Virus Protection from AVG - Tutorial included

Protecting your computer from a virus is getting harder and harder each day. While it may border on the paranoid, it goes without saying that you can’t leave your guard down for one second. Even corporate giant Microsoft has found its own systems compromised on more than one occasion.

Because new viruses erupt daily, it is important that you regularly update your antivirus software. Become familiar with the software’s real-time scan feature.

Make it a habit to always scan all new programs or files no matter from where they originate.
Perform regular backups in case your system is corrupted. It may be the only way to recover your data if infected.

I suspect a lot of people get virus infections because they download random files off the internet. Kazaa/eMule and other peer-to-peer are great places to download infected items. It is important that if you use such programs that you have one dedicated folder to download too, and before opening or running anything scan it first with an anti-virus program. I recommend that people who want to exchange files over the internet (including entire folders of files) do so using encrypted solutions (and only with friends or people they know). A great new application is GigaTribe, it encrypts all exchanges, no files size limits, and is free from any spyware/adware.
Their website is http://www.gigatribe.com

AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition is a free downloadable antivirus program that has received high marks for its reliability. In the past, free downloadable antivirus programs have been viewed skeptically because of issues relating to its reliability.

However, AVG from Grisoft, remains one of the best-known free anti-virus programs available. While AVG cannot be installed on a server operating system and there is no technical support, it still makes a good choice for many home computer users.The best part is that it is free for both Windows and Linux and it checks for updates on a regular basis.

I have been using AVG free Anti-Virus for many years and install it as first choice on other peoples machines.

Get yours here:http://free.grisoft.com/doc/avg-anti-virus-free/lng/us/tpl/v5

Save the program to a folder which is easily accessible, I created one on my desktop and renamed it Downloads, this is where I download all of my utilities etc. so I have them in one easily accessible location.

Once installed AVG loads at startup and sits in your system tray.It will carry out a complete scan on a daily basis, but you can schedule it to do this at a time convenient to you. When it has completed its scan a small window will pop up with the results.

You also have the added benefit of real-time scanning as it runs in the backgound and will warn you if something you are downloading is infected.

You can also left click any folder or an item within a folder and scan it with AVG.

Important: Do NOT use more than one Anti-Virus programas it will give you false readings.

http://free.grisoft.com/doc/avg-anti-virus-free/lng/us/tpl/v5

Windows Media Player Tutorial - Click Here

CCleaner - clear your browsing history safely

I have covered this previously, but have added some new
information to this.

CCleaner is a freeware system optimization and privacy
tool. It removes unused files from your system - allowing
Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk
space by automatically cleaning the cache when run. It also
cleans traces of your online activities such as your
Internet history. It also only takes a few seconds to run
and remove these unwanted files from your pc.

There have been over 55 million downloads of this program

http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/

Internet Explorer
Temporary files, URL history, cookies, Autocomplete form
history, index.dat.

Firefox
Temporary files, URL history, cookies, download history.

Opera
Temporary files, URL history, cookies.

Windows
Recycle Bin, Recent Documents, Temporary files and Log
files.

Registry cleaner
Advanced features to remove unused and old entries,
including File Extensions, ActiveX Controls, ClassIDs,
ProgIDs, Uninstallers, Shared DLLs, Fonts, Help Files,
Application Paths, Icons, Invalid Shortcuts and more…
also comes with a comprehensive backup feature

Third-party applications
Removes temp files and recent file lists (MRUs) from many
apps including Media Player, eMule, Kazaa, Google Toolbar,
Netscape, MS Office, Nero, Adobe Acrobat, WinRAR, WinAce,
WinZip and many more…

This software does NOT contain any Spyware, Adware or
Viruses.

I set mine up as follows:
Click on the Cleaner Tab on the left and under Windows I
tick all boxes in Internet Explorer, Windows Explorer and
System. Under Advanced tick only the first 2 boxes. Then
click on the Applications tab and tick all.

Issues tab:
Unless you are competent at dealing with the registry then
leave this one alone and DO NOT run it.

If you wish to run the Issues to clean the Registry, carry
out the following first:

Backup your Registry. Go to Start, Run and type in regedit
click on OK and the Registry Editor will then open. Go to
the top Tabs and click on File, scroll down until you see
Export, left click it and this will open Export Registry File
window. Save this file to your desktop and in the File Name
box enter Registry Backup File.
Click on Save and it should now be on your desktop.
Verify the file is a good copy, in the Registry Editor
window click on File, select Import, in new panel where it
says ‘Look in’ select desktop and then click on your saved
file then click ‘Open’. Once it says it has been read in
successfully, you have a good backup.
Now if you find that some programs are no longer running
in the way that they should, restore your Registry as detailed
above. CCleaner will also create backup copies of your Registry
and I suggest that if you do choose to run the Registry Issues
untick all of the boxes and tick one box at a time and run each
one separately.

Tools tab:
Here you will find a list of Uninstall options to remove
programs from your pc, use with caution. I prefer to use
the Add/Remove function or the programs own uninstaller.

Startup:
Lists all programs that are set to run when you boot up,
if you are unsure about deleting any of these then leave it
as it is.

Options tab:
Settings - Choose your language, untick Run CCleaner when
the computer starts, tick the next 3 boxes, then look at
the Secure Deletion, tick the radio button ‘Secure file
deletion (Slower) and set it to NSA (7 passes)

Cookies - entirely up to the individual, but I don’t save
any cookies.

Custom - You can drag and drop files or folders into the
window or browse for them and on the next run they will be
securely deleted.

Advanced - Untick boxes 1-3 tick all others.

Finally click on the Cleaner tab on the left and you have
the option to Analyze or Run Cleaner. When you are
comfortable using this program you won’t use Analyze, but
initially do use it to see what can be deleted and the
approximate size of files to be deleted.

Important
This will remove any saved passwords and usernames that
you have, so make sure that you have a copy of them all
before proceeding to clean.

http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/

Windows Media Player tutorial:

http://www.a1-ebooks.co.uk/tutorials/CCleanerSetup.wmv

Open a text document, enter the URL, username and
password, save this to floppy, external drive or print it
off. Do NOT save this text file to your hard drive.

There is an excellent program for saving your passwords
etc available from http://www.roboform.com/
I will cover this in more detail another time.

As always, back-up your system or create a restore point
before making any changes.

To your safety and security online
cotojo