It’s time to start enjoying that computer of yours! If you’re a new computer user or even if you have been using computers for a while, this guide will help you to enjoy your PC, keep away nasty viruses, and give you some general hints on how to keep your PC running nice and fast.
Being a company that offers a Virus Removal service, we see our fair share of nasty viruses running wild on people’s computers. They aren’t nice things to have, and if we’re honest some are a real pain to remove!
Of course, once we remove the virus our customers naturally ask us how they can stay safe online and you would be surprised at how simple it is!
Our customers are genuinely surprised that they could have installed a virus, as most of the time they are running virus software which is of course meant to prevent such a thing from happening.
Unfortunately though they can only do so much, so you need to follow a few simple rules in order to stay super safe on the net! And that’s exactly what we’re about to guide you through in this blog post.
Please Note: This is a guide to stay safe on the internet. If you already have a virus this guide isn’t going to help you much until you get it removed. As long as you are within 30 miles of Colchester Essex, we can come and remove it for a fixed fee of just £35. Click for more details…
Step 1: Virus protection!
Quite an obvious step you would assume, but so many people either have out of date virus protection, or worst of all no virus protection at all! With extremely good free antivirus software out there you really don’t have any excuse not to be protected.
Don’t have any virus protection?
No problem! Walk into any major PC retailer and you’ll be thrown in the direction of all the products offered by Norton or McAfee, which both are very successful at removing viruses and keeping your system clean, something we certainly don’t dispute.
What these stores won’t tell you however is that there are a number of free alternatives out there that perform just as well as the paid alternatives! If you happen to mention this to the sales staff, they will generally laugh it off and say you need Norton or McAfee, but of course they would, they are trying to make a sale after all.
Two excellent pieces of antivirus software come from AVG and Avast. The best thing about these two is that for home users they are absolutely free, and free for life! Avast usually comes out slightly better at fighting against attacks than AVG, but it does require you to register your details with the company (it is still free however). If you don’t want to do that, then AVG is a very acceptable alternative.
Click here to be taken to the download page for AVG Free
(The link to the free download is on the left, just click the “Download Now” button)
- Or -
Click here to be taken to the download page for the free version of Avast!
Once you have done this and installed the software, view the section below titled “How to check that your virus scanner is running and up to date” to make sure everything is running how it should.
Already have virus protection?
So many times we see that a lot of people do have virus protection, but it’s either disabled or out of date. So the solution?
Check that it’s running, enabled and up to date!
How? Well it’s pretty simple actually. Depending on the antivirus software you are running, you can usually check by loading up the actual software and looking at what it says. Most antivirus software will give a summary of how it’s running, for example, it will use words such as “Up to date” or “Active” to say that it’s running all fine.
If you see any words like “Update failed”, “Disabled” or “Not protecting” then it’s usually not a good sign. Of course this is only what to generally look for, but there is another way to check your antivirus protection thanks to a nifty little thing in Windows called “Security Centre” as explained in the next section.
How to check that your virus scanner is running and up to date
Windows Vista Users:
- First of all click on the Windows Start button, then from the start menu select “Control Panel”
- Next, under the heading “Security” click on the link that reads “Check this computer’s security status”.
- Windows Security Centre will now open, and in an ideal world should look like this:
What if it doesn’t?
If antivirus protection is disabled on your system or out of date, you will get something that looks similar to this:
This clearly shows that antivirus software is turned off, which is obviously not what we want! Other error messages here would state that the software is out of date, but in any case, a red bar instead of a standard green bar on this screen means something isn’t good and needs to be fixed.
Because of the amount of different antivirus packages out there, it would be quite a task for us to tell you how to check every software available, so unfortunately we can only give you general guidance.
If the problem is that the software is turned off, load up your antivirus software and look for options on turning real time protection on. In most cases it will be in the options of the software you are using.
If the problem is that the software is out of date, again load up the antivirus software and manually run an update from within the software. You will then want to check within the options that automatic updates are turned on.
