I previously thought use of antivirus programs to protect against computer viruses was common knowledge, but as a tech support guy, I’ve now realise there are still many people out there who either don’t have an antivirus program or are not using it properly.
So I’ve posted this for the sake of educating those about antivirus programs and how to use them properly.
Hopefully, with greater knowledge, you’ll be better able to protect your computer and the important project, video, music, and other files.
** First of all, if you do NOT currently have an antivirus program installed on your computer, get one NOW!!! A free and good antivirus program you can download and install is Avira.

Some important points to note about antivirus programs.
1. Either use a free and good antivirus program which allows you to keep updating itself with new virus data definition files, or ensure you regularly renew your paid subscription to continue getting updated virus data definition files.
Reason for pt#1:
If your antivirus program is not updated with the latest virus data definition file, then the antivirus program cannot detect the hundreds and thousands of new viruses which are produced every month by bored hackers and other fellows with lots of free time and little scruples. Therefore, an antivirus program not updated with new virus data definition files is essentially useless against the thousands of new viruses produced every month.
2. DO NOT install more than one antivirus program at the same time on your computer (uninstall the antivirus program which you no longer want to use, restart the computer, then install the new antivirus program)
Reason for pt#2:
If more than one antivirus program is installed at the same time on yourr computer, each antivirus program normally thinks the other is a virus. For example, Norton Antivirus is particularly fussy about working with other antivirus programs.

For now just remember, to install an antivirus program, eg. Avira, if you currently do not have one, ensure your virus data definition file for your antivirus program is regularly updated (you can usually open the antivirus program, and there should be a line somewhere which shows you the current date for your virus data definition files, a date which is more than one month old is NOT advisable), and don’t have more than one antivirus program running at the same time.