Virus Protection Computer viruses are deadly. And, each day new more sophisticated ones appear on computers around the world. How does a computer get a virus? The most common way of getting a virus is from an email attachment (a file connected to an email message). Attachments can be Word files, Excel files, JPEGs, GIFs, or any type of file, even small computer programs. The virus starts its work when you open and run these attached files. Learn how to prevent getting an email virus. The other way to get a virus is from a file on a floppy or Zip disk. An infected file used on a "clean" computer infects that computer. Please scan your files or disks for viruses before sharing them with others. We do that regularly and it helps! Many believe that since the Virus Protection Software came on their newly purchased Computer that they are protected. This is not true. Most likely they have not registered it with the designer company and they are not receiving any new Anti-Virus Up-Dates. The software on their machine could be 6 months old or even older. That means that 6 months worth of new viruses exist that your computer Anti-Virus Program will not recognize when they are received. Just because one has a pretty little window that shows up that says something about Virus Control software does not mean it is working. And, the version of the Anti-Virus Software itself could be old even if all the other software are brand new versions. Most technicians recommend the programs and services of either McAfee or Norton Anti-Virus Protection programs and services. We prefer McAfee and that is whose program and service we obtained. McAfee sends an E-Mail daily that lets us know whether we need to download any up-dates for our Anti-Virus Shield. We also go to their website no less than once a week and have them Scan our computer while on line. WHAT SHOULD YOU DO WHEN YOU DISCOVER YOU HAVE A VIRUS When we have McAfee scan the computer on-line and they detect a virus, they will provide directions for how to clean or delete it. Unless you are knowledgeable on repairing programs, do not try to clean your computer of Viruses by yourself. In the long run, payment to someone to clean the viruses will be cheaper than payment to someone for reinstalling one or many programs whose files you have deleted while trying to get rid of your viruses.