Gateway 400 manual Protecting your computer from viruses, 182

Chapter 13: Maintaining Your Computer

Protecting your computer from viruses

A virus is a program that attaches itself to a file on a computer, then spreads from one computer to another. Viruses can damage data or cause your computer to malfunction. Some viruses go undetected for a period of time because they are activated on a certain date.

Protect your computer from a virus by:

■Using the Norton® AntiVirus program to check files and programs that are on diskettes, attached to e-mail messages, or downloaded from the Internet.

■Checking all programs for viruses before installing them.

■Disabling macros on suspicious Microsoft Word and Excel files. These programs will warn you if a document that you are opening contains a macro that might have a virus.

■Periodically updating the Norton AntiVirus program to protect against the latest viruses.

Help and

Support

For more information about protecting your computer against viruses in Windows XP, click Start, then click Help

and Support.

Type the keyword viruses in the HelpSpot Search box , then click the arrow.

182 www.gateway.com