Spyware
If you are not careful when you are using Google to search, you will click on an innocent looking link and message will pop up warning you that your computer is infected and that you need to go to Bob's Spyware Emporium in order to free your computer from harm. The truth of the matter is, there is nothing wrong with your computer-yet. But there will be if you go to Bob's Spyware Emporium and click on anything. Many if most of the websites that promise to rid you of computer problems will immediately infect your computer with adware, spyware and viruses if you should actually try to use their services.
Strict Filter
Google has not yet mastered a technology that will completely rid your searchers of these hidden minefields so preemptive action on your part is called for. The first thing you should do if you want to stay away from viruses and porn is to put Google's most restrictive filter on your search results. Just to the right of the Google search box click on the Preference hyperlink. Scroll down to Safe Search Filtering and choose "Use Strict Filter." Scroll down further and pick the "Save Preferences" button. It's a lot harder for porn and viruses to show up on your computer if you have the safest search option selected.
Pluses and Minuses
There is even more you can do to keep your searches from turning up bad software, viruses and the like. If you want to exclude something from a Google search then precede it with a minus sign. For instance, we often want to exclude programs that would do something on your machine without your permission. These programs often are associated with the letters "exe" which stands for executable. To avoid them we would add to whatever we are searching for the term "-exe" . So if we are searching for baby ducks the search might look like this:
Baby ducks -exe. Leave space between the "s" in ducks and the minus sign. Leave no spaces between the minus sign and the "exe" .
You can Quote me
One of the problems with a Google search can be a lack of specificity. If you type baby ducks and push enter the computer sees something like: baby or ducks. So anything with baby and anything with ducks will come up. Include cute baby or Mighty Ducks. If you specifically want to have baby ducks appear in each of the search terms that comes back then surround the term baby ducks in quotes like this: "baby ducks". So the complete search might look like this:
"baby ducks" -exe -spyware -adware -anti -virus -security -spam -scam -download -js.
Obviously I have excluded from the search a lot of terms I don't want in my results. The reason I have excluded terms like spyware and adware is in my experience, most of the people who attach such words to search results having nothing to do with those subjects are trying to infect your computer.
Dating Yourself
Have you ever searched for a topic in Google, clicked on a resulting article and found that the information was years out of date? There is a way to avoid that. Next to the search box you will the see the words Advanced Search. Click on the hyperlink.
English Yes
In passing note that if you are getting too many results in a foreign language that you can not read, you may select English or whatever language you speaking using Advanced Search.
Dating Yourself Again
Further down on the Advanced Search screen appears a hyperlink that says: Dates, rights and usage. Click on it. Use the date control to change the time window from anytime to anywhere from a year to the last 24 hours. Then push the advanced search button that is to your lower right.
Excluding Yourself
If you ever find that are getting no results or very few results you can always undo your preferences by going through the same procedures. It almost goes without saying that if you want to study spyware or viruses, don't exclude them from your search.