How to Use Avast Free Antivirus Software

Running and maintaining an antivirus program is an unfortunate but necessary expense for many computer users. The problem comes from the fact that you have to buy not just the program itself but also a subscription package that updates the program’s virus definitions. Outdated definitions mean insufficient protection, which means that your computer is vulnerable to attack. Avast Antivirus is a free program designed to meet the safety needs of users without draining their wallets. Luckily for computer users everywhere, Avast is more than powerful enough to get the job done just as well as its more expensive counterparts like Norton and McAfee.

Download and install the Avast software from the main program website. Once the program’s main site is loaded in your browser, click the blue button labeled “Download” to begin the process. Click the blue “Download” button in the “Avast Free Antivirus” column of the window that opens on screen. This will make sure that you download the installation file for Avast’s free version as opposed to its paid counterparts. Note that just because there are paid versions available doesn’t mean the free version isn’t a high quality product.

Double-click the Avast installation file to set up the software on your computer. Select the option reading “Express Install” to install the Avast software on your computer using its default configuration. When the window on screen indicates that the setup process is completed, reboot your computer before continuing.

Launch the Avast software by double clicking on the icon labeled “Avast Free Antivirus” on your desktop. The main Avast program window will load on screen. The program’s default configuration means that it will already monitor all newly downloaded files for viruses, so the only thing left to do is perform a full scan of the existing files on your computer. Select the “Full Scan” option from the window on screen to allow the program to begin analyzing your hard drive. If any malicious programs or files are found during the scan they will automatically be quarantined and deleted.

Allow Avast to keep running on your computer whenever you browse the Internet. The program will scan your e-mails and downloaded files to make sure they are virus free. It will also help prevent attack sites from opening in your Web browser.

How to Use Windows Defender

Windows Defender is a computer program designed to rid spyware from the Windows operating system. This program is developed and maintained by Microsoft and is available for free to all Windows users. You don’t even have to download anything to use the program – if you’re a Windows 7 user it’s already installed on your machine. You just need to turn it on and get it configured properly to let Windows Defender start protecting your computer the way it was designed to.

Step 1

Open the “Windows Defender” icon in your computer’s Control Panel. If you’ve never used Windows Defender before, you will likely get a message indicating that the software has been turned off. Click once on the button that reads “Click here to turn it on” to enable Windows Defender on your computer.

Step 2

Click the button reading “Scan” at the top of the screen to perform a “Quick Scan” of your computer for spyware. Note that a “Quick Scan” is not as thorough as a “Full Scan,” but it will still check directories where spyware is most likely to reside. To perform a full scan of your computer, click the arrow to the right of the “Scan” button and select “Full Scan” from the list of options.

Step 3

Click the “History” button to view a list of all the files that have ever been identified as spyware on your computer. Any files that are picked up in a scan will automatically be quarantined and separated from the rest of your machine. This is to prevent these files from executing, which in turn could damage your computer. Click on the name of an identified spyware file to find out more information about that particular strain of malware.

Step 4

Click “Tools” to bring up a list of options pertaining to the way Windows Defender operates. Click “Options” in this window if you want to exclude certain directories from a scan, or change the way a scan generally operates. Click “Quarantined Items” to permanently remove any files that were identified in the “History” tab from your machine. Click “Allowed Items” to view a list of all the software on your computer that you have previously chosen to have Windows Defender ignore.

Step 5

Update your Windows Defender spyware definitions by running the “Windows Update” utility. This utility, found in the “All Programs” folder, will also update the rest of the first-party software on your computer. Be sure to run “Windows Update” regularly and especially before performing scans to make sure that your computer stays as protected as possible.

How to Update Virus Definitions on Microsoft Security Essentials

Running a virus scan on your computer with outdated definitions is essentially as useful as not running a virus scan at all. Virus definitions contain information that allows your computer to identify and remove all of the latest viruses from your computer. If your definitions are out of date the program will miss newer viruses which will leave your computer vulnerable to attack even if the results of the scan come up clean. If you’re using Microsoft’s free “Security Essentials” anti-virus suite, you can update your virus definitions in just a few seconds by following the right steps.

Step 1

Click the “Start” button on your desktop. In the box that appears, type “Security Essentials” into the “Search” box. The first search result will be the icon for the Microsoft Security Essentials program. Click the icon to open the program.

Step 2

Look at the “Virus and spyware definitions” listing in the main window on screen. Next to this will be a term that specifies whether or not your virus and spyware definitions are up to date. If the phrase “Up to date” appears next to this listing there is no need to update your definitions. If anything else is written next to this listing, continue to “Step 3.”

Step 3

Click “Update.” The box on screen will give you a detailed breakdown of exactly how recent your virus and spyware definitions are. You can check when the definitions were created, when they were downloaded and what version number your currently installed definitions actually are. This will give you some indication of how many viruses your computer could be missing in each scan with out of date definitions.

Step 4

Click the gray “Update” button. Microsoft Security Essentials will search for available updates for your virus and spyware definitions. It will then automatically install the updates onto your computer. No restart of the program or your computer is necessary after this process is finished. Wait for the status of your definitions to change to “Up to date” before continuing.

Step 5

Click the “Home” tab at the top of the window. Click the “Full” box on the right side of the screen followed by the “Scan Now” button. This will immediately perform a full scan of your computer using the updated definitions. This process will make sure that any viruses that were missed in previous scans are located and removed.