If you still have problems past this point it would probably be wise to request a PC Health Check from Vella Technology. We will come and make sure everything is running how it should, as well as giving your PC a bit of a speed boost. For £35 it’s not a bad deal!
Step 2: Antispyware Protection
Some of you right now might be sitting there saying “anti-what now?” or something similar, generally because this is often overlooked.
Spyware is not usually as damaging as a virus, but it can be far more annoying and sometimes just as invasive. Its sole purpose once it gets installed is usually to display adverts on your PC, and to collect as much personal information as possible about you before sending it off to whoever it likes.
As you can imagine this isn’t exactly what you want to happen, so antispyware software helps to prevent such nasty software from being installed.
What can I do to stay protected?
Although antivirus software will these days detect a lot of spyware, it’s still probably best to have additional protection from software dedicated to solely tackling spyware. Windows Vista users will be pleased to hear that Microsoft pre-installs a bit of software with every copy of Windows called Windows Defender, which should run in the background and keep itself up to date automatically. In most cases this software does a perfectly adequate job of protecting you, and mixed with antivirus software, should keep you protected.
Don’t run Windows Vista? Windows XP users can also get a copy of Windows Defender absolutely free from Microsoft. Simply download the software from their website and install.
How do I know I’m protected?
Just like we did when checking our virus protection, the Windows Security Centre will tell us if spyware protection is on and up to date.
Simply click on the down arrow on the bar titled “Malware protection” and check the status of spyware software from there. If the Malware protection bar is green, then this will indicate that both your antivirus and antispyware protection is turned on and up to date. Great!
Step 3: Firewall
No, having a smoke alarm in your house isn’t really what we’re talking about here (although if you don’t have one you should get one! – end of fire safety announcement), what we are talking about is in fact making sure that your PC isn’t wide open to anyone that wants to try and hack into your PC.
What exactly is a Firewall?
Putting it simply, a firewall acts a barrier between your PC and the whole world. With a firewall turned on the outside has very restricted access to your PC, but with a firewall turned off your PC is subject to a number of hacking attempts.
When you connect to the internet you are allocated a completely unique set of numbers called an IP address, and with this address anyone in the world can see your PC. Sounds scary? We’ll it’s not really, everyone on the internet has an IP address so it’s not a security risk, but for the sake of explaining what a firewall is you need to know this bit first.
Now, say for example a security vulnerability appears on the internet for Windows, or a piece of software that you downloaded and are running on your PC. Now let’s also assume that your PC is NOT protected by any type of firewall.
If a hacker does a random scan of the internet and picks up on your IP address, because it would be wide open there is a high chance that they will then start to attempt to get into your computer.
If however you were behind a firewall, in most cases your computer would remain invisible to most of the internet! If a hacker looked up a well protected PC behind a firewall, that PC would simply not respond giving the impression that it’s not even connected to the internet. The hacker would then move on to the next person leaving you safe and happy.
Ok enough explaining. How do I get a firewall?
Just like the antispyware software, Microsoft is feeling quite generous these days and offers a basic firewall for free, and is preinstalled with all copies of Windows XP (with Service Pack 2) and Windows Vista, so as long as it’s turned on you’re protected!
Only basic protection? What if I want more?
Although we use the term basic protection, in most cases the software which Microsoft supplies is a perfectly acceptable application for most situations.
There is however an alternative you can use, free of course, called Zone Alarm. It offers almost the same amount of features as the Windows Firewall, but certain features are easier to get to and you get a lot more control over what can and can’t access the internet.
Feel free to install the software if you wish, but in our experience the Windows Firewall provides enough protection.
How do I know if my Firewall is turned on?
Just like with the virus protection and spyware protection, it’s time to go back to the Windows Security Centre!
Look for the bar called “Firewall” and check the colour. If it’s green then everything is fine, firewall protection is on. You can also click on the down arrow on the same bar to get written confirmation of this.
