When a person gets infected, they will usually come up on support forums and related websites to ask "what is the best antivirus?", thinking the problem lies with their antivirus for not detecting the threat and successfully protecting them. That is simply the wrong question to ask. Instead, you should ask yourself: how and why did I get infected in the first place?
In fact, it's important to realize that most computer infections coming from the internet are the result of the user's bad behaviors and limited knowledge on how to protect himself. Surfing on insecure websites, downloading unknown programs from illicit or obscure places, making use of cracks or keygens for programs and games, opening suspicious email attachments or simply not keeping one's operating system, web browser or antivirus up-to-date. These are some of the more common ways that could lead you to become infect with a virus/rootkit/dropper or any other kind of malicious software. Even if you do have a firewall and a basic antivirus you could still be at risk if you don't know what you are doing poses a threat to your machine.
First things first, some good advice:
- Use only one (1) antivirus per computer. Installing more than one antivirus doesn't give you additional protection, on the contrary: it will significantly slow down your computer and conflicts between the two programs might occur. Keep it simple!
- Don't install any web browser toolbars if you mustn't. They are often a way to spy on your web browsing habits or make money for their creators by inserting ads a bit everywhere. Not to mention they might slow down your old computer quite a bit.
In the next posts we will go a bit more in-depth how you should secure your Windows machine.
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