We don't want to be the bearers of Doom & Gloom but we have heard from many people who have fallen foul of viruses and spyware. It is an unfortunate fact that one day you may switch on your computer and not be able to load anything, do anything or connect to the Internet in order to get fixes or help. This means you have to prepare for this evenuality and if you are careful, it won't cost you a bean.

The latest versions of Windows offer some protection, but installing reliable software is also important - so long as you use it regularly!

Anti-Virus software is a must - with the number of virus riddled emails being sent, if you fail to keep your anti-virus software up to date, you are inviting a devastating attack on your computer files. AVG is free as are the updates.

Additionally, if you don't have a reliable firewall, try Zone Alarm which is extremely powerful - and of course FREE!

You may purchase professional versions of the above software if you wish.

How do you know you have got it?

The answer lies in the annoying search bars and search pages that replace your chosen search functionality with their own. One of the main culprits is "CoolWebSearch" or CWS who have about 10,000 affiliate websites including "GreatSearch.biz", "MyWebSearch" and others.

They make their money via clickthroughs and. as you have no choice but to use them, the money rolls in.

Getting rid of Spyware takes a bit of time but it is worth the effort. A badly infected machine will grind to a halt, probably necessitating a call out to an engineer or even worse, a complete format. A format completely wipes your hard drive of everything including your VAT records, accounts, letters - yes, everything.

In order to successfully protect your computer, it is vital that the free products on the right are updated every day and run at least once, every day - yes, every day.

We don't warrant or guarantee these products but we do use them daily. We also BACK-UP our business information every day - yes, every day.

We also find that if you do get infected and cannot clean your computer, enter the name of the virus or search page in "Google Groups" and you will almost certainly get help.