as the medium. iKill application works by scanning the drives for the presence of removable drives. If found, it parses the autorun.inf file for the executables it may run.You can either choose to clean the infection manually or automatically by enabling the AutoProtect option which will automatically delete the infected files present on the drive. Otherwise, it will prompt you for your permission to delete the virus.

And some more steps to protect yiur system:-

1. Keep your windows updates on.

2. Make sure you have antivirus installed on your PC.Anti-virus software is an absolute must. Not running anti-virus software leaves you open to viruses, which may lead to more malware invading your system.

Make sure that you install only one anti-virus software. Doing otherwise will cause severe system instability and the possibility of having to reinstall your operating system.

Here is some suggested antiviruses which you can download from net:-

1. AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition

2. Avast! 4 Home Edition

3. Comodo AntiVirus

The antivirus software realtime scanner monitors network data as it is coming into the computer to intercept any malware as it enters your system.

Antivirus software typically has a heuristic scanner as well. Heuristic scanning uses what is known about existing malware and what it has learned from past experience to identify new threats even before the antivirus vendor creates an update to detect it.

Most antivirus software provides some method of creating a schedule to set when the software will automatically perform a scan. Some antivirus programs may restrict what sort of scans can be scheduled, while the more flexible programs allow you to run any type of pre-configured or custom scan at the scheduled time.

The better antivirus programs can monitor web-based email traffic such as Hotmail or Yahoo! Mail to detect and block malware in file attachments.

Many worms and other malware can now be spread through instant messaging programs such as AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) or Yahoo! Messenger. Some antivirus software will monitor instant messaging traffic to detect and block malicious threats.

One of the biggest problems users have with antivirus software is simply keeping it up to date. Most antivirus software can be configured to automatically connect with the vendor site and download new updates on a regular basis.