content: Computer Hygiene Tips Short List:  Feel free to add. 1) Uninstall software that you don't use - Every additional software is a potential attack surface.  If a software won't uninstall cleanly use a specialty uninstaller/cleaner. 2) Update the software you do use, only from going directly to the source.  Don't use download managers, third party sites, or do an update from a web popup. 3) If you don't already use Linux, learn to use it.  Closed source software is always a security problem in the long run. 4) When you're not using an open source operating system, prefer open source applications when they will meet your needs, because open source is less likely to have malicious code or invisible exploits.  Yes open source can have issues but they are quicker to be patched.  Even Microsoft is fails to close their holes, either by design, or because of incompetence.  Either way, even the world's largest software company is insecure and cannot be trusted to put customer security and privacy first. If you really want to dive into it, a good starter is https://ssd.eff.org/