What if Firewall protection is turned off?
If the Firewall bar within Windows Security Centre is red, this would indicate that firewall protection is turned off.
In most cases you will be presented with a button with the text “Turn on now” as soon on the following screen shot:
By clicking this button, windows will automatically turn your firewall on and the bar should turn from red to green.
If this doesn’t happen after pressing the button, this would usually indicate that you have firewall software installed from another supplier other than Microsoft which is ignoring the request for the firewall to be switched on. To fix this, look at all the security software you have running, for example McAfee or Norton and check the settings within that application.
If you still have a problem we would recommend calling out a Vella Technology technician to look into the problem as part of our £35 PC Health Check service.
One more thing to note – You might be protected even without software!
If you connect to the internet via a router, either wirelessly or wired, then routers themselves act as a firewall!
We won’t get into all the technical details of why this is, but we thought it is worth a mention as if you do also have a router, it’s nice to know you have two layers of protection. That’s right, two layers! In other words, keep the software firewall installed even if you are behind a router, just in case 
Step 4: Windows Updates and Service Packs
A happy Windows is an up to date Windows! And the best thing about keeping Windows up to date is that you don’t really need to do anything.
Why do I need to install updates for Windows? I’m happy with how it is!
Well unfortunately no one in this world is perfect, including the developers at Microsoft. Because of this every now and then security holes are discovered in certain parts of Windows that makes your PC subject to attacks and other such nasty things.
The good news however is that in most cases these security holes are usually patched (in other words fixed) before they get exploited by websites and hackers. All you have to do is allow Windows to install all the updates it wants and you can then be sure you’re protected.
How do I go about turning automatic updates on?
We tend to find in most cases automatic updates are switched on, but it’s always good to check! Just follow these simple steps to check:
- First of all click on the Windows Start button, then from the start menu select “Control Panel”
- Once the Control Panel has loaded, click on “Check for updates”.
- This will now show you the “Windows Update” panel, which gives you a quick summary of any updates you have to install, and how updates are configured.If you have updates outstanding to install, you will see a window that looks a bit like this:
This states that we have 17 updates to install, and 2 optional updates. Optional updates are not critical so for the sake of this guide we will ignore them for now.Clicking on the “Install updates” button at this point will start downloading all the updates (if they are not downloaded already) and then install them. If however you left this screen but had automatic updates switched on, these updates would eventually get installed automatically.Once all updates have been installed (excluding the optional updates) our Windows Update panel will look like this:
- Going back on topic now, how do we know that automatic updates are enabled? Well, you can check by looking on the summary. Just below the main box that tells us Windows is up to date is a section titled “You have Windows set to”. This then reads “Automatically install new updates every day at 03:00 (recommended)” which is exactly the setting we want for the best protection.
- If it doesn’t say this, or if you want to change the settings, click on “Change settings” which is found on the left hand side of the Windows Update window.
- You will now be presented with the Windows Update Settings panel, allowing you to customise how updates are downloaded and installed on your PC.
The recommended option as we have mentioned before is to have updates installed automatically. This way you won’t have to worry about manually updating and everything will be done for you in the background. You may occasionally be informed that you need to restart your PC for updates to finish installing, but this doesn’t happen very often.Although this is great for convenience, some people on dial up or broadband with a very low usage limit might not want Windows randomly using their connection, which is perfectly understandable. In cases like this it is recommended to change the setting to “Check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install them”.This will then notify you when updates are available and then you can pick the best time to download and install them. Maybe you get cheaper internet at a certain time if on dial up, or you might get “free” periods on broadband that will not affect your usage if used at off peak times.
Just remember that no matter what you change this setting to, it is vital that updates are installed as quickly as possible. The longer you leave it the longer your PC is unsecured.
- If you made any changes at all, remember to click “OK” to confirm those changes.
