How to make the most of a computer virus scan
These days, viruses, and other malware, are just a fact of life and if you’re going to use a computer, you’re going to need to learn how to deal with them. With that in mind, here are some tips on how to make the most of a computer virus scan.
Before you run a computer virus scan, clean up your computer
The less you have on your computer, the less there will be to scan and therefore the quicker the computer virus scan will be. Also, the less you have on your computer, the easier it will be to recognize each individual item and therefore to identify what should (and should not) be there.
Clean up your apps
Even totally legitimate apps can have security flaws which can be exploited by cybercriminals. Now, obviously, there’s very little point in running a computer without any apps on it, but the key point to take away is that reducing your apps to what you really need and what you really love can go a long way towards keeping your computer safe. As an added bonus, it can also give you a performance boost.
Clean up your browser extensions
Similar comments apply here only more so because many browser extensions can literally be added with a single click, which makes it very easy to accumulate a lot of them, without even necessarily remembering why you added them in the first place. Trim them down to what you actually value, whether that’s because they’re useful or because they’re fun and ditch the rest.
Clean up your files
This one isn’t necessarily because of the risk they pose, although if you’ve downloaded email attachments without scanning them, then they may be infected, even if you trust the source. This one is about limiting your risk.
First of all, if your computer does wind up being infected with malware, it’s entirely possible that you’ll lose not only anything which is actually on your hard drive, but anything which is on any drives attached to your computer (e.g. external hard drives) and also potentially anything which is on cloud drives if the attack causes you to lose access to them, e.g. the attackers change your password and you are unable to restore it.
This has two implications. Firstly, you want to minimize the data you keep on your computer partly so that you have less at risk and partly so that it’s easier for you to back up what you do need to keep. Secondly, any backups need to be kept completely separate from your computer, for example on a DVD stored in a case rather than on an external hard drive attached to your computer.
Secondly, if you get a spyware infestation, any data you keep on your computer could be exposed to the cybercriminals. This means that the less you keep on your computer, the less they have to see.
As an added bonus, the less you have on your computer the less work the computer virus scan will have to do and hence the quicker it will be.
Once you’ve run your computer virus scan, apply all updates to your computer
If you’re behind with your updates, then apply them immediately after your computer virus scan. This applies both for your operating system and for any software you use. As a bonus tip, if you’re using a non-current operating system, then keep an offline copy of any updates, so you can reapply them if you need to reinstall, rather than having to rely on them still being available online. The same goes for any niche software you may use.
Finally, give your computer long-term protection with a good antivirus
A one-time virus scan may be enough to let you know if there’s anything you need to be worried about right now and it may even be enough to deal with it, however, it is not enough for long-term protection, for that you need a good antivirus program. Actually, more specifically, you need a good antimalware program since it has been a very long time since viruses were the only threat lurking in cyberspace.
Security software has long been regarded as something of a necessary evil, since it is notorious for causing performance issues, even on high-specced PCs. The good news is that there is now cloud-based antivirus software, which gives solid protection without slowing down your computer. Click here right now to get Comodo antivirus for your computer and get all the protection you need with no hassle and at a price you can afford.
