Guide | How To The Pragmatic User.

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The title is derived from the computer science book, the Pragmatic Programmer.

You, as an end user, have certain expectations from programmers. We, as the programmers, have certain expectations from you too. "Use your brain" even some advanced users say, and blame the masterpieces of code. Here are a few of my tips and my advises.

1. Don't be a sheep in a flock of sheep : Often people say "use your brain" and that "using antiviruses is bad and it slows down your computer". Well, then. How much your brain is going to defend against a group like Syrian Electrician Army? Think of it, AV software were made by brains too. Multiple brains. More often than not, the guys who work at Emsisoft or ESET have better understanding of computer science than us. I've been programming for twenty years and I've to say it's a fair comparison of me and other security researchers like Malwarebyte's CEO.
2. Read books. A lots of them. : Just as you read books for your particular career, you should read books. Why? Do you think books read by millions of programmers around the world since two decades are worse than the advises of "?????" user in Yahoo answers? Books answer your questions. Read them. Even if you cannot buy a physical copy, most books can be acquired through the internet.
3. Don't trust the AV pages : Countless blogs state their product's awards. It's the same scene as self-advertising. How you ever seen an Emsisoft blog promoting ESET? Or the vice-versa? Every product claims to have "the best detection rate". Some even claim that their product is "trusted by X users around the world" or "Trusted by computer experts". Do you believe those lies? I don't. Use your common sense. You don't need to have degree in computer science and social-engineering to tell the folks are lying.
4. Don't click on every link you see : Your left eye sees a link. Before it even passes to the nerve fiber of your right eye, you click the link. Because it was posted by some guy with forty-two--thousand posts. He wouldn't infect your PC, would he? Perhaps he will not do it if HE is using his own account. But if someone else is using his account...Ubuntu Forums will tell the rest.
5. Trust a computer scientist : A well-known member of a well-known site that claims to be a programmer/have knowledge in computer science, should be trusted better than an Yahoo user report. Most of the "reports" are copy-pastes from Wikipedia. This applies for even sites like Stackoverflow.
6. Computer's Eye : Make sure that you install the proper security config. Keep it simple and light if you will. If computers are your profession, then why not just install ESET, Comodo Firewall, Emsisoft Anti-Malware, Hitman Pro, Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit/AM, and a backup software for keeping it simple and secure? A single, standalone antivirus cannot protect you from every threat. Nor does it claim to, because even the wildest numbers like "99.9%" miss about 0.1 percent.
7. Computer's Whim : If your computer warns you the file is infected and you shouldn't use it, you probably should not.
8. Forums, my friend, forums : Forums like MalwareTips, BleepingComputer, GeekstoGo improve your computer science knowledge. Visit them and be active over them. Their experts will be happy to help you.
9. Infected? Restore the Backup : You did backup your files...didn't you?
10. Important Tip on Piracy : I understand. If you go on some third-world countries like India, you'll see most people pirate because they cannot buy the 27 thousand rupee Windows 7. Really. The common man's salary is 30 thousand rupee to 1 million rupee per month. But play safe. Don't download everything you see. I am not encouraging piracy, but I am not telling you to avoid either if you must. Purely for security purpose, I suggest you to download the most essential and the most legal things. Download Linux/Half-Life 2 Black Mesa on the Piratebay, but don't do the same for www.TheProductsofDr-T.com