Take care while reading E-Mail

Delete any e-mail message from an unknown source if it contains an attachment. The majority of malware contracted through e-mail comes in the form of attachments that the sender tries to get the recipient to open.

Just say no. The large majority of viruses are contracted from unsolicited e-mail, so use an e-mail application with a built-in spam checker, if at all possible. Sometimes viruses are carried in Word documents from friends or colleagues who are not aware that the files are protected.

In such cases, without an onboard antivirus tool, it makes sense to run the file through one of the free online scanners mentioned earlier. Do this before you open the file.

The payoff for all of this caution should be well-known to anyone who has watched with chagrin as an otherwise speedy and trouble-free computer was made to feel like yesterday's technology after the latest bloated antivirus software was installed. Less really is more, if you can get away with it. And for those intrepid computer users with a survival plan, doing without antivirus protection can be a giant step in the right direction.