You need to install an antivirus and anti-spyware program on your computer and keep them up to date. There are a number of good ones available, and some are free.

If you use your computer for personal purposes there are several good products available for free. If it is a business computer then most products you will need to buy.

My favorite three anti-malware programs are AVG, which removes and prevents spyware and viruses; Norton anti-virus, which does a good job preventing and removing viruses and Superantispyware, which removes and prevents spyware.

There are a number of other products also that many like and use. TrendMicro, ClamWin and Avast are other good ones for viruses. Spysweeper, Adaware and Spybot are some other popular ones for spyware.

For business, Clamwin is a free product (they will take donations). Some of the others al-low you use for a limited time and then buy for business.

For personal use, all of them are available for free except Norton, Spysweeper and TrendMicro. All of the free ones will take donations.

In all cases, the biggest item after installing is to make sure you do updates regularly (at least once a month but preferably once a week) for the virus/spyware signatures. Most of the programs will do automatic updates for a time period, but it does not hurt to update more often. Also do regular scans.

Dwight Watt is a computer instructor at a technical college in northwest Georgia and also does computer work for businesses, individuals and organizations in the Swainsboro area. His webpage is www.dwightwatt.com.