Over the last few months I have been helping more and more of my clients deal with spyware and viruses that infected their computers.  Many of my clients are like you - professionals who work from home.  Although not in every case, many of them let their kids or teens use their computer after hours.  Not that you shouldn't trust your kids, but it may not be a good idea to get a separate computer for the kids.

No matter your intentions, your kids may end up infecting your computer with a spyware or virus (or to an equal extent spill a food or drink in it).  This could result in a slew of pop-up ads, fake spyware programs installing themselves, losing the ability to connect to the Internet, inability to send or receive email, or even worse.

If you are thinking that a new computer isn't in the cards for your kids consider getting a new one for yourself and give the old one to your kids.

If this isn't viable, then consider getting your kids a used one.  Goodwill's Computer Works (in Austin) http://www.austincomputerworks.org/store.html and DiscountElectronics (in Austin) http://www.discountelectronics.com/ are excellent sources of refurbished computers that are ready-to-use.

Be sure to install protection software on the kid's computer (Perhaps AVG AntiVirus 8.0 Free http://www.avg.com/product-avg-anti-virus-free-edition).  For the kiddos, install some parental control software so you can make sure they don't visit sites they shouldn't (http://www.consumersearch.com/parental-control-software).

As an extra measure, set a password for your computer.  (In Windows XP: Start > Control Panel > User Accounts > Click your Account Name > Change my password.  Be sure to set your computer to turn-on the screen saver and the password when it kicks in (Start > control Panel > Display > Click the Screen Saver-tab > Check 'On resume, password protect', Click Apply, Click OK.)

A few hundred bucks now to purchase your kids a computer will be much cheaper in time and money it would take to recover your computer to get your operations up & running.  Something to think about.

That's it!

Originally Posted June 2 2008

If you are using AVG AntiVirus Free you may have noticed it warning that it will no longer be available on May 31.  What this really means is that AVG AntiVirus Free 7.5 is being phased out in lieu of AVGAntiVirus Free 8.0.  To upgrade to 8.0, here's what you have to do:

Delete the AVGAntiVirus Free and AVGAntiSpyware free by:
1. Click Start > Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs (If you have AVGAntiSpyware Free, it should be listed next to AVGAntiVirus Free.  Keep this in mind since you will need to delete this program too).
2. Click the AVGAntiVirus Free
3. Click Delete
4. Click the AVGAntiSpyware Free program if you have it
5. Click Delete
6. Restart the computer
7. Click on this link: http://free.grisoft.com/ww.download-avg-anti-virus-free-edition
8. Click on the AVG AntiVirus Free Edition 8.0 at the bottom, center of the page.
9. Click RUN when prompted
-AVGAntiVirus 8.0 Free downloads and installs

If you are wondering if you need to get an anti-spyware program don't worry.  AVGAntiVirus 8.0 combines the AntiVirus and AntiSpyware functions into one program.

In case you are wondering, AVGAntiVirus Free is licensed for non-commercial use for a single computer.  That translates into person who uses a their computer at home for checking their email and surfing the net.

If you like AVGAntiVirus and want to use it for your business computer, then the paid version (for only $51.99 with a 1 year subscription) is a good deal.  Not to mention AVG provides excellent protection without bogging down your computer.  Here's the link to paid AVGAntiVirus: http://www.grisoft.com/ww.product-avg-anti-virus