If you’re planning on upgrading to Windows 10 from an older version, take the time to backup your computer first. It should preserve all your files, but things don’t always go as planned. Check out our advice for backing up your PC before taking the plunge.

Strength in numbers. Sounds like a sound plan, eh? In many respects, running multiple security programs together can indeed bolster your overall defences quite significantly. But there are exceptions to every rule. In this article I explain why running two antivirus programs simultaneously will leave them at loggerheads with each other.

Found a random antivirus program on the net and downloaded it for free? Bought antivirus software in response to a pop-up on your screen that warned you were infected with malware? Feeling safe now? Perhaps you shouldn’t. Fake antivirus. Be afraid. Very afraid.

If you get what you pay for in life, how much antivirus protection do you get with a free program? Assuming you’ve downloaded it from a reputable vendor, quite a bit actually. Whether it’s enough will take careful thought and will depend on how you use your computer.

Cloud backup and cloud storage are often confused with each other. Cloud sync, also known as synchronization, is a feature built on top of these two methods of remotely stowing away data. Learn the difference here.

You can liken a firewall to a barrier around your computer – it will stop intruders entering your private space and prevent your darkest secrets from being carried off in the night. Everyone should have one – recent versions of Windows ships with its own firewall – but it’s useful to know what it does and how to ensure it’s switched on!

‘You’ve got until midnight Friday to give me $300 or your data gets it. No warnings, no fingers or ears in the post. Just total annihilation of your hard drive’. Should you pay up or prepare for the funeral? The answer depends on how much you value your data and whether or not you have a secure and tested backup.

With more and more of us opting to store our data in the cloud and multiple reports of celebrities finding their sensitive data and photos have been accessed and compromised should you be concerned about the security of cloud storage?