Did you treat yourself to a new computer over the Christmas holidays, or did  a loved one give it to you as a gift?  If so you most likely got a Windows based machine with Windows Vista or XP as an operating system. These operatings systems are prone to getting viruses if your anti-spyware and anti-virus software is not installed or updated.  Ususally with a new machine, there is a 90 day trial that comes for free.  After 90 days, the anti-virus and spyware software stop getting updates from their servers, and your systems are then at risk for all kinds of nasty problems.

If your installed anti-virus and spyware programs have been sending you alerts that they are out of date, please do yourself a favor and update them!  This will prevent your computer from becoming compromised, and put you less at risk of having your personal data be hacked, etc.

Most of my time as a computer consultant is spent repairing or reinstalling computer systems that have been hacked as a result of anti-virus software that is not up to date.  The most common complaint I hear is, “I just got this computer three or four months ago, and now it is so slow”.  Please don’t let this happen to you…