Why Facebook Is The Best Social Network

Facebook is the best, most ingenious social media network since MySpace. It blows both Twitter and Google Plus out of the water with it's technological capabilities. With around 750 billion users, making Mark Zuckerberg a billionaire, it’s no wonder they made a movie about it!

#Facebook is universal. It can connect people from Norwalk, Calif. with people all the way in Lagos, Nigeria. You can play games and post quotes, what you are doing, photos, articles, videos, and links from other sites. There is so much you can do! It is also great for networking.

#Celebrities can keep in touch with their fans, some companies can market their business to customers, and other companies can promote their events and persuade people into becoming future clients. It’s also great for connecting with loved ones.

#People can keep in touch with friends and family. You can find out what they are doing, what they look like now; pretty much their whole life story.

#Another great thing about Facebook is that it is safe and free to use. They let you personalize your account security that limits who can see certain things on your profile. You can also choose your friends that send you requests. It makes it difficult to get hacked into.

#Twitter might be faster, but it does not have half the qualities that Facebook has. You can not write on your friends' walls, choose who follows you, and make certain things private.

##Everything you post or talk about can be read by anyone. Nothing is really private other than direct messages. Going through the privacy settings, they're isn't much privacy.

How would you like a complete stranger knowing things about you, like what you do and where you go? Sounds pretty creepy to me.

#Google Plus is more private. You can even separate your friends, family, and co-workers into different categories on things you talk about and post. You can connect instantly from your phone and uploading pictures from your phone is automatic.

#You can also virtually hangout with people with video chat rooms with your friends.

#It's basically a mock version of Facebook. Only difference? You have to set up a Google email account to use it. Now that means, if you do not have a Google email already, you have to create another email address in order to use Google Plus.

#Who wants a bunch of email addresses that they need to keep track of?

#What's more of a hassle is that since it's going through a trial period, you have to receive an invite to use it. It's a waste of time instead of using Facebook, which you can use all the time, anytime, and you only need one email address.

#Anyone can use it and it is easy to use and you can do the same things that you can do if you were to have a Google Plus account.

#Cerritos College students specifically can benefit from having a Facebook over Twitter and Google Plus because they can stay connected with updates and news going on with the college as well as teachers and other students.

#Students who made friendships with people in their classes will most likely not have them in another class next semester. That means they won't be able to stay connected.

#With Facebook, they can keep in touch even if their cell phone numbers change or they move away. They can keep in touch with teachers for questions on what they teach and assignments. Students can stay connected to what's going on around campus.

#It's amazing the capabilities we are given nowadays with social networking!

#However it is a privilege, not a right, so you must be smart and responsible for what goes on your Facebook. Be safe and have fun!

How to make an awesome logo

Introduction

Back when I began my ventures on computers in 98 on AOL, I was one of the many mesmerized by the world of AOL "proggies". I began to code my own with VB and I remember one of the things I loved to focus on personally, was the whole intro art. I saw a few, I can't remember the names now, but their amazing fire effects with their lightening bolts blew my mind away. Thus began my journey of design.

I've designed for approximately 9 years now and I've learned a lot. It has also helped me make money online. From mainstream corporate professional design, to fun gaming design, to adult design. The accumulative experience of all these avenues have really helped further my abilities when I confront each new project.

In this tutorial, I will start and finish a logo while documenting the entire process. I encourage you to open up photoshop and follow every step, it will help you learn a lot more than just reading it.

I've used the technique I will be teaching to develop a lot of logos. Here are just a few:

Adobe Photoshop

I will be using Adobe Photoshop CS2 to design this logo. Many swear by illustrator, but I believe for the purposes of making a tutorial, it'd be best to use photoshop as it will cater to a wider audience. More people have used photoshop than Illustrator. Besides, I've created 95% of all my logos in Photoshop, so take what you will.

Let's Start : The Project

A buddy of mine runs a gaming website, bluelaguna.net, and he has wanted a new logo for some time, so I agreed to do it for this tutorial. So let's take a look at the current logo:

(Note: The image above isn't a logo, it's an entire header. The actual name bluelaguna.net along with the slogan is the actual logo. I thought it would be a good idea to show the entire header though to see how it reacts with the overall design.)

