I’m not what you would call a “computer person.”

I have no idea how to build my own super-efficient rig, I don’t see any personal need for a monster PC with hardware that can cook a ham (the most demanding program I use regularly is Starcraft) and my first instinct when my screen freezes isn’t hitting ctrl-alt-delete; it’s whooping like a gorilla and hitting things.

But even I know that it isn’t too difficult to keep your computer malware, spyware and just plain old virus-free without spending too much.

And yet, I see people buying Norton Anti-Virus and other such software, and I shake my head.

Let’s get this out of the way; you don’t need to buy a lot of expensive anti-spy software. You can, and I’m sure you could live life without worrying about unleashing the digital equivalent of the black plague after opening an email from a Nigerian Prince.

But you don’t have to.

There is plenty of free software available on the web that will do the job just fine. I prefer Avast, which not only does a pretty good job of scanning everything you have to make sure it is bug free, but it also says in a loud, authoritative voice “warning, virus has been detected” every time it finds one of the little buggers.

If you do somehow get the nasty bugs in your computer and you don’t want to muck about with it yourself, take it to one of the little guys at a computer shop that you know can get the job done. They will usually fix it for less than the big box retailers, such as Best Buy.

That brings up one more point: never have Best Buy treat your computer for viruses.

I say this because my laptop, a fairly rustic Dell, recently took a hit from a fairly common Trojan virus.

I took it to Geek Squad at Best Buy, who offered to remove the virus and do a lot of stuff I didn’t need, such as back up my data, for $130.

I then took it to my family’s “computer guy,” who told me I can download free anti-malware software and take care of the problem myself. All for the low, low price of free.

I’ve also had numerous other problems with Geek Squad in the past, but that’s a subject for another Geek Culture. I will, however, say that the employees themselves are quite helpful. One of them actually turned me onto Avast.

So go forth my digital savants, download images and movies that will scar your sanity forever, all without worrying about evil little computer bugs.