Update Your Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware

We have referred many people to AVG Anti-virus AVG because it is an excellent anti-virus program and is free to personal users. However, just because you have an anti-virus program loaded on your machine, don't assume this is always up-to-date and that you are fully protected.
-If you have AVG Anti-virus loaded, you should be able to see the AVG icon (yellow, blue, red and green square) in the lower right-hand corner of your computer. Click on the bracket in the blue circle to expand the icons if you initially do not see this. Right-click on the AVG icon and select "Update Now." This will search for any updates to the software. You will need to have Internet access in order for the updates to occur.
-Even if you have an anti-virus program, you can still get viruses if you click on an unknown attachments (be especially careful with .exe attachments). Never double-click on an attachment unless you are 100% sure it is safe.

Keep Your Computer Clean

Remember to clean your computer by deleting old or duplicate files, unneeded emails, temp files and emptying out your Internet cache and recycle bin. Keeping excess documents will slow your computer down.

Back Up Your Data!

Recovering data is a lot more stressful and expensive than having an existing data backup system in place. Whether it's a daily online data backup or a periodic backup to an external hard drive, make sure you don't lose critical data! Contact us at 303.596.8567 or at support@52890computers.com for a consultation and estimate to backup your data.

Wait, don't click on that attachment!

Even with anti-spam software spammers often succeed in getting into your inbox posing as reputable companies to obtain your personal information (AKA phishing) or to infect your computer with a virus. Worse yet, sending emails from your computer to your contacts with the virus! Below are some common "fake" emails we've seen lately:

-Google asking for update information
-Chase asking for update information
-UPS - "Your package was not delivered"
And there are many, many more. It's frustrating sifting through the mass of emails, but always follow these simple rules to protect yourself:

-NEVER open an attachment in an email unless you absolutely, 100% know this is a safe file. Biggest virus culprets: .zip and .exe files.
-Never respond to any sort of email asking for personal information. Call the company to confirm if you think they need this information.
Unfortunately, there is no easy, full-proof way to comletely rid your inbox of spam, but you can increase your security settings in Outlook, or other email programs. If you need help increasing your security setings, or would like to consider a more advanced solution to spam prevention, email 5280 Computers or call us.