Step 5: Phishing protection
Not to be confused with fishing (although it still doesn’t stop the jokes!), phishing is the term used when someone tries to trick you into handing over personal details about yourself, be it credit card details, bank details, or even just your address.
There are many ways they can do this, but in the online world it usually starts from emails and instant messages which direct you to a fake website made to look like the real thing.
How would I know if I’m being tricked?
The easiest way to stay safe and to not get tricked is to simply ignore any emails that ask for any of your personal details.
Your bank will never send you an email or instant message asking you to click a link to fill in any information, and if they ever did send you an email asking you to visit their website you should never click a link within the email itself.
Online shops may very well send you emails asking to activate your account by clicking a link, or to track your order, but these are emails you would usually expect. If you are not expecting an email from them, stay safe and don’t click any links. If you want to go to their website, manually type the website address into your web browser and at least then you will know you are on the correct website.
I’m not so sure I’m going to be able to tell if an email is legitimate or not! Help!
As long as you follow the rules set out above you shouldn’t have to worry. But there is a way to test your phishing checking abilities with a couple of online tests!
Visitors from the UK can click here to try a slightly outdated but still useful online phishing test. It will show you some examples of emails (by clicking on the name of the email) and all you have to do is click Legitimate or Phishing. At the end of the test it will show you the results, and explain in detail why each of the emails are either legitimate or fake.
Visitors from the US have a slightly more up to date version of the test available here, which uses pretty much the same method of testing as the UK one.
Is there any software I can get that will also help?
Well of course, I’m glad you asked.
As long as you have one of the following web browsers installed (with their default settings) then you will already have phishing protection! These browsers are:
- Internet Explorer 7 and above
- Firefox 2 and above
- Opera 9.1 and above
- Safari 3.2 and above
- Chrome (all versions)
It’s never good however to just assume these features are turned on, so we’ll now guide you through how to check the settings on the two most popular browsers, Internet Explorer and Firefox.
Checking Phishing protection is enabled in Internet Explorer
- First of all we need to load up Internet Explorer. Once this is done, look over to the top right of the browser and click on the “Safety” button, then move your mouse down to “SmartScreen Filter”.You will then see a sub menu with 3 options, and the one we are interested in is the middle one. If it says “Turn Off SmartScreen Filter” (as shown below) then this means it’s already on and you are protected.
If however it is turned off then it will read “Turn On SmartScreen Filter”. - To turn it on, simply click on this link to open up the following window.
Click on the option as highlighted in the screen shot to turn on the filter, thus enabling protection.- Click on Ok to confirm and you’re done!
Checking Phishing protection is enabled in Firefox
- To get started, open up a copy of Firefox. Once it’s open click on “Tools” from the top menu, and then select “Options”.
- On the window that pops up, click on the “Security” icon at the top.
- Now all you need to do is make sure two check boxes are ticked, one against “Tell me if the site I’m visiting is a suspected attack site” and another against “Tell me if the site I’m visiting is a suspected forgery”. It will then look like this:
- Click on “OK” to confirm changes.
Step 6: Trust no one and stay alert
It’s not exactly the nicest way to think, but unfortunately when you’re on the internet it’s very difficult to be able to trust everything you see.
First of all, we aren’t for one second saying everyone in the world is evil and that no one ever tells the truth. This isn’t about what people are like, but what these people might have on their computers acting on their behalf!
Let’s look at this in a bit more detail.
Emails and Instant Messages
Something we all have to unfortunately put up with on the internet is unsolicited mail, or spam, as it is better known as.
Thankfully a lot of companies that provide free email services provide a filter that manages to catch most spam, however it’s not perfect and sometimes various junk emails will get missed, or a genuine email from someone you know might inadvertently get marked as junk.
So what advice can we give about spam? Well our first tip is, ignore any emails from someone you don’t know, or someone trying to sell you something.
There are exceptions to the rule, but in most cases you would be able to use your own intelligence on filtering the genuine emails from the junk.
