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Protect Yourself

In this issue, PC Magazine reviews some useful utility packages. But what if you find yourself face to face with a virus, or your system is just acting funny and you fear the worst? Head to the Web sites that offer useful information about possible PC infections, as well as free online utility services ranging from virus detection to Internet connection speedometers. You'll recognize many of them from our utilities story in this issue.

Get Educated

Many sites dedicate themselves to helping you figure out your computer. ZDNet's Help and How To site (www.zdnet.com/zdhelp) has tutorials, repair advice, virus alerts, driver updates, and more. The site's HealthyPC guide offers maintenance and troubleshooting tips. After you read about these, check out ZDNet's suite of system diagnostic tools and test the performance of your CPU, sound system, CD-ROM drive, office suite, and browser.

Some sites concentrate on educating you about viruses specifically. McAfee.com Dispatch (dispatch.mcafee.com) posts news about new virus threats and even gives you a geographic report on viruses affecting certain areas of the world. McAfee's Anti-Virus Tips section offers a list of the best ways to avoid, find, and fix viruses. And its Anti-Virus Center (mcafee.com/anti-virus) hosts a glossary of terms and a library of information about more than 50,000 known viruses. Additionally, McAfee's Anti-Virus Center links to a list of virus hoaxes, so you can find out whether the e-mail that's warning you about a cell phone virus is just baloney.

Panda Software also has an informative site explaining known viruses. The Panda Software Virus Encyclopedia (www.pandasecurity.com/virus-encyclopedia.html) includes a glossary and a general overview of viruses. It also contains a list of hoaxes, as well as suggestions for repairing your system in the event of infection.

Antivirus Services

Viruses have always posed major problems for computers. With the proliferation of e-mail usage and computer users, however, the threats from viruses, worms, and other destructive files have increased over the years. Even the major TV network news programs reported on the Anna Kournikova virus. For your convenience, many utility providers have created and posted scaled-down application services that run like their packaged software.

Panda Software offers the ActiveScan Online virus check, which you can access from its Virus Encyclopedia site. Click Start and a small ActiveX application will download to your system. With a 56K modem, the download will take only about 5 minutes. Once the app is downloaded, you can direct ActiveScan to look through your entire computer or just in certain places such as e-mail or the C: drive. ActiveScan will then report its discoveries and explain how to get rid of any viruses. ActiveScan claims to be able to detect and kill 55,000 known viruses and Trojan horses.

Trend Micro's site provides a number of antivirus services. Its HouseCall site (housecall.antivirus.com) works in a way similar to Panda's ActiveScan. You must register, but HouseCall asks only for your e-mail address. An ActiveX application downloads to your system in about 5 minutes, and from there you can pick which areas need a scan. After scanning your system, HouseCall will provide you with a report explaining any virus and options for cleaning the infected file.

Trend Micro also has other free online antivirus tools (www.antivirus.com/free_tools). ScanMail for Microsoft Outlook checks Outlook and Exchange folders for viruses. The downloaded application searches for malicious code and attachments. You can configure the application to fix, delete, or ignore any affected e-mail messages. Trend Micro's PC-cillin for Wireless will protect your Palm device or Pocket PC from viruses as well as the bad code that you could encounter browsing the Web, syncing with desktops, or beaming information with other PDAs.

Symantec Corp. provides free virus checks and system security checks on its site. With one click, Symantec Security Check (www.symantec.com/securitycheck) examines how much personal information your browser reveals to Web sites, how susceptible your system is to Trojan horses, and how well your system can block unauthorized network communication. Security Check gives advice on how to fix any areas where it thinks your system is vulnerable. A click of a button will start Symantec scanning your system for files infected with viruses or Trojan horses. And in case it finds a virus or Trojan, the Security Check site offers a free downloadable repair tool.