As a writer, your computer is your most important tool. To protect it and your work, you need to have virus protection software enabled and recent backups.

I require all the computers I support to have virus protection software installed. By support, I mean that if the computer gets a virus, it’s my job to fix it. I also require that the program be allowed to update whenever it wants.

As I write this, my father-in-law’s computer is winging its way to me. Apparently he visited some crossword puzzle sites. His software warned him about a dangerous site. It also advised him to close the browser immediately.

Of course, he didn’t. Now, the computer is mine to fix.

From what he told me with the help of his neighbor (it’s difficult to get useful information from a 92 year old man who only knows that he can’t read his email), I think the computer has a malware program that takes over when the computer is started.

It connects to the Internet. (It even re-enabled the wireless connection that I had shut off.) But, it’s just as happy to connect using dial-up. Then it refuses to let anyone do anything with the computer. I’m sure it’s off doing something nefarious.

A friend of mine had a similar problem where the computer was accessing some porn site that paid for clicks. The whole incident embarrassed him so, he didn’t want to show me the problem for awhile.

There are a few simple things you can do to keep your computer and your files safe.

• Install reliable virus protection software
• Let the software update every time it wants
• Let the computer reboot after the update if it wants
• Leave any site the software says is unsafe
• Backup your files on a regular basis

There are several brands of reliable anti-virus software. All the name brands are good. Most companies offer free trials and scans of your computer.

It’s best to prevent the virus or malware rather than removing it after it has installed itself.

Most of the software companies update the software at least once and more often several times a day. Let the updates happen.

A  major update will require you to reboot the computer. It’s better to reboot sooner rather than later.

Pay attention to any warning messages that show up. If you get a message that your own website is dangerous, it probably means that someone has hacked into your site and changed it.

If that happens, do a Google search for your site. If the dangerous message shows up, follow Google’s instruction to have your site reevaluated after you’ve corrected the problem.

Using Google Alerts can help you keep tabs on your website(s) even before your virus protection software can warn you that you have a problem.

Create a regular backup schedule and stick to it. After every writing session, copy your new files to a backup media. I’ll blog more about backups later.

Have you ever had a virus, malware, or hacking problem? Did you lose precious time and data? Leave me a comment and tell me about it.

Write on,

Lynn Jordan