One of the most important things this logo lacks is readability. When a user visits a web site, or visits any medium in which a logo is displayed, the first thing that hits them should be the logo. And for some reason or another, the first place us humans look is the upper left hand corner of a site. The current logo is placed in the middle of the header and the small font and the dark blue in "BLUE" is hard to read.

There's also nothing exciting with this logo. For a logo to be effective, it has to "brand" an image, it needs to stick in your head. All this logo is is times new roman on caps lock.

Now that we've gone over why their current logo is not suitable, let's begin with the actual tutorial.

Gathering Information

It's important to always know the specifics of what you or the client is looking for before you start. Generally for most projects, I only need to ask the client 5 questions:

	1. Name of the service/product:	BlueLaguna.Net
	2. Any slogans to use?:	"Your #1 Source for RPG Media"
	3. Any specific color schemes in mind?:	Match the current design
	4. What are you trying to convey through the logo?:	Serious game-related site.
	5. Any other specifics:	You don't have to use the current header design. Get crackin'

Pretty straight forward, now we know what we have to work with.

1. Setting up your Document in Photoshop

• Once you have photoshop open, go to File -> New. Then specify the name of the logo, and a width of600 and a height of 500.
• Then click "OK" (Refer to the screenshot below).

After you click "OK" Your setup should look like this: (I'm on a 1600x1200 resolution.) For the menus on the left, I have the layers view, and the Characters in view.)

2. Experiment with Font Selections

As a starting point, I always experiment with a font that I think will work well with the logo. You have to develop an eye for what font will or will not work, with the specifics of the project in mind. Since for bluelaguna we're trying to focus on a serious yet gamer'ish feel, a serious font selection might be the best bet. Having yourself an arsenal of fonts is very important. I have several thousand myself.

Select the Text Tool on the left menu: (As shown on the image to the right) Adjust the settings on the Text Properties at the top to match these settings: In the character window to the right, set AV to -60 as shown below: (This simply shortens the space between each separate character, I like starting out with this setting, I don't know why :) Type "BLUE LAGUNA" in the document space (First, be sure that the background is white, you can use the fill tool for this. And I've decided to go with all caps to start out with, since all caps is generally deemed more serious). With the type tool selected, and layer 1 selected, select the font list menu (where it says Arial): You can do this next section in either three ways. - Hit the "Down" arrow to change the font view of "BLUE LAGUNA". - Hit the Down Arrow of the Font List to see the list of available fonts with a tiny preview of the font. - Download a font viewing program. I personally just use the first method, although I sometimes use a font viewing program. Our goal here is to find fonts that might work with the logo. Once you come across a font that looks like it could work, you should Duplicate the layer in the Layers Window to the right, and then hide the previous layer (The layer you right clicked and selected "Duplicate" from. This way, you've saved that font selection (the hidden layer), and you have a new layer to find more fonts from):

3. Good and Bad Font Selections

Since our goal with this particular logo is to be serious, we need serious looking fonts. It simply takes time to develop an eye for what is serious and what isn't.

Here are a few examples of bad font selections for this project: The first logo (the top), has a very laid back, fun / unprofessional tone to it. The second logo is simply "goofy" looking, and it's generally always bad to select a logo that has an inherent shadow. The third logo is way too "ragged" with its frills all over the place, definitely a no go. Calligraphy logos are generally outdated, especially ones with weird "drops" coming from them. The last logo you can hardly even read. Remember, a logo should be easily readable.

Here are a few examples of good font selections for this project: All of these logos with the exception of 4 and 6 are pretty much similar. #1, 2, 3 & 5 are all very simplistic and serious in appearance. Logo 4 still appears "serious" even though it is significantly different from the rest. I chose this just in case I want to experiment with piecing together fonts for the word "Blue" and "Laguna". Logo 6 is a very bold / italicized logo that says nothing but serious.

4. Finalizing a Font Selection

Once you have some possible font selections, each in their own layer, you further analyze them and see which works. With logos that have more than one word, most of the time it is good to separate the appearance of the words from each other. Since this particular project has two words, "Blue" and "Laguna", we're going to want to separate them by possibly choosing two different fonts. You can also separate words from each other by keeping the same font, but changing the color. So I'm going to experiment with the 6 good font selections above.

