Computer viruses are software programs that left unattended can do damage to your computer and steal your personal information. Viruses may also carry Trojans (horses) that will place themselves on your computer and cause damage. It is in your best interest to protect your personal computer and your private information from these types of malicious intrusions. There are some powerful combating agents that you can use to vaccinate and treat your Personal Computer against the deadly viral infection. Scanning your computer with an antivirus software program from a reputable manufacturer will inform you whether your computer is infected or not. There is a wide variety of antivirus applications, available in the market these days and their installation procedures vary from one brand to another. You should investigate the various antivirus software programs and choose the antivirus solution that will best suit your needs. There are certain general guidelines that should be followed to ensure the installation procedure runs smoothly:

• Installation of antivirus programs is different from the installation of other application programs. If your computer already has antivirus software installed when you purchased your computer and you are replacing it with new antivirus software, you must make sure that you uninstall the old software before installing the new application. If you do not uninstall the old antivirus software it will conflict with the new software and your computer will not operate properly. Even if you are installing an updated version of antivirus software you currently have installed, most manufacturers recommend uninstalling the previous version completely.

• Many of the applications that render protection against computer viruses remain stubbornly on your PC even after you have uninstalled them. In these instances, all remnants of the previous antivirus software should be removed by using removal tools that can be downloaded from the manufacturer’s website. You should install the new application only after removing the stubborn residues of the previous applications.

• Next you should proceed with the installation of the antivirus application according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Some antivirus software solutions also provide spyware protection which gives you added protection.

There are many free antivirus software programs available on the internet and you should be very careful about using one of those. Some free antivirus programs do a reasonable job protecting your computer and are basically scaled down versions from reputable antivirus software manufacturers that hope you will upgrade to the paid version for full protection. However, there are others that are just spyware in disguise and before downloading and installing those you must be sure that you are downloading from a reputable site. Many of the websites with unreliable credentials and free software downloads may be sources of malicious software themselves and you might end up downloading a virus as opposed to a software program to prevent virus invasion.

Practice internet safety and only download antivirus software from a reputable antivirus manufacturer’s official website.

After strictly following the preliminary guidelines you should proceed with the installation of the new antivirus software program. Most manufacturers give you a free trial for the first 30 days after the installation. Keep in mind that antivirus software needs to be updated on a continual basis and if at the end of the 30 days you have not purchased the software and registered you will not be completely protected against viruses.

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