2 Incredibly Simple Tricks That You Can Use to Protect Your PC from Viruses

Removing a virus from your computer can be as easy as deleting a file and getting rid of a few registry keys, or as troublesome as searching the net for a cure for hours only to find out later that you have to backup your files and reformat your harddrive.

Yes, viruses can cost time, money and effort specially in a large company that uses computers to run its business. Even the home user like you and me can spend time, money and effort to get rid of these electronic "pests" that can threaten our programs and data.

Most people rely on antivirus products to prevent  these intruders from infecting their computers and also for removing them. These antivirus products can be bought or downloaded for free from the internet. Just like any software, these products have their own advantages and disadvantages and it's up to the user to make comparizons in order to choose the best one for his needs.

But why use these antivirus programs if there is a much better and cheaper ( or free) solution? Why not deal with the main cause of the spread of viruses?

The Real Cause

The real cause of all these virus infections is this: unauthorized code or program execution. A computer gets infected when it allows a program to run without the user's permission or knowledge. As you may well know, a computer virus is just another program that copies or replicates itself just like its biological counterpart. It runs when we run an infected program or when we insert an external disk that contains an autorun.inf file that loads the virus that has already put a copy of itself on the storage medium. In the old days, a computer can get infected when a user boots his computer from a infected startup disk.

So how do we deal with this unauthorized program execution? There are two posible ways, both of which will not cost you anything but your time and effort.


Install Linux on Your Computer


Like I said in a previous post, I use linux at home. I have never had a problem with any virus or spyware after I started using it. Linux could be difficult for the novice but linux distros or flavors like Ubuntu can make it easier for them.

The good thing about Ubuntu, aside from being free, is that it makes it difficult if not impossible for a virus to infect a computer. Unlike Microsoft Windows, it does not  allow a "foreign" program to run without the user's permission. The user also must have a way to permit  it.  This requires him to switch to "privileged mode" when he wants to change a file's permission. All these requirements make it difficult for a virus  to a infect a linux computer.



Use Software Restriction Policy

Software restriction policy or SRP helps Microsoft Windows users "mimic" how linux works. SRP prevents executable files from running without some special configuration. This effectively prevents viruses, or any other program for that matter, from running and affecting a computer. Together with a "limited" user account, SRP can be used to fight viruses if you really cannot avoid using Windows on your computer.

I will try to write a short howto on SRP and post it on this website. You can also look it up with Google if you cannot wait and if you really need it now.


There could be other tricks or ways for protecting your computer from viruses without using an antivirus product but those that I described above are the only ones that I have tried and tested at home and in the office. I may need to update this article soon because of the newer versions of  Windows.

Like someone said, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Let's keep our computers clean, let's keep viruses away from our machines.