Bad virus or April fools?

The (nerd) world has been up in arms about the Conficker worm, a PC virus set to be activated on April Fool's Day. Conficker quietly latches onto particular web sites and computer networks -- like the linked computers you have at work -- and, when activated, gets information from your PC. What kind of damage can it do? Theories range from stealing your passwords to taking over your computer entirely.

It's now April Fool's afternoon and no drama has been reported. Still, this is a good time to take care of your PC. After all, for every well-known Conficker, there are dozens of other new viruses out there every day.

Here's what you can do against Conficker and other baddies:

• Back up your computer: Save your most important files on another piece of media like a CD, DVD, memory stick or backup hard drive
• Get virus protection: Try Norton, Webroot or other well-regarded software. It should cost you less than $100 and have an annual renewable subscription to protect against new viruses.
• Grab Norton's Conficker cleaner: The free Conficker tool, which will find and delete the worm, is available from Norton.

The good news? It doesn't affect Apple computers. Yet another reason for Mac users to gloat.