Stay protected from viruses - Windows Tutorial

- [Instructor] You're probably aware of the existence of malicious programs called viruses, and the importance of keeping your computer protected from them. Viruses or malware as they're often referred to, are often created with the intent of stealing information from your computer, or sometimes just to mess with your computer by erasing important files. If you're using Windows 8 or later your PC comes with free antivirus software from Microsoft called Windows Defender. You can find it by going to the start menu, scrolling down to Windows Security, and here select the virus and threat protection category on the left-hand side. Generally. all antivirus software programs function pretty similarly. So even if you use something other than Microsoft software you get pretty much the same kind of protection. How it works is the antivirus software regularly scans your computer, looking for any viruses you might've picked up. Since new viruses or malware has always been discovered, the software also checks with an online database for new virus definition files so that it's always up-to-date with the latest new virus that has been found flooding around the internet. You can look here under virus and threat protection updates to see when the virus definitions were last updated. You can click check for updates and then click check updates to make sure you have the latest version. And I can see, I currently have the most current version. Now Windows Defenders should be active by default but you can click manage settings and here make sure real-time protection is switched on. Notice if I switch it off, I get this notification saying my PC is at risk and I see this little red X telling me that real-time protection is off. I'm going to turn that back on but basically once the antivirus software is running there's really not much you have to do except to periodically make sure that it is continuing to run. Back here on the main page, you can perform a manual scan by clicking quick scan. A quick scan checks the places where viruses are most likely to be hidden. I'm just going to cancel that for now. You can also click scan options to choose different types of scans. So a full scan checks every file and folder on your computer, and it could take a couple of hours depending on the size of your hard drive and how full it is. You can also select custom scan to specify particular folders you want to scan. For example, if someone sends you a file attached to an email, you might want to scan that file before opening it. And that actually leads me back to another important point about keeping your computer protected. You have to play an active role as well and you shouldn't just rely on antivirus software. Antivirus software attempts to catch malware once it's already gotten into your computer. By being vigilant, you can take steps to prevent malware from getting into your system in the first place. First of all, never open files or click links attached to emails from people you don't know. Oftentimes these will take you directly to malicious websites that may attempt to install malware on your system. If an email seems suspicious, don't forward it to other people, especially people who might not be aware of how to protect themselves from viruses and malware. When browsing the web, don't click the links in any pop-up ads that appear. Again, these could start the process of installing malware. And when it comes to installing software, ask yourself if it's coming from a reputable source. There's lots of great free software out there. But free software can often carry malicious code. Do your research, see if anyone else you know has used that software you're thinking of downloading. See if you can find out anything about the software somewhere other than the website you're thinking of downloading it from. And just like in real life, if something is too good to be true it probably is, offers a free money and huge discounts on products often lead to viruses. So those are just some things to keep in mind concerning keeping your computer and your information protected. If you're on an officer school network, you can also contact your network administrator to see what security measures they have in place, and what if any specific settings you should apply to your computer.