Computer virus is the main threat to computer safety nowadays. Various computer viruses or malware can break the protective barrier of your computer and then allow criminals or hackers to steal personal data or financial information. So, how to protect computer from virus? You will get some useful methods in the following part.
Part 1: Top Methods to Protect Computer from Virus
Way 1. Install a Firewall App
A Firewall app will warn you when a virus or malware is trying to infecting your computer. So, it is helpful to prevent viruses, worms, malware and attackers from trying to accessing your apps and data on your computer.
Defender Firewall is a Windows built-in Microsoft firewall. It can keep your computer safe usually when you use it. Of course, other such utilities can also be used to strengthen the protection of your computer.
Way 2. Use Antivirus Software
Antivirus software plays an important role in data protection from computer viruses. Indeed, a professional antivirus program can help you block most viruses and malware. Just install one on your computer and keep it updated.
Except for daily protection, antivirus software can be used to scan computer for viruses, spyware, and other malware. So, you can run antivirus scan regularly to check if your computer is free from virus or not. To deal with the new threats, you can check for updates frequently.
As a built-in antivirus program, Microsoft Defender is a good choice. In addition, there are other reliable antivirus apps available, such as McAfee, Norton, etc. Therefore, you can choose a third-party antivirus app to install on your computer to keep computer much safer.
Way 3. Activate SmartScreen Filter
SmartScreen is a feature in Microsoft Edge to inform you when you are trying to enter an unsafe website. For example, phishing sites or malicious other sites may attack your browser directly or attack computer with various forms.
Therefore, when you are on Microsoft Edge, you can turn on the SmartScreen feature. In general, it is enabled by default. What you need to do is making a confirmation to ensure it is activated.
Here is the guide.
① Go to Microsoft Edge.
② Click three dots button to enter Settings.
③ Type smartscreen in the search box. Find Microsoft Defender SmartScreen and make sure it is turned on.
You can also enable SmartScreen Filter feature in Windows Security.
① Type windows security in Windows search box. Choose the first result and open it.
② Go to App & browser control > tick Warn for Microsoft Store apps.
Then, you should pay attention to the warnings or notifications when use Windows Store apps.
For example, you may get a warning message if you attempt run an unrecognized program downloaded from internet, instead of Microsoft Store. Under this circumstance, you need to consider to continuing using it or not.
Way 4. Don’t Open Emails from Unfamiliar Users
Emails may be also used to spread virus or malware by attaching them to the email message. If you open this kind of emails, virus can invade your computer, causing data damaged or stolen, which results in big loss go you.
So, to avoid this issue, you’d better not open emails or attachments from unknown or unfamiliar users unless you can make sure the source is safe.
Way 5. Don’t Visit Suspicious Websites
Virus may come from malicious website. Keep in mind that not all websites are secure to visit. When the browser informs you that the website or link you want to open is unsafe, or the website or link attempts to run an app on your computer, just be careful. You’d better quit visiting this website.
You also need to tell the website is safe or not as the web browser will not always notify you. Keeping this behavior is helpful to protect computer from virus.
Way 6. Don’t Install Cracked Program
As usual, you need to pay for genuine program, but can get cracked program for free. So, there are many cracked programs on internet for free download. However, this is not a sensible way to protect computer from virus.
This is because cracked software can make your computer hard to detect bugs, which causes other computer issues. Even worse, some cracked software may be implanted with viruses that can attack your computer and data saved in it. So, you’d better not choose the cracked programs.
Way 7: Keep Windows System Up-to-Date
Microsoft always releases new versions with some latest security updates, with which security threats and bugs can be fixed. So, you should keep computer updated to protect it against virus and malware.
Please follow this guide to update Windows system:
① Click Start > Settings > Update & Security.
② Check if there are any available updates. Then, choose one to download and install it following the on-screen instruction.
Way 8. Turn on User Account Control
User Account Control (short for UAC), is a basic Windows security component. It can reduce the impact of malware. If some changes (needing administrator permission) will be made on computer, User Account Control will remind you to make a decision.
You can check if the User Account Control is enabled or not in this way:
① Enter User Account Control in Windows search box.
② Open it to get the main interface.
③ You can choose one level from two recommended ones on basis of your needs.
Way 9. Pay Attention to Downloaded Files
It is very common to download files from internet, such as documents, videos, music and other kinds of files. However, if they are from unsafe sources, viruses may be contained to threaten your computer security.
So, be careful when you need to download. Do not download files from risky or untrusted source. If you receive warning from security tool, just check if it is safe.
If you are not sure the downloaded files are secure, you can use the installed antivirus software to scan the device (saving the download) for virus, and get rid of them from computer.
Part 2: Recover Data Lost due to Virus Attack
If you are suffering file lose caused by virus attack, do you know how to find them? In this section, I’ll show you how to recover lost data with a file recovery program.
MiniTool Power Data Recovery is a freeware for data recovery. It comes with 4 recovery modules: This PC, Hard Disk Drive, Removable Disk Drive and CD/DVD Drive. With the help of it, you can recover data from various storage devices, including hard drives, USB drives, memory cards, etc.
Now, let’s see the detailed steps of data recovery from hard drive.
Step 1: After installing it on your computer, open it to get the main interface.
Step 2: Select the drive (needing to be recovered) and click Scan.
Step 3: Wait a while until the scanning process ends. Browse the scan results to find out what you need.
Step 4: Tick on the needed items and then click Save to keep them to a storage location.
Bottom Line
Have you got the tips to protect computer from virus? Computer security is important for anyone, so please take it serious and pay attention to these actions.
When you are caught in data loss due to virus attack or other logical errors, don’t worry as you have chance to get it back easily with MiniTool Power Data Recovery.
In the end, if you have any ideas or related issues, please feel free to contact us by leaving a comment below. Hope this post can be helpful.
