Whenever a person asks me to work on their computer, I try to find out what happened. When they have a virus, I find that most of the time the person clicked on a pop up for an ad. The reason I decided to make this post was to hopefully help users protect themselves and avoid getting a virus.

My post on virus software talks about programs you can use to help prevent viruses, but unfortunately that’s not 100% secure. So it will take some work on your part.

As your navigating around the Internet or through your email, it’s natural to feel fairly secure. But I’m here to tell you, if you’re connected to the Internet you’re not secure. Facebook is a popular website right now and most everyone feels like anything they see on their wall, or from a friend, is safe. Unfortunately, even if something is posted by your closest friends, it could still be infected. If you receive a message from a friend, it could be infected. This is possible if your friends got hacked and their friend list was used to pass the virus around. So be wary about what you click on in facebook.

This is also possible in your email whether it’s a program on your computer or a web based email. If you receive something from a friend that you would believe to be ok, just be wary that it might not be.

And of course, anything you get on facebook, or in email, or anywhere else from someone you don’t recognize, be very wary of. Clicking on links, opening images or executing files is the biggest cause of people getting viruses. Be aware there are other ways for these people to pass on viruses too, but usually it requires the end user (You) to activate something with a mouse click or keyboard stroke.

I’m not trying to scare you into not wanting to be on the Internet. I just want to make your experience more enjoyable and decrease your chances of infection, data loss and possible identity theft.

One of the biggest things now days is a window that pops up on your screen warning of threats. It looks like a legitimate program that can fix your “problems” for a nominal fee. But this program isn’t legitimate. It’s actually a scam to get your credit card, and other, personal information. Not to mention you waste money on a “program” that does nothing for your system. And good luck getting the money back, unless your bank works with you.

If you happen to see a “program” pop up that can clean your system, the first thing you should do is figure out if this is an actual program you have installed on your computer. If it’s not then disconnect all access from the Internet, shut down any windows by clicking the red X in the top right corner of the window and try to run all the scans I list on this site to clean up your computer.

The best way to be safe is to be wary of where you surf and what you open on your computer. Anti virus and anti malware software will usually prevent viruses from getting into your computer but they can’t do it alone. It requires your awareness too.