This is what I've come up with: Although I didn't use one of the 6 fonts I selected initially for the word "blue", I simply used an unboldened version of "LAGUNA", which keeps a consistent feel but also allows for separation of the two words.

5. Adding in a symbol

Sometimes logos work well with only the use of fonts, but most times adding in a relevant symbol of some sort will really make a logo stand out. When I say "symbol", I mean any part of the logo which isn't actual text. So let's start with the first font selection from above:

Now here is where having an eye for design and experience is a really big help. We need to begin contemplating ideas of what exactly we can add to this logo to make it awesome. So, the first thing I do is just sit there and stare at the font selection and think of what exactly the product/service/site is all about. Well, BlueLaguna.Net is about gaming, more specifically speaking, it's a site that offers RPG media (Role Playing Game) media. Therefore, we have two things to work with: RPG and Media. What exactly can we associate with both RPG and Media? Well, we don't necessarily have to convey both RPG and Media through the logo (if you try to get too complex, the logo will become cluttered). We can choose one or the other if we want. I think it'd be most logical to focus on the whole RPG aspect, as you can find media all over the place and it isn't an entirely unique concept.

So let's do some research on Role Playing Games. We need to figure out a symbol which can really represent RPG. The current BlueLaguna.Net features a 3d female, perhaps that has something to do with RPG? Well, let me do a search on images.google.com for "RPG". The results turn back a few different female characters, Hmm! The first few results, keeping in mind the 3d female character on the current header of bluelaguna.net, seem to suggest that depicting a female in the logo might be the best bet. It also seems that weaponry / mystical environments are associated with RPG as well.

Now that I know what I can associate with RPG, I can come up with some possible ideas for a symbol. I think maybe featuring a face of one of these RPG'ish females with maybe a hint of mysticism.

The Pen Tool is your Friend

The most important tool when it comes to logo design is the pen tool. If there is one tool to thoroughly understand, it should be the pen tool. The pen tool allows you to create any shape(s) you want, and maintain vector format (which is very important if you ever want to size your logo up n' down (for professional print or whatever.)

It's always good to draw your logo by hand without copying over a picture (vector tracing), but if you aren't very talented and don't have much experience, it might be your only option. So for the sake of making the biggest impact on this tutorial, I will teach you all an awesome technique for creating great looking symbols for you logos.

Finding a suitable picture

If you're going to trace, I always suggest using a site like istockphoto.com to find the image and pay for it. This way you won't be using copyrighted images to trace over. Or taking your own picture to trace over. Unfortunately though, istockphoto has nothing with RPG or "anime". So I just went on images.google.com and found a picture which I think is suitable, here it is:

When I came across this picture, I got the idea that I can vector trace over her face and hair to create what I want, and then integrate it along with the font selection in some unique way. So once you've found the picture you want to trace (if not the same one), save it to your hard drive, open it up in photoshop, CTRL-A, CTRL-C to select it and copy it, and go back to your main logo document and CTRL-V. Now you've imported this picture into your logo document. Once you've imported it, with her layer selected, you can cut off the bottom half of her body. (Select the first tool in the upper left corner of the tools menu, Rectangular Marquee Tool), select the bottom half of her body and hit the delete key. Your screen should look something like this by now (You can hide the text layers behind it).

Vector Tracing

Now select the magnifying glass in the tools menu and select around the girl, it will look like this zoomed up to about 400%:

Now select the pen tool in the tools menu:

Make sure that the foreground color (the black square at the bottom of the pic to the upper right ---^) is the same dark blue color of the text we specified.

In the layers window to the right, select the little round circular > icon on the upper right corner of the window, and click on "Create New Layer" in the window that comes up. Hit "OK" and then in the layers window, with the new layer selected, change the Opacity to 0%. We do this because once we start tracing over the image, we don't want the dark blue color hiding the picture of the girl below.

And with the pen tool selected, click a point somewhere on the outline of the hair (at the top), and then click to make another point somewhere on the hairline where the line will begin to form. You can hold down and "direction" the angle of the line to create a certain type of curve. It takes awhile to get the hang of, but it's very easy once you get the hang of it. After plotting points of an entire section of hair, yours should look similar to this: (Note: I've lightened the opacity of the girl to illustrate what your lines should look like so far)

(opacity 100%)

It's not perfect, but for now it's a good start.

