There are tens of thousands of computer viruses and every day new ones are being created. Developing new viruses (and 'strains' and hoaxes) is seen as a challenge by their 'inventors' who attempt to spread them as fast as possible before they are detected and prevented. Viruses cause frustration, wasted time and lost data and cost UK industry millions of pounds a year.

Most viruses are spread by being hidden in an e-mail attachment. Some viruses don't even wait for you to send an e-mail to someone else but spread to others by sending (without you being aware of it) e-mails to some or all of your address book contacts. If there is any doubt about the veracity of an e-mail & its attachment don't open the attachment - the virus cannot infect your system, and therefore potentially others too, if an attachment remains unopened.

But the potential damage from a virus can be snuffed out at 'birth' by using an effective and up-to-date virus checker. A virus checker can also remove previously infected files and data, restoring them to a safe and 'clean' state.

Many good anti-virus software packages for PCs are available to purchase from companies like Symantec and McAfee (McAfee also has an online subscription service). 'Automatic' software updates (but only free for the first year) are provided to ensure viruses created since the software was produced are being caught.

AVG anti-virus system, excellent software and as used by the Editor of clickclick2, is available free (as a download) for personal use by UK users. Downloading should take around 20 minutes with a 56k modem (the file is about 6Mb in size) - a small price to pay for peace of mind. AVG anti-virus includes free ongoing updates too.

For information and advice about preventing hackers getting into your computer please click here.

Virus Checkers & Removers  McAfee (inc Dr Solomons)   Symantec (Norton)   Grisoft (AVG)  To download AVG anti-virus free click here and select a 'download' link