There are many different types of files that you will find on a computer. You have the basic files that you see all of the time such as .exe, .jpg, .doc and others. But there are also custom files that you will see floating around your computer as well. These are files types that a certain programs must use to operate. After you own the computer for a couple of years, you will see more and more of these file types showing up. To check how many file types are installed on your computer, you can go to your control panel and check out the folder options section. If you click on the file type tab, you will see how many different file type extensions are registered to run on your computer. Most of these extensions have data that is no different than what you are already used to using but they want to make sure that the data only runs on their program only. The one thing that you should learn if you are going to operate a computer safely is which of these files types should be wary of when you download them from the internet.

The one type of file that you should scan whenever you download it from the internet is one of the most common you will see on the internet and on your computer. This is the .exe file type. This is an executable file that will allow a program to run on your computer. If you find a malicious one on the internet, it will harm your computer greatly. This is why no matter if the file comes from a trusted source or not, you should take the time and run an antivirus scan on it. If you download the wrong .exe, you can spend days trying to undo the damage that was done to your computer.

We have now warned you against the .exe file type but these next couple of file types are popular among black hat hackers because they can hide an .exe or they are able to execute code in them. A person can change the file extension of a file type so that you are fooled into believing that it is something else. But that is not what we are talking about here. We are talking about embedding one type of file into another. One of the most popular file types that are known for its embedding qualities is the .wmv file type. These are files for the Windows Media Player. Hackers are able to embed nasty code in these file types and when someone tries to run them, they infect their computer. This is an especially popular file type for hackers who use Trojans to deliver their payload.

There are a couple of more file types that you should worry about as well. Files that you see every day, such as .flv, .jpg and others, are known to have the ability to embed malware in them. This is why anytime you see these types of files downloaded onto your computer; you must run an antivirus on them. It is better to be safe than sorry.

The one thing that all of us worry about when we use the computer is that a new and unknown virus will come along and destroy all of the data that we have saved. So to keep that from happening, we do what the experts tell us to do. We buy or get a free copy of the latest and greatest antivirus software that is on the market and we install it on our computers. After the software is installed we let it examine the computer files that are already on there to see if there is a problem. Before we do that, we make sure that it is updated so that it will be able to catch any new infections. And now we just wait. But is there an easier way to do this? Some people say yes and it comes in the form of online antivirus scanners.

Several years ago, some of the third party security companies that are out there, found out that they can create an online version of the scanner tools. It started by letting people upload a file to their server and see if there was an infection in it. It went from that to the companies creating full blown tools that would scan the persons whole computer. This became a great tool for people to use. But the question remains; should you use an online scanner instead of one already installed on your computer?

The answer to that is no. You can use the two as a complement to one another but there is no way that you should use the online version of the tool without having an offline version installed and updated on your computer. The reason why is simple. Most antivirus scanners that are installed on your computer will scan new files that are introduced to your system automatically. This is not like the online version where you would have to upload a file every time that it is new to your system. More than likely you would get tired of doing that and you would start to use judgment calls. If the file looked safe in your eyes or at the very least if it came from what you thought was a safe place, then you wouldn’t bother to upload it for scanning. When it comes to matters such as this, it is best to let the computer handle it automatically.

An online scanner works best if it is used for scanning suspicious files and if somehow you are not able to get your antivirus working because of some strange infection. But it is not the best solution if you need full time protection on your machine.  For cases such as that, it is best to go with the tried and true method of installing the antivirus on your system.

Here you can find a good list of online antivirus scanners.