Three Smart Tips to Clean PC

Tip 1: "Say No to Virus & Spyware"

Install & Enable Anti-virus & Anti-spyware Software

Anti-virus Software

Antivirus software helps protect your computer against most malicious code attacks such as computer viruses, worms, Trojan horses etc. You should acquire an anti-virus software package and make sure your computer is under the protection. If you are new to anti-virus software, you can learn more about how it works from the following video clip.

Anti-spyware Software

Spyware is a piece of software that installed secretly on personal computers in order to collect information about users without their informed consent. The information is usually used for purposes related to advertising, such as for delivery of targeted advertisements in the form of pop-up windows or spam emails. Adware, on the other hand, is software that displays advertising banners while the program is running. A lot of adware is also spyware.

A number of anti-spyware software is currently available in the market for handling spyware/adware. Nowadays, some anti-virus products also have bundled anti-spyware functions. Users can also use personal firewalls to detect and block activities of spyware. Following are some of the best practices to escape the trap of spyware/adware:

• Not downloading untrustworthy/unauthorised software from the Internet
• Not visiting suspicious websites
• Not executing files of doubtful origin
• Not opening or forwarding suspicious emails – rather, delete them immediately
• Keeping virus signatures and security patches up-to-date

Enable Auto Update and Real-time Detection features

In order to have an effective protection, the virus definition should always be kept updated. Most anti-virus and anti-spyware software are equipped with automatic definition updating feature. When you switch on your PC, the software will automatically check for updates and download them, if any. Alternatively, you may also download the latest definition manually from the vendors' websites.

Furthermore, most anti-virus and anti-spyware software have real-time detection feature which monitors the file being processed in the system. If any computer virus or spyware is detected, the process will be terminated and the infected file may be cleaned, quarantined or removed to guard your PC from the infection.

Scan your PC regularly with the latest definition

To effectively protect your PC, you need to scan your PC regularly with the latest definition at least once a week.