How to Safeguard Your Windows 11 PC Against Viruses

This post shows students and new users steps to protect their PCs from viruses in Windows 11.

When using Windows, one should take all precautions to prevent viruses and malware that can seriously damage a computer or allow criminals to steal data, personal information, and money.

There’s no one way to protect one’s computer. Instead, one can take multiple steps, including installing virus protection software, updating Windows, and installing software from trusted sources. All these steps can help prevent your computer from falling into the wrong hands.

We’ll list some steps below that, if applied correctly, might help protect your computer from viruses and malware online and prevent criminals from stealing your information and data.

Before you even get started, you might want to read these posts. They’ll help you set up a backup process to prevent ransomware attacks, restore your data in a successful attack, and protect Windows from viruses using Microsoft Defender.

To protect one’s computer in Windows 11, follow the steps below.

Install Antivirus software in Windows 11

Installing antivirus software is your first line of defense against viruses and malware. Windows comes with Microsoft Defender, which you can use to protect Windows if you don’t have a commercial equivalent.

How to install and use Microsoft Defender to protect one’s computer.

Running multiple anti-malware apps simultaneously can slow or unstable your system. If you install an anti-malware app from a different company, Microsoft Defender will automatically turn itself off.

Turn on Microsoft Edge SmartScreen in Windows 11

When using Windows 11, you also turn on SmartScreen in the Microsoft Edge browser to help protect you from phishing and malware attacks by warning you before downloading software that may be infected with viruses or malware or downloading programs from locations that have been reported as unsafe.

How to turn on SmartScreen with Edge browser in Windows 11

Microsoft Defender SmartScreen provides warning messages to help protect you from potentially untrusted and phishing websites and malicious software. The SmartScreen filter can also help you from downloading and installing malware (malicious software) on your computers.

Make sure Windows Updates is enabled and updating your computer

As with any protection plans, if your Windows computer is not receiving regular updates from Microsoft, that computer will be vulnerable to viruses and malware.

Microsoft releases special security updates that can help protect your PC. These updates can close possible security holes and prevent viruses and other malware attacks.

How to update a Windows 11 computer

Windows Updates is set up to install security and feature updates automatically on your computer. You can also choose to install updates manually at any time.

Turn on User Account Control (UAC) in Windows 11

Your Windows computer has two account types: Administrator and local user. When changes to your PC require administrator-level permission, UAC notifies you and allows you to approve the change. In addition, UAC can help keep viruses from making unwanted changes.

How to turn on UAC in Windows 11

If UAC is disabled on your computer, make sure to turn it on so that changes that viruses and malware that may want to install on your computer may fail to do so.

Turn on the pop-up blocker in Windows 11

Pop-up windows are small browser windows that appear on top of the website you’re viewing. Sometimes, these can be malicious software attempting to trick users into clicking a link to download the malicious code.

How to turn on pop-up blocker in Windows 11

A pop-up blocker can prevent some or all of these windows from appearing. The pop-up blocker in Microsoft Edge is turned on by default.

The steps above may not be a complete guide to protecting all Windows 11 computers, but they are a good starting point. Additional steps and processes may be needed to add more security layers.

That should do it!

Conclusion:

This post showed you how to implement steps that may help protect your computer from viruses and malware. Please use the comment form below if you find any errors above or have something to add.