COMPUTER SECURITY Part 4 - PROCEED WITH CAUTION! Keeping a PC safe requires a lot of caution and some good judgement on the users part: DO: Use a software firewall at least, and a hardare firewall (router) if at all possible. Keep your operating system up to date. Read our Updates page for details. Use Antivirus and Spyware removal software, and keep them up to date. Keep the minimum number of background programs running on your PC. Check the Speed Up Your PC page for full details If you have users of your PC that you do not trust to follow these practices, then create user profiles with reduce privleges for them, so they cannot do things like install software. DON'T: Open email's or email attachments if you don't recognize the source, or they do not contain a personalized subject or message. Install any downloaded software you don't really need, it may install Spyware, or slow your machine down. Give out your email address unless you really need to. Use Peer to Peer file sharing services, like Kazaa, Limewire or Bearshare without scanning the downloaded files with your Anti-Virus software before using them. These files often contain viruses.