Viruses/Malware: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Choose your virus protection carefully. Check out CNET’s pages about antivirus software to see their rankings based on popularity, name brand, manufacturer, rating, review date and price. CNET does not mention AVG by Grisoft (www.grisoft.com) which is free antivirus software.

Staying virus-free doesn’t end with installing anti-virus software. Virus protection is only as good as its DAT’s (virus definition files). Unless the DAT’s are up-to-date, your computer becomes vulnerable to the newest, toughest viruses that emerge.

How often should you update your DAT’s? A new flu vaccine comes out every year: new DAT’s come out weekly. Our advice? Update every few days. And double-check that it actually happens–many viruses wipe out the live update feature.

What to do if you’re already infected? Some viruses are very difficult to remove once they’ve infected your computer. If your antivirus software can’t eliminate a stubborn virus, try running the online check at www.antivirus.com.

If you follow this prescription for a healthier computer, you’ll keep those nasty viruses at bay.