By Eddy R.
03/24/99

Today people download just about anything from the net unfortunately, most people don't take precautions before going through with the download process. Yes, it's true that downloading stuff you need or want can be exciting (yeah right) but did you know that such eagerness to download can end up costing you big bucks? How so? you might ask.

Well, nowadays it is very common to catch computer viruses through stuff you download from the net and some of these viruses can cause tremendous harm to your system therefore rendering it useless, this in turn means that you either have to replace some parts in your system or buy a new one altogether. Hmmm....I don't like the sound of this! you might say well, neither do I.

There are precautions you can take to prevent such disasters for instance, you can buy a fairly inexpensive anti-virus software that in the long run could save you big bucks. Once you have the software you can further do the following to protect your system.

• Before downloading create a new folder in your C: drive and name it Downloads.

• Save all the files you download in the Downloads folder.

• Before you execute or install the downloaded file run a virus check/scan to make sure the files are virus free.

That's it! Though this advice may seem like common sense or simple stuff, following it to the letter will save you a lot of headaches in the future.

If you don't have anti-virus software installed in your computer you can try "downloading" a free trial version of one of the best anti-virus programs in the market, McAfee Anti-virus.