Anti-Virus
Helpful Hints

(These are just helpful hints.
These are not the only things that can be done. 
You work at your own risk when you try these. If you need help, I 
will be more than happy to help you, at my normal fee.)

1. Make sure you have anti-virus software, and that it is correctly installed.

2. Make sure your virus definitions are up to date. (Just because you have software, doesn’t mean it is up to date.) Go to http://us.pandasoftware.com/download/updates/ for Panda updates, http://www.networkassociates.com/us/downloads/updates/
   if you have McAfee, and http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/defs.download.html
   if you use Norton.
3. If you want to try free anti-virus software, check out AVG at http://www.grisoft.com/html/us_index.html.
4. Make sure that you have the latest updates from Microsoft. While connected to the Internet, go to the website http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/ and click product updates. If you have never done this, a window might pop up and ask you if you want to trust this sight and download a tool that will see what updates you need. Click yes. When the next page opens, you can put a check mark in the updates you want. I suggest you get the critical updates, as well as the recommended updates.
5. If you are not on a company network, go to the control panel. To get there, click start, settings, then control panel. Now, double click on the network icon. The screen that pops up should say configuration. If you see “File and print sharing” in the network components that ARE installed, highlight it, and remove it. Then, click the second tab at the top called identification. On the line that says workgroup, change this to something other than the word workgroup. See picture below. Now click ok. The computer will ask you to reboot. This is normal. This change is     necessary because Microsoft sets these as defaults, and hackers know this.
6. Now, go to the control panel again. Open add/remove programs. Click the middle tab, which is Windows setup. Highlight accessories, and click details. Scroll down the list and look for “Windows Scripting Host”. Uncheck this item. Click ok, and ok, and you are through.
7. Now the biggies! DO NOT open attachments if they have the suffix .scr, .pif, .exe, .com, .bat, even if the e-mail is from someone you know. If you are not expecting something, call them and ask if they sent it to you. Viruses now find your address book and send themselves out all by themselves.
8. If you do get a virus, and you are on a network, unplug your network cable from either the wall, or the computer. This will help stop it from spreading. Then call you network administrator.

Telephone: 830-708-3056              E-Mail: Lyle@pc-solutions.ws