Despite the fact that there's no Vista Antivirus built in, we have some interesting things to tell you about Windows Vista and viruses.
Some older programs may not be yet compatible with Windows Vista, but when it comes to viruses, you shouldn't try your luck. There is no Windows Vista Antivirus that comes from Microsoft, and while the Windows Defender can protect you from a certain category of threats, you'll find yourself unprotected from many other computer "diseases".
What is a virus?
Most definitions say that a virus is a computer program that replicates itself by attaching to another program, just like the viruses from the real world do. The difference is that while the viruses we all know in the real world attack living beings, the computer viruses attack your data or, in some cases, you hardware devices.
There are more different "species" of computer viruses, and sometimes there's no clear border between them, so you can forget about "worms", "Trojans", "dialers" and other terms - they are all viruses, and that's enough to know!
What about Windows Vista Antivirus?
As we said before, there's no Windows Vista Antivirus, so you have to choose a third party program to help you fight viruses, but until then, there are some things that you must keep in mind to avoid becoming endangered.
How to keep away from viruses
Even when using an antivirus software, some bad things may happen, or your antivirus settings may leave some security holes that you should watch carefully. While we won't talk about third party antivirus programs now, you should be really careful to respect the following:
- Always keep your Windows Vista up to date. Last updates can prevent a lot of trouble, so be sure to have the latest updates installed as soon as possible!
- Be careful with your emails! Files attached to email messages can be infected, and if the sender is a friend (or seems to be one), that doesn't mean you don't have to be cautious!
- Web sites can be another source of viruses, so be careful where your Web surfing takes you! Try to avoid warez sites and other obscure online places (porn websites), because you never know what lies beneath a friendly interface
- Use an antivirus software! If you don't want to install and have such a program run all the time, you can use various online scanners, such as Panda Online Scan . While they won't protect you all the time, at least you'll be able to tell if your system is clean or not.
- If you decided to use an antivirus, be sure to enable all its automatic scanning capabilities! This way, if you download virused content, the harmful code won't be allowed to execute.
Choosing an antivirus for your needs can be a rather tricky job, and checking our reviews can help you make a decision. The first Vista Antivirus we'll have here is Avast , but there are more to follow, so be sure to check back from time to time and don't forget to stay safe!
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