Now I'm simply going to continue creating more shapes, like the facial features. After 15-20 minutes or so of creating the different facial features and the face itself, here is what I have come up with:

As you can see, I specified a different color for the face (light blue). And by now I have around 15 different layers. There's a separate layer for the top portion of each eye, the bottom portion of each eye, the middle, and the small glare. There's also a layer for the face background, and the ear. So let us continue and add some shading...

After about 20 more minutes of shading, this is what I've come up with: There are a total of 3 different layers for the hair. It's somewhat of a tedious process to do hair shading simply because there's a lot of strands of hair! But you have to just condense them and get the general idea of the shading and it will work out well. Then I did some light shading work on the face and the neck. Now I consider the actual draft of the symbol complete. Let's make our initial text layer visible and see what we can do to integrate the symbol with the text.

First, you will want to select the very last to the very first vector layer that you created (you'll have a couple dozen or more), hold down the shift so you can select them all. Then in the layers window click the little circular round button and select "New Group From Layers". This will put all of the layers of the girl, into one easily manageable layer group. This way, you can move around the one group and it will keep all of their positions together so it won't break up her face.

Now this actually doesn't look too bad, in and of itself. But the proportion of the anime head is too big, in relation to BLUELAGUNA. So we will want to scale down the head. Let's try moving it over to the left, and adding the slogan + the ".net" text. This is what it looks like:

Now it looks pretty damn good eh? The only other thing I did, was with the pen tool, I added a white shape over the "B" in "BLUE" so that the face doesn't collide with the B.

Unfortunately I messed up and didn't design this over the dark blue'ish background that the bluelaguna.net has. So I'm going to change the colors of the logo to fit a background of an appropriate header for the site.

As you can see, simply changing colors around can really change the look and feel of a logo. I'd consider this logo a winner.

6. Conclusion

I can pretty much guarantee you that if you're a first time user of the pen tool or photoshop for that matter, it won't turn out so pretty like mine did. It takes some time and patience to really get the hang of it. It's all about getting a little creative and working at it for awhile.

(source from :http://www.garysimon.net/logotutorial/)

10 Tips for Creating Awesome Websites

1. Think like a website. Try to keep in mind the limitations and strengths of the web when designing. For example, look for backgrounds that can repeat easily, or avoid designs that have a lot of overlapping transparency (at least until IE6 isn’t on so many computers).

2. Web typography. Your web typography will set your design apart from other studios. Study optimum line heights, widths and look for inventive ways to guide the viewer through your layout only using CSS rules. There’s something refreshing about only having 3 or 4 good fonts to work with. Flash replacement (sIFR) is alright, but don’t overuse it.

3. Subtle effects. A subtle gradient or shadow can add dimension without being tacky. Please keep the word subtle in mind, and only use when necessary. We don’t need shadows and gradients everywhere.

4. Variations of the same color. I like complimentary colors as much as the next designer, but not all designs have to be so polar. Again, subtle is the key here. Look for ways to implement your color, but at a different intensity.

5. Grids aren’t evil. There are lots of studies on grid based design, and generally I think they are a good idea. It helps you line things up and keep them organized. But hey, you gotta know the rules to break them, right? Pick your moment and break that grid for some visual interest.

6. Graphics and icons. Your icons or images need to be awesome. If you make them yourself, pay attention to detail and try to keep them uniform if you’re doing a set. If you can’t make them yourself, go buy a good set to use. Crappy icons or images will bring down the feel and professionalism of the site.

7. Details. Honestly, it’s all about the details. Sweat over them, pour over them. Work on it until it feels right, both as an individual section and when viewed with the rest of the site as a whole. It takes time, but it’s worth it. You’ll be happier with your work and your client will be, too.

8. Beauty can’t be skin deep. You can’t just make it look good, it has to be usable, too. Your grandma should be able to figure out how to use it. Don’t be too proud to change it if it doesn’t work the first time. Or if it can be better.

9. Design solves problems. We have our work cut out for us. Not only do we have a short time to understand an industry we’re probably not familiar with, but we have to satisfy the client and create a great user experience for the end user. Not to mention increase sales and traffic. Again, your job is not just to make it pretty. Make it useful. Solve the problems.

