The new year is always a great time to reflect on the happenings of the past year, and start the new one with a clean slate and fresh outlook. And your computer can start with a relatively clean slate too, if you follow a few simple steps:

Make sure your computer has all critical security patches, and is configured to install new patches automatically. For Windows systems, you can check for new patches by pointing Internet Explorer to update.microsoft.com. To configure automatic downloading and installation of new security patches, open the Windows Update section of your Control Panel, click Change Settings, and ensure it is set to “Install Updates Automatically”.

Don’t forget that your applications may need patching as well. Actually most of the vulnerabilities announced in 2011 were not on Microsoft products at all, but with 3rd party applications such as Adobe Flash/Acrobat and Apple’s QuickTime. Microsoft Update only covers critical security updates for the operating system, and some Microsoft products, so you also need to regularly check for updates to other applications you may be using. All modern applications offer free patching, and most will alert you to the availability of new patches if properly configured. Check your settings on each of those applications to make sure it’s enabled. If you have any doubt, uninstall the application using your control panel, and install a freshly-downloaded version from the vendor’s website.

Some antivirus products offer a patch management component as part of their solution, which can often facilitate the monitoring and installation of applications on your computer. Which brings us to our next health check topic…

Check the state of your antivirus. Did you know that there are about 55,000 new viruses discovered every single day? Antivirus programs *must* be updated at least daily to remain effective. Too often people install a trial version of an antivirus application and then neglect to purchase it once the trial has expired. Having an antivirus program that is out-of-date is pointless. There are a number of free antivirus products out there from well-regarded companies (Microsoft, Comodo, AVG, etc), but I think this is one area that benefits from an annual subscription for an upgraded commercial product because you get some additional features in addition to the peace-of-mind. Kaspersky’s antivirus product, for instance, has a built-in patch management component that will monitor common applications on your computer to see if new patches are available. And eSet’s Smart Security Suite, which I highly recommend, includes advanced features like firewall protection and parental controls. Either of those solutions are well worth the annual $40-$50 they cost to maintain.

Whichever solution you ultimately settle on, make sure whatever you have is updated regularly, and is configured to download new virus signatures at least on a daily basis, if not hourly.

A new year is a good time to try something new - how out a new browser? Internet Explorer continues to be one of the most popular ways hackers gain entry into a victim’s computer. Consider installing Firefox or Google’s Chrome as an alternative browser. Not only are they generally more secure, but often faster and easier to use.

If you do choose to stick with IE, make sure it’s the most recent version. Internet Explorer is updated frequently, and major updates (like from version 8 to 9) are not always installed through the monthly patching process. You can always go to www.microsoft.com/ie to check out and download the most recent release.

Scan your computer for malware. Even when you have an antivirus application installed, sometimes your computer can contract malware and other sketchy things on your computer, like tracking cookies, which are sometimes hard to get rid of. In addition to your regular virus scans, you should also run a malware scanner, such as MalwareBytes or Ad-Aware every few months to keep everything in check. Microsoft also offers a free malware scanning tool, as do most antivirus companies.

Roll your passwords. Now that you’ve installed all your patches, put on a good quality antivirus application, and checked your computer for malware, you should go through and change all your frequently-used passwords. Pay special attention to passwords that you use for financial sites, such as PayPal and your bank. You really should change those every few months. And if you are having trouble keeping track of them all, use a password repository like Password Safe, or frankly, write them down on a sticky and stick them on your monitor. Yeah, I said it: While it would not be appropriate for an office environment, it is generally OK to write your passwords down and leave them somewhere easily accessible when it comes to your home computer. We’d prefer you use a strong password that you have to write down to remember, than use one that is too weak to withstand attack from someone on the Internet. Check out my other articles about password hygiene for more tips about managing a large number of passwords.

Backup your important data. Consider how many family photos and other important artifacts live on your computer, and all-too-frequently, ONLY on your computer. Losing years’ worth of digital photographs is enough to reduce even the strongest man to tears. I’ve known folks that have spent years writing a manuscript, only to have a hard drive crash erase all their hard work. While it may be possible to recover some data from a crashed hard disk, it costs hundreds or thousands of dollars and only some of the data is ever recoverable.

Nowadays, backing up your computer doesn’t mean installing a complicated tape backup system on your computer and juggling various tapes. A number of companies are offering services that allow your computer to be backed up to the Internet, often for free. Companies like DropBox, SpiderOak (my recommendation), and Microsoft’s Live Mesh, all offer some storage at no cost, with a fairly low per-gigabyte fee to go above the starting allocation. In most cases, backing up your important documents is as simple as dragging and dropping the files into a special file folder that represents your online storage location. We particularly like SpiderOak because it encrypts your files before sending them over the Internet to their storage facility, greatly reducing the chance that a hacker will get their hands on them.

Taking these few simple steps will keep your computer free from malware, and ensure that you start 2012 off on the right foot.