Downloads: How To Be Safe & Secure
There are many great products available for purchase and download these days for our personal computers. These include music, audiobooks, creative fonts, games and a variety of software. However, before you download something onto your computer, you need to make sure that the download won't infect your computer with a virus or malware. Here are some easy tips that can help keep you safe and secure.
In general, there are plenty of well-known trustworthy sources out there where you can download and feel pretty secure about it. For instance, you probably are pretty safe downloading a new song from iTunes or an e-book from the Kindle store at Amazon. Companies such as Apple, Microsoft and Google and other big names typically are safe, but there are plenty of other sources of downloads that are much more dubious. If you are downloading a free game from a source you don't know, you also might be downloading a "free" computer virus. If you don't know the source, do research about it prior to the download.
When you download a file, it will have an extension on the end of it. For instance, you might download a file that says computer.exe. This ".exe" is a file extension, and it often is attached to malicious software programs. Other extensions such as bat, pif, doc and scr might also be dangerous to download.
One of the easiest ways for malware to spread around is through email. While an email from an unknown source is easy to simply delete, we tend to open emails from co-workers, friends and family. Often these people will send perfectly legitimate links to a video or a specific website. On the other hand, sometimes the email will look a bit odd and ask you to click on a link with little or no explanation. This often means your friend's email account has been hacked and if you click on the link, you will be hacked as well. Hover over the link, but don't click on it, and check to see that the source matches the description. For instance, the email might say "check out this YouTube video," but the link actually doesn't go to YouTube, but some other site. Don't click on these links and when it doubt, just delete the email.
If something has a copyright on it, such as book, a song or a movie, you have to buy it from a legitimate source that is licensed to sell the product. However, often you can find "free" downloads of songs or movies that are pirated. Downloading pirated material is a bad idea for two reasons. For one, it is illegal and you can be subject to prosecution. Secondly, often these sites are simply download malware onto your system and you aren't getting anything for free except for the headache of computer problems or a huge security breach.
Still, malware happens and when it does, it can be a huge pain to remove and get your computer back up to speed. If you need Portland computer repair, such as malware removal, contact a company such as GeeksAKnockin'. Their team of experts can remove viruses, spyware, Trojans and other types of malware, as well as speeding up a sluggish PC, improving your security, updating software and hardware and much more. In addition to Portland computer support, they also offer Hillsboro computer repair, Beaverton computer support, Gresham computer support and in many other areas of Portland.
In general, there are plenty of well-known trustworthy sources out there where you can download and feel pretty secure about it. For instance, you probably are pretty safe downloading a new song from iTunes or an e-book from the Kindle store at Amazon. Companies such as Apple, Microsoft and Google and other big names typically are safe, but there are plenty of other sources of downloads that are much more dubious. If you are downloading a free game from a source you don't know, you also might be downloading a "free" computer virus. If you don't know the source, do research about it prior to the download.
When you download a file, it will have an extension on the end of it. For instance, you might download a file that says computer.exe. This ".exe" is a file extension, and it often is attached to malicious software programs. Other extensions such as bat, pif, doc and scr might also be dangerous to download.
One of the easiest ways for malware to spread around is through email. While an email from an unknown source is easy to simply delete, we tend to open emails from co-workers, friends and family. Often these people will send perfectly legitimate links to a video or a specific website. On the other hand, sometimes the email will look a bit odd and ask you to click on a link with little or no explanation. This often means your friend's email account has been hacked and if you click on the link, you will be hacked as well. Hover over the link, but don't click on it, and check to see that the source matches the description. For instance, the email might say "check out this YouTube video," but the link actually doesn't go to YouTube, but some other site. Don't click on these links and when it doubt, just delete the email.
If something has a copyright on it, such as book, a song or a movie, you have to buy it from a legitimate source that is licensed to sell the product. However, often you can find "free" downloads of songs or movies that are pirated. Downloading pirated material is a bad idea for two reasons. For one, it is illegal and you can be subject to prosecution. Secondly, often these sites are simply download malware onto your system and you aren't getting anything for free except for the headache of computer problems or a huge security breach.
Still, malware happens and when it does, it can be a huge pain to remove and get your computer back up to speed. If you need Portland computer repair, such as malware removal, contact a company such as GeeksAKnockin'. Their team of experts can remove viruses, spyware, Trojans and other types of malware, as well as speeding up a sluggish PC, improving your security, updating software and hardware and much more. In addition to Portland computer support, they also offer Hillsboro computer repair, Beaverton computer support, Gresham computer support and in many other areas of Portland.
About the Author:
Frankline Bell loves blogging reviews on computer repairs and support companies. To get further details about the best computer repair Hillsboro Oregon professionals or to find out more about Portland computer repair services, please check out the GeeksAKnockin site today.
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