Yes, you do need to update your anti-virus and anti-spyware programs daily or as often as you go online each week. If you are lucky enough to have high-speed Internet access that is always on, then some protection programs will update themselves automatically. But if you are using a dial-up Internet provider, then you will need to manually update them yourselves.

By updating your computer protection programs daily, you are giving your computer the extra protection it needs from today’s annoying, destructive, and sometimes deadly, computer viruses. I know it takes some time to download and install the updates. But if you get a email with a virus attached, wouldn’t you rather have the virus program either fix or remove the problem before the virus can get into your computer to damage or delete your important information, files or even the operating system? The small amount of time it takes to do the update could possibly save you hours or days of major aggravation.

My system has never crashed therefore I don’t need to worry about my data.

I recently trained a local realtor on how to more efficiently use her office computer. I asked her how often she backs up her work data. The computer is three years old and the data has never been backed up.

What happens if a computer virus gets onto her system?

Possibly nothing if her anti-virus program is up-to-date and can fight off the infection. But if it’s not up to date, then data and programs could be damaged or deleted.

What happens if the computer's hard drive crashes or the system fails?

If the data is backed up, then it can be copied or restored onto a new hard drive or another computer. But if the data is not backed up, it’s all lost. Yes, years of important documents just disappear. They would all have to be re-entered in to be re-created.
Is it worth the chance?

The next article will discuss different media to back up your data onto.

Computer Care - We make house calls!
Computer Sales, Service and Support
Tel & Fax: (413) 567-3505
Email: computercare@comcast.net
Visit website: www.wemakehousecalls.biz