How to Use Windows Firewall

Simply put, a firewall is a computer program designed to keep unwanted individuals and programs from making contact with your computer. This is a great way to keep your home network as secure as possible, which will in turn make it difficult for people to steal data and other types of information in a manner that could be harmful. Many people may not realize that the Windows operating system comes with a firewall already installed at the time of purchase. This program, appropriately called “Windows Firewall,” just needs to be turned on and configured in the right way to start protecting your network and your computer.

Step 1

Click “Start” and open the Windows Control Panel. Scroll all the way to the bottom of the Control Panel and click “Windows Firewall” to open the utility.

Step 2

Click “Turn Windows Firewall On or Off” (if Windows Firewall is currently off). From the screen that appears, click “Turn on Windows Firewall.” Click the “OK” button to turn on the utility. It will immediately begin protecting your network.

Step 3

Click the button reading “Allow a program or feature through Windows Firewall” to manually specify programs that you want Windows Firewall to ignore. This will be necessary if you use programs like Bit torrent clients that depend on the ability to connect to outside computers and networks. Use the window that appears on screen to select the programs that you want to tell Windows Firewall to allow.

Step 4

Click “Change Notification Settings” to manage when and how Windows Firewall alerts you to suspicious activity. You can choose to allow it to notify you whenever a connection is blocked, whenever a connection is requesting access or you can choose to not be notified at all.

Step 5

Leave Windows Firewall running both when you’re on your home network and when you’re on public networks. If you have a laptop computer, Windows Firewall will continue to protect you when you log onto the Internet from a place like a coffee shop or library. Windows Firewall has dedicated settings designed to police public networks separately from private ones. If you own a desktop computer or your laptop never leaves your home or office you don’t have to worry about this.

The Five Best Features That iOS 6 Will Bring to Your iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad

The operating system that runs on Apple devices like the iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad is referred to as iOS. Each new major version of this software brings an average of 200 brand new features to each device. The best part is that the upgrade is available free of charge to all Apple device owners. iOS 6 is planned for release in the fall of 2012. Out of all of the new features that iOS 6 will bring to the iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad devices, a few are definitely ones to be excited about.

iOS version 6 brings Siri functionality to the iPad. This is Apple’s revolutionary and intuitive voice command feature that was previously only available on the iPhone 4s. Now iPad 2 and iPad HD users can get in on the fun. Instead of manually typing in searches or looking for information, you can ask the Siri interface any question you want and it will perform the relevant searches automatically. Note that the Siri functionality will not work on the original iPad model.

iOS brings 3D, highly detailed maps to the built-in “Maps” application. This application has come standard on all iOS devices but previously only featured a top-down view of a particular area. Maps now include 3D buildings and landscapes and are fully rotatable, allowing you to view your directions from multiple angles based on your preferences.

iOS 6 includes native Facebook integration with all applications and with the operating system itself. This is similar to the native Twitter functionality that was released with iOS 5. Instead of taking a picture with the “Camera” application and then loading the official “Facebook” app, for example, you can upload that picture to your Facebook profile from the very same place you took it. This makes social networking easier than ever before.

Shared photo streams make transferring your pictures a snap. iOS 6 gives you the ability to share photo streams on your device with whomever you want. If you add a particular image or photograph to a shared stream, anyone who you’ve chosen to share that stream with will have immediate access to that particular image. This practically makes your iPod Touch, iPhone or iPad a social networking service all unto itself.

The new “Passbook” app helps keep all of your personal information in one place. This application has the ability to store things like coupons, gift certificates and credit card information all within the same easy-to-navigate interface. Instead of opening a variety of different programs to try to find one particular piece of information, you just have to open “Passbook” and look for whatever it is that you’re trying to find.

The Five Best Music Apps for the iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad

Apple’s iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad devices all come with a standard music playing application already installed at the time of purchase. This app, referred to as simply “Music” on all three devices, manages all of your songs, podcasts and audiobooks. However, many people might not realize that there are actually a number of third party applications in the iTunes App Store that can also fill this role. These third party applications can add new features, change the interface or generally just make the act of playing music on your iPod Touch, iPad or iPhone a more pleasant experience.

Planetary

Planetary takes your music collection and turns it into a kind of virtual solar system, offering a truly unique way to browse your library. Galaxies can represent artists, albums or even genres depending on your preferences. You can move from one galaxy to the next with the tap of your finger, allowing you to see connections between parts of your library that may have been hidden to you before.

gMusic

If you’re the type of person that stores your music collection “in the cloud,” you need to have gMusic on your iPod Touch, iPhone or iPad. gMusic works in conjunction with Google’s free “Music” service and allows you to have constant access to your music collection wherever you go. You can store a lot more songs in the cloud than you can on even the iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad with the largest hard drives. This means that you can listen to any song you have access to anywhere in the world so long as you have an active Internet connection.

Music+

In addition to offering the ability to play your entire music collection, Music+ also has one feature that many other applications don’t. It includes the ability to find the full lyrics to nearly any song in your collection. So long as the Meta tags are accurate for a particular file, Music+ will be able to show you the lyrics with the tap of a button.

Audible

If you’re the type of person that buys audio books on Audible.com, the official Audible application is a must have. While the native “Music” application can also handle Audible.com audio books, only the Audible application offers Wi-Fi delivery of your library and detailed listening statistics for your complete collection.

FlyCast Select

FlyCast Select offers a variety of other features in addition to the ability to play your music. FlyCast Select not only plays your existing collection but lets you expand it through various music services and Internet radio stations. In addition to music, FlyCast Select also offers video playback capability from online providers like ABC World News and the CBS Evening News.