The internet is known for its vast amount of information. The amount of information is continually growing each and everyday. There are also so many different activities one can do on the internet, from playing, publishing articles, creating websites to downloading music and everything in between. But what most people do not know is that there are people out there to cause harm to your PC! Most harm that is done to your PC will ultimately affect your PC performance.


Technology is changing so fast that your computer may already be out of date. Out of date computers will often result in poor PC performance. It’s a difficult and daunting task but staying in touch with PC technology can help your PC run faster and better if you take the steps to prepare for it.

The amount of possible harmful material on the internet is just about countless. The number of harmful programs, scripts and other materials is growing at a faster rate than the internet is growing. You may be unaware of it but simply being connected to the internet can cause harm to your PC. People who produce these harmful things often do it in a way to make it go unnoticed. It’s not uncommon for you to have several viruses on your computer as you read this and not even know it. That is why it is imperative to have antispyware software constantly running on your computer. However, simply installing the best antispyware will not make you immune to harmful material on the internet. You have to be trained to identify these materials.

Most antispyware software will not remove harmful viruses from your computer. They are more for prevention of getting these viruses. It has been said that once your computer is infected, the only way to successfully get rid of the infection is to reformat your hard drive. In most cases this is true. However, if you take the time to teach yourself the most common pitfalls people make while using their computer, you can prevent that from ever being a possibility.


The easiest way to prevent your computer from ever being effected by viruses is to simply never connect to the internet. But that is impractical and just about defeats the purpose of buying a PC. The PC was built around being able to do things on-line. Your internet connection type will have a lot to do with how safe you are. For starters, those on dial-up have the least amount of risk. The main reason being is that you are not always connected to the internet. No harm can come to your computer if you do not put yourself in danger of being on-line all the time. Simply loading a webpage with a java script that contains a virus can begin downloading it to your PC.

If you have ever used dial up for an internet connection you know that download speeds are extremely slow. Even a small virus will take several minutes to download to your PC. Chances are you will log off the internet before the virus can be fully downloaded to your PC. However, on a computer that uses a constant connection to the internet, it’s a whole new ball game. Java scripts can be loaded from viewing a web page. The script will actually save the website script into a folder on your hard drive. This can create a back door for possible threats to come in and out whenever they please.

Java script is so advanced that it doesn’t even require you to be doing anything for it to run something it downloads on your computer, even though you’re not surfing the web. Through the use of cookies and other programming languages, viruses can be downloaded on your computer through any webpage or pop up window in a matter of seconds and be over before you even know what is going on. Each new virus that is programmed each year has a specific goal in mind, which is to defeat your antivirus software. It’s a thrill that the programmers who write them get out of it, beating your security! Other intentions may be in their mind as well, such as taking control of your computer or its resources. When this happens you will notice that your computer is becoming slower and slower.

That is because your computer is working over time doing the things you want to do, plus whatever the virus is telling it to do. Some of the most dangerous viruses can even cause your computer to not be able to boot into windows.

This is the reason you must stay on top of your antivirus software. Simply installing it and running it every once in a while is simply NOT enough anymore. It is advisable to keep your antivirus software up to date as much as possible. Check for updates daily, scan your computer daily and it also a good idea to have more than one types of antispyware on your computer. Some viruses are specifically made to get around certain types of antispyware software’s. If one misses it the other is more likely to catch it. Perhaps one of the biggest problems in getting your computer the antispyware it needs is the cost involved. Some of the best pieces of antispyware software’s charge a pretty high initial fee and monthly charges on top of that. The good news is this, the best software for antispyware are often the most targeted for viruses. The next newest virus is going to be programmed for the sole purpose of getting past “Insert Popular Virus Protection Here”. So why is this good news you may ask? Simple, there are a few antispyware programs out there today that you can download for FREE! Most of them work just as good and you don’t have to spend a dime. Here is just a short list…

-     AVG
-     Ewido
-     S&D (Search and Destroy)

Even with these or other antispyware software’s your computer is still very susceptible Let’s take a look at the common mistakes people make that wind up infecting their computers.

If you have ever been surfing the internet and you see a pop up telling you that your computer is infected with x amount of viruses, 90% of the time that in itself is a virus. It will often give you another link and lead to a download that will supposedly clean your computer of the infections. What it actually does is infect your computer and opens a door for even more viruses to invade your computer. Another mistake people make is going overboard on downloading. It’s fairly common for people to use P2P programs such as Kazaa or Limewire and download music, pictures or videos.

Using these types of P2P programs is often the leading cause of infection on any computer. Things that are downloaded from these programs are almost always infected with some type of virus. Getting viruses through e-mail is becoming more and more common today as well. The best way to avoid these types of viruses to avoid opening e-mails from people you don’t know, only download files from P2P programs from trusted users and make sure you have ample pop up protection. Although even the best pop up protection will still miss a few pop ups and you will get pop ups. The trick here is to be able to tell the difference between legit pop ups and harmful popups or just avoid them all together. You have to be extra careful when closing popups now days. Some of the trickiest pop ups go as far as replacing the red X, the one that is supposed to close the window, with their own; which will end up running the whatever it is the popup was trying to get you to download. It would be in your best interest to just open up the task manager, by pressing Ctrl + Alt + Del, and highlighting the task name for the popup and clicking end task.

Having enough viruses on your computer will slow your computer down and ultimately reduce your computers efficiency to at least 50%. With enough viruses it could make your computer completely unusable. Take caution when surfing the net and do not download anything that you can not trust completely. Keeping your computer clean of viruses is only half the problem. Technology is on the move and it doesn’t stop for anyone. Keeping your computer current seems to be an uphill battle but it can be done.

One of the most annoying things about buying a cheap computer today is that within 2 months your computer will start running more and more slowly. The reason behind this is simply because you start doing more with your computer the more time you spend on it. You wind up using more programs that auto start when you turn your computer on, you begin to do multiple things at once. The more you do with your computer, the more resources you will need. Doing just about anything on your computer requires RAM. RAM is the single most important piece of hardware to consider if you want to keep your computer running smoothly. Simply put, the more you have the better your computer will perform.

Depending on the type of computer you have you may or may not be able to add more RAM to it. Cheap store bought computers will often give you 512MB of RAM and leave little, if any, room for upgrading. The cheap computers are built at the cheapest prices for them to make the most profit out of it. The cheap parts that they buy will severely limit your upgradeability. These cheap parts only leave you with enough room to install a maximum of 1GB of RAM. Taking care of this problem lies completely in your hands. While it may seem worth it to purchase a cheap computer, in long run you will just be setting yourself up for some major headaches. To keep your computer running smoothly it can no longer be thought of as a cheap toy. You have to take the initiative to make it a lifetime investment.

When you are looking to purchase a computer, or replace your existing computer, be sure to ask about the upgrade capabilities. Ask how much maximum RAM it can hold and don’t buy into it if it doesn’t at least support 2GB. Read an article or two on the newest computer technologies before you buy to see what’s new and what is planed for the future. Make sure to do a little research before you buy and it will save you time and money with future upgrades.Keeping your computer running smoothly requires an aggressive stance on keeping your computer safe and knowing what you’re buying. Without following these two simple rules you are sure to have many head ache in keeping the performance of your computer satisfactory.