The following items are security tools that I have loaded on my computer, naturally don't take my word for it. You download all at your own risk of course. I can't guarantee how these will operate on your computer nor your level of computer knowledge to use the tools well.

Windows Defender http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=435bfce7-da2b-4a6a-afa4-f7f14e605a0d&DisplayLang=en

Spyware Doctor http://www.download.com/3000-8022_4-10293212.html

AVG anti-virus software http://free.grisoft.com/doc/1

Adaware spyware software http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/

Sygate Firewall http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,8132,RSS,RSS,00.asp

Then there are the regular tasks that I perform on a weekly or bi-weekly basis:

Open each of your 3 Spyware/Adware programs (Microsoft. Adaware and SpyDoctor). Run a full scan on each at least once a week.

Open AVG and update plus do a full computer scan every day. It does this automatically at 8am AWST so do it yourself each day if you do not turn on computer before 8am.

Go to Start. Go to Control Panel. Go to Internet Options. Go to General tab. Delete all Cookies. Delete all Temporary files. Do this once a week.

Go to Start. Go to Accessories. Go to System Tools. Go to Disc Clean Up. Perform a full disc clean up. Once a week.

Go to Start. Go to Accessories. Go to System Tools. Go to Disc Defragmenter. Perform a full defrag. Once a week.

Back up all your files/folders onto CD's, external drive or a laptop. Once a month at least, depending on the amount of work you do.

For email security, I do the following:

Set your email to be read in Text Only format by going to Outlook Express, Tools, Options, Read and then check the box that says Read all messages in plain text. If you ever want to see a trusted email in HTML format (i.e. with pretty pictures!) then while any email is open, simply click on View and then click on Message in HTML (or hold down Alt+Shift while keying the letter 'H') and itll show you the fuller version of that email message.

Go to View, Layout and uncheck box that says Show Preview Pane. This way emails do not open in full until you click them open. You then get to decide which are opened.

Close an email and delete its highlighted line rather than the open email. If you delete an open email, then the next email in the queue will automatically open. It may be one that you don't want!

To confirm an email address of sender, simply right click the email before opening and click on Properties to see the email address. Most times you can pick a weird one before you choose to open it!

Note: Create a system restore point always before downloading anything new or deleting anything old. Do this by going to Start, Programs, Accessories, System Restore. That way if you ever want to undo anything, you simply go there and do a system restore to the last point that you created.

So far all these tools and actions have done me well. I hope they're of help to one of you.

Thea Westra

I'm a life coach and have enjoyed being a part of that profession since 2002. Before that I was an artist and managed a gallery space plus founded a non-profit organisation for artists. We organised and curated 30+ exibitions (large and medium) for a period of two years. I became involved in that directly after I had moved from Melbourne to Perth, in Australia. Up until then, I was a teacher for 23 years. While working full-time as a teacher I also completed four degrees at uni. and trained other teachers. Today, I live with my partner Greg who is a piano teacher. I'm not as prolific with article writing as I'd like to be, athough one of my favorite things to do each month is creating my monthly personal development e-zine. You can subscribe for that at my website. You are more than welcome to send me an email to ask me more about myself or ask me to expand on any idea introduced in an article. My email and further contact details can be found at my Forward Steps website.