Below you can find a new list of FREE Antivirus and PC protections tool as an alternative to paid software or older security software

Viruses, malware and other malicious programs can cause data loss and corruption, and is a serious headache for many Windows users. Luckily there are a number of free programs that can be used to keep these threats at bay. In this article, I will list the best utilities available and how to use them.

Backing up your computer is an essential process. Viruses, malware and hardware failure can all lead to you losing critically important data like bank details, personal documents, music and other files of significant value. If you backup on a regular basis however, if you lose your data you can restore it easily.

This tutorial will guide you step by step through backing up your hard drive using DriveImage XML.

Mozilla Firefox is a powerful browser out of the box, but its extensions system is what makes it the most versatile browser available.

Aside from its versatility, it is also faster, more secure and more stable than Internet Explorer 7, and the upcoming release of version 3 is going to add even more improvements and features.

Thousands of extensions are available, allowing you to add a huge amount of extra features, from enhancing security to adding features for web development and email. This tutorial will show you how to turbocharge Firefox with the best extensions available.

Comodo Firewall Pro is a powerful, free and easy to use firewall which is vastly superior to Windows built-in firewall.

It secures your computer against both internal and external threats. Protect your computer today from hackers, viruses, spyware and trojans by installing this excellent option.

A huge virus surge of a new Storm Worm variant is flooding e-mail inboxes and evading many antivirus programs. In my tests of 31 programs, only four reported a virus.

Postini, an e-mail security company, says that over the last 24 hours it has seen about 55 million virus e-mails, about 60 times the daily average. The first e-mails had romance-themed subjects: "A kiss so gentle," or "I dream of you," for instance. The latest batch attempts to fool readers--with subjects like "Worm Alert!" or "Virus Alert!"--into thinking they are already infected and need to apply a supplied patch--an attached virus

If it's about online security, barely a story can go by without mention of two protection essentials : anti-virus products and firewalls. Yet there are other kinds of safety-focused programs hoping to earn a place in your toolbox.

10 must do tips to make your Windows PC more secure

These tips are geared towards Windows however they are just as relevant for Linux and Mac OS users too.

Connecting to the Internet is like opening a door to your computer. Through that door, you can easily go online to shop, read the latest news, send e-mail, and more. But an open door also allows hackers to easily gain access to your PC.

Once inside, hackers can steal your valuable personal data, such as bank account numbers and passwords. Your PC can be used without your knowledge to launch attacks on other computers, even on entire networks. A hacker can render your computer useless—to everyone except the hacker.

In the context of computer software, a Trojan horse is a program that contains or installs a malicious program (sometimes called the payload or 'trojan'). The term is derived from the classical myth of the Trojan Horse. Trojan horses may appear to be useful or interesting programs (or at the very least harmless) to an unsuspecting user, but are actually harmful when executed.

HERE ARE SIX SIMPLE THINGS YOU CAN DO TO HELP KEEP SPAM AT BAY. Check out those basic rules to avoid spam robots to use your email for spaming !

Along with viruses, one of the biggest threats to computer users on the Internet today is malware (malicious software). Malware can hijack your browser, redirect your search attempts, serve pop-up ads, track what web sites you visit, and generally mess things up. Malware programs are usually poorly-programmed and can cause your computer to become unbearably slow and unstable in addition to all the other havoc they wreak.

The easiest way to deal with malware is to not get it in the first place. A little bit of common sense helps, but experience goes a lot farther. Experienced computer users, like it or not, hopefully possess the common sense that will let them avert potential disasters.

This edge can be acquired. The distinction is largely one of attitude, one which for lack of a better term I'll call "skeptical computing." We can examine this attitude and see how it reacts to common sources of trouble.

Beyond skeptical computing, there are other preventive measures you can take to secure your computer. Verify that your Internet Explorer security settings are set correctly. To do this, open up Internet Explorer and go to the Tools menu. Click on "Internet Options." Go to the Security tab and click on the globe labeled "Internet." Then click the "Custom Level" button. Make sure "Download signed ActiveX controls" is set to "Prompt" (if you think you have everything installed that you need, you can set this to "Disable" for extra security), "Download unsigned ActiveX controls" is set to "Disable," and "Initialize and script ActiveX controls not marked as safe" is set to "Disable."

GAIN

One of the oldest and best known examples of malware is from the company Claria, which changed its name from Gator in 2003. Unlike most malware creators, Claria is a legitimate corporation with several big name advertisers and offices in both the United States and Europe. Claria is the maker of Gator Advertising and Information Network Publishing (or just GAIN), which actually consists of two programs that run in the background and work together. One program pops up ads while the other collects personal information. GAIN is typically bundled with other programs, including several published by Claria.

searchWWW

searchWWW is a malware program that is installed by the widely-used cjb.net redirection service. As a bonus, searchWWW has a hijacker component as well adware. The adware portion, once installed, will occasionally pop up ad windows. If we let the program run for a while, a collection of different popups will appear, including one that correctly warns that "AdWare" and "SpyWare" are installed on the computer.

When a domain name's nameservers change, it can cause an annoyingly long wait until the website becomes accessible again.

Apart from your ISP having to refresh the DNS cache on their servers , other issues on your local PC can also cause DNS problems

Sometimes a reboot is sufficient, but there is a quicker way of solving the problem.