How to Use Anti-Malware Software to Protect Your Computer

The most effective way of dealing with malicious software is by deploying anti-malware software against it. Malicious software also known as malware such as viruses, worms and Trojan horses are software deliberately designed to harm your computer. You must therefore, ensure that you run up-to-date antivirus and antispyware software to help protect your computer from attack.


The windows operating system does not come with antivirus software. Therefore, if you do not presently run up-to-date antivirus software on your PC, you should immediately deploy one because any computer that is connected to the internet without one is susceptible to attack. There are many credible antivirus software publishers online that you can check out and subscribe to their product. They will work you through the process of downloading and installing the software. Also, you must regularly visit the publisher’s website to check for and download any available updates of your software to your computer.


On the other hand, if your computer runs the windows operating system, you already have Windows Defender embedded within the system which can help to protect your computer against malicious and unwanted software such as spyware and adware. You can also go online to subscribe to other antispyware software if you choose to.


The first thing you should do with the Windows Defender is to turn the Real-Time Protection on, because it alerts you when spyware or other potentially unwanted software attempts to install itself or run on your computer. It will also alert you if programs attempt to change important windows settings. To turn your Windows Defender Real-time Protection on, follow these procedures;
1. From the control panel, click to open Windows Defender
2. Click Tools, and then click Options
3. Under Real-Time protection Options, select the Use Real-Time Protection (Recommended) check box.
4. Select the options you want. It is highly recommended that you select all real-time protection options to ensure the effective protection of your computer and privacy.
5. Under Choose if Windows Defender should notify you about; select the options you want, and then click Save.


The next step you must take is to run or schedule regular computer scans with windows defender. You can either run or schedule a full computer scan if you want windows defender to check all files and programs on your computer or you schedule a quick scan to enable windows defender to check the areas of your PC that spyware or other potentially unwanted software is most likely to infect.


To enhance your computer security, you can choose to automatically remove spyware that is detected during a scan. Moreover, it is highly recommended to check for new windows defender definitions before scheduled spyware scan on your machine. Windows defender definitions are files that act like an encyclopaedia of known spyware and other potentially unwanted software. Because spyware is constantly being developed, windows defender relies on up-to date definitions to determine if software that is trying to install, run, or change settings on your computer is potentially malicious. To schedule an automatic daily computer scan and check for updated definitions for windows defender, follow the simple steps below;
1. From the control, click to open Windows Defender
2. Click Tools, then click Options
3. Under Automatic scanning, select the Automatically Scan my Computer (Recommended) check box, and then select the frequency, time of the day and type of scan that you want to run.
4. Select the Check for updated Definitions before Scanning check box.
5. To automatically remove spyware or other potentially unwanted software after a scan, select Apply Default Actions to items detected during a Scan check box.
6. Under Default Actions, select the actions that you want to apply to each windows defender alert, and then click save.


For software with a severe alert rating, the selection of default action is not required as windows defender will automatically remove it or alert you to remove it. However, if software has not been classified, for potential risks to your computer or your privacy, you are prompted to review information about the software and then choose an action. You must be aware that if windows defender alerts you about a software and you ignore it by selecting ignore from the list of available actions, you are allowing the program to run on your PC. But, if the software acts suspiciously later, windows defender will alert you about it again or automatically apply actions that you have set for each kind of alert.


When windows defender alerts you about software that you trust, to stop windows defender from automatically removing it or putting it in quarantine, you should add the program to the windows defender allowed list. You can always remove any software from the allowed list anytime you decide you want to monitor it again.


Whatever you do, please do not allow software with severe or high alert ratings to run on your computer because it could put both your computer and your privacy at risk.