Expert: Lorry - 4/1/2009

Question
I'm worried about the rumor of Conficker going around.  I
have an external Hard drive and if i do get infected with
Conficker will my data get erased? I don't really care
about my computer getting fried (i would rather it get
fried, its crap, lol) but is there anything i can do to
protect my hard drive?  

Thanks.

Answer
Hi Mitchell,

Am assuming that you have an anti-virus program installed, correct? Make sure you keep it up to date and run a virus scan once a week.

If you don't have an anti-virus program installed, this is the time to get one. AVG and Avast are top two freebies, check them out at:

http://download.cnet.com/AVG-Anti-Virus-Free-Edition/3000-2239_4-10320142.html

http://download.cnet.com/Avast-Home-Edition/3000-2239_4-10019223.html?tag=mncol

With either one, keep it up to date and run a scan once a week.

If you don't have a program to check for spyware, check out Malwarebytes Anti-Malware 1.35, a free program available from:

http://download.cnet.com/Malwarebytes-Anti-Malware/3000-8022_4-10804572.html

With the above, update first, then run a scan.

Hope this helps!
Lorry