For example, if you have ever shopped on Amazon and you receive an email from Amazon trying to sell you other products, it’s unlikely to be a malicious attempt at trying to take over your computer. As long as you follow the tips we explained in the phishing section of this article you should feel safe opening it.
Ok so any emails I get from friends and family are safe?
Ah if only life was that simple.
Unfortunately if a family member or a friend gets infected with a virus/spyware/malware then their computer could start sending emails and instant messages without them knowing. You’ll naturally think it’s all good as it has come from someone you know so you’ll open it and before you know it you’ll be infected too.
The best way to deal with this is to just be cautious when reading any emails or clicking on links. If the email has any attachments just think to yourself, are you expecting what your friend has attached? If you are unsure just give them a good old fashioned phone call and ask. It’s always better to be safe than sorry.
The same logic applies to instant messages. Don’t just click on any old link that your friend might send you, ask them first about the link to establish if it really was them sending it.
Browsing the internet safely
Most of the time you will have a trouble free time with the internet, but it’s likely there will always be that rare occasion when you might come across something that could harm your computer if you don’t act the right way.
Follow our tips below on safe surfing, and you’ll have a much better chance at staying safe!
- Online Adverts
Be very cautious of adverts, remember if something is too good to be true it probably is. - Fake virus alerts
Ignore any messages from websites claiming that you are be infected with a virus. These messages are fake and are simply an attempt to get you to actually install a virus itself! Here is an example of a message you should ignore, or cancel immediately.
- Downloading software
Only download files from websites you know are safe. If you want to download software, be cautious about who it’s coming from and always scan it for viruses before running it. - Secure connections
If you are on a website which requires you to enter personal details, look out for the padlock symbol to make sure the connection from your computer to the website you are visiting is secure.
If you are only entering basic information like your name and email address, it’s not usually as important. If you need to enter payment details however you should never do so without a secure connection in place.
On Internet Explorer 7 and above, the padlock symbol can be found on the right of the address bar (where the website address is displayed) as shown here:
And on Firefox, the padlock can be found at the bottom right hand side of the browser:
On a side note, any page on the Vella Technology website which requires you to enter any of your details will be protected in this way.
Step 7: And finally…
As the world is constantly changing, so are computers and the security threats they face. So you’ll want to keep up to date with the latest security advice just in case something nasty hits the internet.
There are a number of ways of doing this, but one way we would like to mention is to simply keep checking back on this blog. We’ll keep it up to date from now on with the latest security advice and tips to help keep you safe.
Checking back all the time however could get annoying, so a simpler way would be to become a fan of ours on Facebook and you’ll get notified on your news feed when we update the blog (don’t worry, it won’t be that often). Or if you are up to speed with RSS feeds, you can subscribe to our feed here.
So there we are! All done.
There is just one more thing we want to say, and that is enjoy yourself! After reading all this you might be sitting there afraid to carry on using your computer, or maybe now even the thought of using your credit card online is terrifying.
But it shouldn’t be. The fact that you have now read this guide means you’re prepared! You know what to expect and what to ignore, so as long as you keep it in mind you will find the internet is a lovely and safe place after all.
We hope you found this guide helpful and we would like to encourage you to pass it on to anyone who you think might find it useful as well.
Why did we provide this guide?
Obviously as an IT support company it would make sense for us not to tell people how to stay safe, as then its more work for us! But we don’t think like that.
We like to think of ourselves as a friendly company willing to help whenever possible, and in return all we hope is that should you ever need any IT help or advice, you will simply consider using our services.
I don’t have time to check my PC, can you do it?
We certainly can! Our PC Health Check service is performed in your own home (as long as you live within 30 miles of Colchester, Essex) and is a fixed fee of just £35. For this we will make sure your PC is completely secure and do our best to speed it up at the same time.
Just give us a call or use our booking page (click on the book a call button) to arrange a call.
Tags: malware, spam, virus prevention, virus removal, windows updates
