Resolve to protect your PC with four easy steps

(ARA) – As the new year approaches, many of us begin thinking about our New Year’s resolutions. However, we often forget one resolution that is increasingly important – to protect the health of our home PC.

From viruses to Trojans to spyware inadvertently downloaded while surfing the Internet, our computers constantly confront malicious software that can put the family PC at risk. And just as we resolve in the new year to improve our own health, we can resolve to improve the health of our PC, which can save considerable time, money and anxiety.

The question is, how does the average family keep its PC running at top speed and protected at the same time? To prevent malicious software and poor PC performance from ruining your new year, consider these four easy steps to help keep your PC running smoothly:

Remove unused programs to boost startup speed. Just because you aren’t using a program doesn’t mean it isn’t consuming resources and affecting your PC’s performance. Identifying and removing rarely used applications from the startup menu is an easy way to maintain the system and maximize the resources available to the programs you do use.
Install anti-virus software. Anti-virus software detects and removes viruses, which attach themselves to a program or file in order to spread from computer to computer where they cause PC issues and potentially compromise personal information. By installing anti-virus software and keeping it up to date, you help keep your computer free from destructive viruses and other malicious software.

Clean up temporary files. Obsolete temporary files can accumulate on your hard disk over time and slow down your PC. Removing these periodically is a good way to keep the PC running more efficiently.

Defragment your hard drive. Over time, your hard disk can become “fragmented,” which means that your files are scattered in pieces across the hard disk. With a fragmented drive, your computer must search the entire hard disk to find all pieces related to a file every time the file is accessed, slowing down the computer’s response time. It’s a good idea to defragment your hard drive regularly to keep your PC operating at peak performance.

Removing unused programs, cleaning up temporary files and defragmenting your hard drive are all tasks that are easily completed by the average PC user. In addition, free anti-virus software is available that requires no registration, trials or renewals. Consider using a core anti-malware solution such as Microsoft Security Essentials, which is easy to get directly from Microsoft Corp., is easy to use and provides real-time protection that runs quietly and efficiently in the background – enabling you to use your PCs the way you want while helping keep them protected and secure all year.

For more information about how Microsoft Security Essentials can provide “install and forget” protection for your Windows-based PC at no additional cost, visit www.microsoft.com/security_essentials.

Courtesy of ARAcontent