As new viruses come out often, keep up to date on your software. Configure your software's real-time scan feature to start automatically each time you boot up your computer. This checks your computer every time you use it. Also, always scan new files and programs!

When opening Word or Excel documents from unknown sources, be careful. This goes double if it came from an instant message or from an email. If all precautions fail, and you end up with a virus, the best you can do is make sure that you have everything on your computer backed up. It will be the only way to recover your data, if the data was lost or corrupted due to a virus.

Keep your antivirus software updated, use caution when opening files or downloading, and backup your data. If you do all this, you will be at a lower risk for any virus attacks, and you will not regret it.