10. Code architecture. If we’re coding the XHTML and CSS, then a whole other discussion on design comes up (maybe another Top 10 list in the future). We are given the task of designing the architecture of the site from a code standpoint. The way we utilize HTML elements like header tags, blockquotes, divs, etc… has very important ramifications for accessibility and search engine optimization, and can help future proof the site for new designs down the road. Our design to the code that most people will never see can be almost as important as the part that they do.

Problem Solving Skills

A problem can be any task or assignment or project that you need to complete. Usually, it involves several different steps or stages. Some of these will require specific methods that are particular to your subject area.

However, there are generic skills and processes that contribute to success for any kind of 'problem', whether writing an assignment, conducting a student project, undertaking projects at work, or taking on an undertaking in your personal life.

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Working through basic problem-solving processes

To approach most problems you will need to:

1. Define the task clearly. What exactly is required?

2. Set priorities. What must be done first? What can be left until later?

3. Develop an appropriate strategy: what steps must you take to address the task?

4. Use experience from similar problems: what do you already know or what have you already done that would offer a starting place or guidance on how to approach the current problem?

5. Set targets: what steps must you accomplish by when? How will you know you have achieved each target? How will you measure your progress?

6. Develop an action plan. List all the steps necessary to achieve each target. Identify the best order for accomplishing each step and a deadline for each.

7. Get started. Do not wait until the last minute, start early on the tasks that you can begin straight away. Keep yourself focused and motivated.

8. Monitor your performance against targets and indicators. Check regularly whether you are meeting your targets and revise your action plan accordingly.

9. Evaluate your performance. How well did you achieve your targets? What did you learn that will be of use to you for future problems and tasks?

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Elaborating the problem to find the best solution

Research shows that people who spend more time at the beginning working out exactly what a task involves have a better chance of success. This is referred to as 'elaborating the problem'. The most important process in problem-solving is in 'defining the task'.

It is worth spending time reflecting on what kind of problem it is, how it is like other problems you have encountered, and what different options there might be for approaching the task. A less successful approach is to launch in too quickly, without undertaking the initial reflection and preparation.

Once you have done that, weigh up different solutions. Consider lots of options for how to approach the task or solve the problem. Don't dive in without a good plan. It will take time to weigh up the advantages and challenges of each possible solution. Work towards the best solution by:

1. Knowing what would make a 'best possible solution' How far is this feasible in your circumstances?

2. Working to the deadline. Avoid solutions that cannot be met by the deadline.

3. Discussing your ideas with others. Find out how other people have approached similar problems.

4. Researching your options. Look for hidden advantages and flaws. What has been tried and failed before?

5. Evaluating and costing options. Can you afford them? Do you have the right resources for each?

6. Checking your expertise. Do you have the right expertise and skills? Could you develop these in time?

7. Giving your mind time to 'play' with and mull over different options.

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Evaluating the process

Consider:

• How well did it work?
• What would have led to a better outcome?
• What else needs to be done?
• How far you met deadlines and budgets (where relevant).
• How far did the solution meet the task requirements or the needs of the client?
• What feedback have you received from others? What does this tell you about your performance?

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Writing up the problem

Your tutor (or client groups if you are at work) will want to know how you arrived at the solution you adopted. Present clearly:

• How you defined the problem.
• The parameters of the problem (i.e. the time available, the cost, available resources, expertise, the nature of the brief).
• The solutions that you considered with their advantages, disadvantages and interesting features.
• How you arrived at the decision you took.
• Your method for applying the solution and what you did.
• The results.
• An evaluation.

6 ways to speed up your PC

By following a few simple guidelines, you can maintain your computer, help increase your PC speed, and help keep it running smoothly. This article discusses how to use the tools available in Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP Service Pack 3 to help make your computer faster, maintain your computer efficiently, and help safeguard your privacy when you're online.

Note: Some of the tools mentioned in this article require you to be logged on as an administrator. If you aren't logged on as an administrator, you can only change settings that apply to your user account.

1. Remove spyware, and help protect your computer from viruses

Spyware collects personal information without letting you know and without asking for permission. From the websites you visit to user names and passwords, spyware can put you and your confidential information at risk. In addition to privacy concerns, spyware can hamper your computer's performance. To combat spyware, you might want to consider using the PC safety scan from Windows Live OneCare. This scan is a free service that helps check for and remove viruses.

