Have you noticed your computer slowing down considerably? Do you have annoying popup advertisements suddenly appearing on your computer screen at various intervals of the day? Your computer may be infected with an adware, spyware, or a virus. After getting your system cleaned, you need to remain proactive so you won’t be infected again.

To stand a chance in the fight against viruses and spyware, here are a few tips you can follow to minimize the risk of attack on your personal computer. They are in no particular order.

(1) Keep your antivirus or anti-spyware software up to date. Just click on the “update” button on your program to get the latest virus definitions and updates.

(2) Install a real time antivirus software, if you haven’t already done so. It is important that you enable your anti-virus program to run at real-time so that it can immediately quarantine anything that might have gotten through to your system — like when you download something online or through an email attachment.

(3) Use caution when clicking on email links or attachments — even if it’s from family or friends. Sometimes, they can inadvertently forward you an attachment with a trojan virus in it.

(4) Disable autorun on your computer. Doing this can also speed up your computer.

(5) Disable image previews from Outlook.

(6) Scan your computer on a daily basis. After getting the latest updates, scan your computer immediately. If you want, you can setup your antivirus software to update automatically and scan your system at a scheduled time each day, or whatever time you prefer.

If you find that your computer has considerably slowed down for no reason, perhaps you’ve already been infected. If you live locally, contact me and I’ll rid your system of those annoying spywares and viruses. Hurry, before it gets any worse!