| Removal of viruses and spyware are usually the top causes of computer conundrums for the Windows™ user. Your best solution of course is prudence. Don't use "free music download services." They are stealing anyway. If you have an internet router, you can block such domains as kazaa.com gnutella.com etc... Using a paid music download service sugh as the iTunes music store, AOL music or other competitors in that industry. (Pesonally, I'm an iTunes fan for many reasons that I won't list here. Don't use Internet Explorer or Outlook anymore. They have been the perfect vehicles for most viral and spyware infections throughout the past and Microsoft still has yet to solve the security problems involved.. Instead, use Mozilla Firefox for the web and Thunderbird for email. If you are using a corporate network with a Windows NT domain, Thunderbird may not be your best bet however. If you don't know if you're using a Windows NT domain, you probably are not.
However, even with perfect prudence, a windows computer can still become easily infected. For this reason, have antivirus and antispyware installed. there are commercial programs such as Norton and Mcaffee, Consumer Reports online has a free report on these commercial programs. However, you may also find good free solutions, so if you don't want to keep renewing commercial software subscriptions every year (a minimal expense) then do download the free software linked below.
If possible, remove Windows from your life as a primary operating system. Look seriously at making your next computer a Macintosh. In April of 2006, Apple released a way to run Windows on it's current Intel based Macintosh computers. This makes the Macintosh the only popular workstation with a choice good, easy to manage and learn operating systems. (Disagree? Argue this in my online forums).
Whether you run Windows on a Mac or any other of the good and not so good Intel and AMD based computers, do run antivirus and spyware applications. This combination of free anti-virus and spyware packages work for me.
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