Download Microsoft Security Essentials for free to help guard your system in the future from viruses, spyware, adware, and other malicious software (also known as malware). Microsoft Security Essentials acts as a spyware removal tool and includes automatic updates to help keep your system protected from emerging threats.

The Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool is another utility that checks computers running Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000, and Windows Server 2003 for infections by specific, prevalent malicious software, including Blaster, Sasser, and Mydoom, and helps remove any infection found.

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2. Free up disk space

The Disk Cleanup tool helps you to free up space on your hard disk to improve the performance of your computer. The tool identifies files that you can safely delete and then enables you to choose whether you want to delete some or all of the identified files.

Use Disk Cleanup to:

• Remove temporary Internet files.
• Delete downloaded program files, such as Microsoft ActiveX controls and Java applets.
• Empty the Recycle Bin.
• Remove Windows temporary files, such as error reports.
• Delete optional Windows components that you don't use.
• Delete installed programs that you no longer use.
• Remove unused restore points and shadow copies from System Restore.

Tip: Typically, temporary Internet files take the most amount of space because the browser caches each page you visit for faster access later.

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3. Speed up access to data

Disk fragmentation slows the overall performance of your system. When files are fragmented, the computer must search the hard disk as a file is opened (to piece it back together). The response time can be significantly longer.

Disk Defragmenter (sometimes shortened to Defrag by users) is a Windows utility that consolidates fragmented files and folders on your computer's hard disk so that each occupies a single space on the disk. With your files stored neatly end to end, without fragmentation, reading and writing to the disk speeds up.

When to run Disk Defragmenter
In addition to running Disk Defragmenter at regular intervals (weekly is optimal), there are other times you should run it, too, such as when:

• You add a large number of files.
• Your free disk space totals 15 percent or less.
• You install new programs or a new version of the Windows operating system.

Running Disk Cleanup and Disk Defragmenter on a regular basis is a proven way to help keep your computer running quickly and efficiently. If you'd like to learn how to schedule these tools and others to run automatically, please read Speed up your PC: Automate your computer maintenance schedule.

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4. Detect and repair disk errors

In addition to running Disk Cleanup and Disk Defragmenter to optimize the performance of your computer, you can check the integrity of the files stored on your hard disk by running the Error Checking utility.

As you use your hard drive, it can develop bad sectors. Bad sectors slow down hard disk performance and sometimes make data writing (such as file saving) difficult or even impossible. The Error Checking utility scans the hard drive for bad sectors and scans for file system errors to see whether certain files or folders are misplaced.

If you use your computer daily, you should run this utility once a week to help prevent data loss.

Run the Error Checking utility:

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5. Learn about ReadyBoost

If you're using Windows 7 or Windows Vista, you can use ReadyBoost to speed up your system. A new concept in adding memory to a system, it allows you to use non-volatile flash memory—like a USB flash drive or a memory card—to improve performance without having to add additional memory.

• Learn more about ReadyBoost in Windows 7.
• Learn more about ReadyBoost in Windows Vista.

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6.  Upgrade  to  Windows 7

If you try all the previous remedies and your computer still isn't as fast as you would like it to be, you may want to consider updating to Windows 7.

Best 10 tips to keep your computer virus-free

1. Use common sense. It's always better to err on the side of safety. If you're unsure about an attachment, delete it. Especially if it's from a source you don't recognize. If there are tempting animations on a site that look highly unprofessional, don't download them.

2. Scan floppies before using them. This is always important, but especially if you are using the disk to carry information between one computer and another. You could easily pick up a virus from an insecure network and introduce it into your system. Running a virus scan before launching any of the programs on the disk will prevent infection.

3. Don't share floppies. Even a well-meaning friend may unknowingly pass along a virus, Trojan horse, or worm. Label your floppies clearly so you know they're yours and don't loan them out. If a friend passes you a foreign floppy, suggest an alternative method of file sharing.

4. Don't boot from a floppy disk. Floppies are one of the most common ways viruses are transmitted. If you are using a floppy while working on your computer, remove it when you shut the machine off or the computer will automatically try to boot from the floppy, perhaps launching any viruses on the disk.

