Malware Prevention Guide

Hello internet, this is going to be my guide to malware prevention. 

Note: This guide is targeted towards novice to average users and users who have very little knowledge in computers. 

Step 1: Backing up your data

In case of nasty virus infection, you will want to start off by backing up your data so that your files won't get corrupted IF something unexpected happens. You will want to start off by making a copy of your important documents, picture files or other important files that you need and cannot afford to lose them. Just copy and paste the files that you want to backup into a removable media like a USB or an external hard drive if you are backing up games.

Step 2: Set up your defenses

Category A: Installing an antivirus program

In this category, it is going to be about antivirus solutions. A modern day antivirus uses different techniques to detect viruses such as signature matching, heuristics, behavioural detection and so much more. Why is an antivirus program such an important thing to consider? This is because an antivirus program scans files on your computer in real-time like when you open or close a file, surf web pages, download new programs into your computer and so much more. If there is a virus detected, the antivirus program will give you an alert. There are antiviruses which only offers basic protection which are not really feature packed and there are those large internet security suites which are filled with bells and whistles. Choosing the right antivirus solution is also important, you want an effective, light and one that doesn't impact your computer's performance. These are the antivirus programs that i recommend and are free: 1) Avast Free Antivirus 2) Avira Antivir Free Edition 3) Panda Cloud Free Antivirus 4) Comodo Internet Security. The paid ones will be Norton Internet Security and Bitdefender Internet Security. If you want to know how effective they are, I will be doing reviews on them.

Category B: Windows Update

Updating windows is also another security measure to count. What windows update does is that it provides crucial security updates and patches to your system. This security updates, patches up vulnerabilities in your system and some of your programs like java, adobe reader, microsoft office and many other programs. However i do not really recommend installing windows update automatically unless you are really lazy. The reason why i do not recommend it is that other junk will get installed through the updates also instead of only the security updates that you really want. This are the steps to set up windows update.

Step 1: Click on the 'Start' button.

Step 2: Click on 'control panel.'

Step 3: Click on the 'view by:' button and click on large icons.

Step 3: Scroll down until you see 'Windows Update.' and click on it.

Step 4: After you click on it, you will be presented with a window that looks something like this. Click on 'change settings.'

Step 5: After clicking on 'change settings', under the 'Important Updates' tab, click on the drop down menu and select 'Check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install them.'

Note: Do Not tick any of the boxes. 

Step 5: Click 'Ok' and you are done. 

Note: Once you are informed about availability of the updates, windows will give you a notification about it. I recommend downloading and installing mainly security updates only about once a week so that you won't be troubled everyday.

Category C: Windows Firewall

Now this is a small yet important precaution to take. That is making sure windows firewall is turned on at all times unless you have a third-party firewall installed. Making sure windows firewall is on at all times is important because it guards your computer and network from unwanted requests from connecting to your computer and may prevent worms and network based viruses from infecting your computer too. If you have no third party firewall installed and windows firewall is off, follow these steps to turn it on:

Step 1: Click on start

Step 2: Go to control panel

Step 3: View your control panel as large icons.

Step 4: After doing that, scroll down until you see something called 'Windows Firewall' and click on it.

Step 5: You will be presented with a window that looks something like this.

Step 6: Click on 'Turn Windows Firewall on or off' shown on the left hand side on the picture above and you will be presented with a window that looks like this.

Step 7: Just check all the boxes and buttons that you see on the picture above and click 'ok' when you are done.

                                                                          End of Step 2

Step 3: Self precaution

Last but not least, self precaution is the most important measure to take when it comes to prevent yourself from getting malware. To be safe, do not click on anything that looks weird, suspicious and something too good to be true in the internet. Also do not simply give out personal information like credit card numbers and things related with money and banks. Opening emails that looks suspicious should also be avoided at all cost unless you are unsure call up someone or the company that sent you the email for confirmation. Remember to not fall for phishing scams when you receive an email and the link asks you for your personal info and things related to money like bank account number, emails and password.

Step 4: Disabling Autoplay/Autorun

Do you know that notification you get when you insert a removable media into your computer? Something that looks like this: 

Well, yes this is autoplay. When a removable device is plugged into your computer, a command is send showing this notification whether you want to run this program or not. Somehow, this can be quite dangerous if the removable media contains malware and it may be automatically executed. So it is recommended that this is disabled. To disable it, follow the steps.

Step 1: Click on 'start.'

Step 2: Click on 'Control panel.'

Step 3: Instead of 'View by: Large icons, select category and click on 'Hardware and Sound.'

Step 6: You will be presented with a window like this and under 'Autoplay', click on 'Change default settings for media and devices'.

Step 7: Now just uncheck the 'Use autoplay for all media and devices' box. Click 'Save' and you are done.

Note: Installing two or more antivirus programs running in real time and firewall might cause conflict. Try to prevent it.

This is the end of the malware prevention guide. I hope you guys have learned some useful things here. If you have any questions please send me an email: mikeviews@gmail.com or leave a comment below and I will answer to you.