5. Don't download programs from the Web. Unreliable sources such as Internet newsgroups or Web sites that you haven't heard of may be willing providers of viruses for your computer. Avoid downloading files you can't be sure are safe. This includes freeware, screensavers, games, and any other executable program - any files with an ".exe" or ".com" extension, such as "coolgame.exe." Check to see if the site has anti-virus software running on their side. If you do have to download from the Internet, be sure to scan each program before running it. Save all downloads to one folder, then run virus checks on everything in the folder before using it.

6. Update your anti-virus software frequently. An anti-virus program is only as good as the frequency with which it is updated. New viruses, worms, and Trojan horses are born daily, and variations of them can slip by software that is not current. Norton AntiVirus™ has a feature that searches for new virus definitions every time you go online, so you are always up to date.

7. Get immediate protection. Configure your anti-virus software to boot automatically on start-up and run at all times. This will provide you back-up protection in case you forget to scan an attachment, or decide not to. And in case you forget to boot up your anti-virus software, configuring it to start by itself will ensure you get immediate protection anyway.

8. Scan all incoming email attachments. Be sure to run each attachment you plan to open through the anti-virus check. Do this even if you recognize and trust the sender; malicious code, like Trojan horses, can slip into your system by appearing to be from a friendly source.

9. Don't automatically open attachments. Be sure your email program doesn't automatically download attachments. This will ensure that you can examine and scan attachments before they run. Refer to your email program's safety options or preferences menu for instructions.

10. Install reliable anti-virus software. Anti-virus software scans files regularly for unusual changes in file size, programs that match the software's database of known viruses, suspicious email attachments, and other warning signs. It's the most important step you can take towards keeping your computer clean of viruses. Norton AntiVirus™ is the world's leading anti-virus software. It runs continuously in the background of your computer, providing constant protection from viruses, Trojan horses, worms, and other malicious code. To stay up-to-date on the latest online threats, Norton AntiVirus™ automatically updates its virus definitions whenever you're online.

Just in Case. . .
In case a virus finds its way to your computer, due to carelessness, an accident, or anti-virus software that hasn't been updated since you got it for your birthday last year, at least be prepared. Use software such as Norton Ghost™ to create a backup copy of your computer's hard drive. This way you can revert to the clean, undamaged version of your computer.

The Best Antivirus for Windows 7

The new user interface of BitDefender Antivirus was designed to look right at home in Windows 7. The software is effectively organized and designed in a way that is both aesthetic and easy to use. BitDefender antivirus is rock-solid security software, and it's our preferred antivirus software for Windows 7.

Not only is Kaspersky Antivirus completely compatible with Windows 7, it also has integrated support for the new features and functions of Windows 7. If you’re using Windows 7 you can also take advantage of the unique Kaspersky Desktop Gadget. The small desktop widget gives you an at-a-glance security status and quick access to the main features of the antivirus software.

Webroot AntiVirus is another antivirus software app that’s compatible with Windows 7. It’s got all the right features and solid security. Webroot AntiVirus performed very well in the most recent VB100 test, which specifically tested antivirus software on the Windows 7 operating system. Webroot AntiVirus received high marks in both reactive and proactive detection.

Not only was Norton AntiVirus’ new edition designed from the ground up to be completely optimized for Windows 7, the company has also provided several resources to help users successfully migrate to Windows 7. Particularly on the business front, Symantec has the tools and resources to help businesses quickly and painlessly migrate to Windows 7.

ESET Nod32 Antivirus was developed with help from Microsoft to ensure that the newest versions of ESET Nod32 Antivirus and ESET Smart Security were not just compatible with Windows 7, but optimized for it. ESET Nod32 Antivirus works with both the 32-bit and 64-bit configurations of Windows 7.

Windows 7 is a much better operating system than its predecessor, with better usability, performance and security. To keep your PC running like new you need to install the best antivirus software for Windows 7 to keep your system protected. The best antivirus software for Windows 7 will have proactive protection methods to keep you safe from digital dangers (some specifically designed to compromise Windows 7). But more than just protection, the best antivirus products for Windows 7 are also optimized for performance and usability.

See our side-by-side comparison and comprehensive reviews for more specifics and head-to-head competition of the best antivirus software for Windows 7.