There are search engines and browsers, but they are not the same thing.

The browser is the program you open (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, Chrome) to browse the web in.  It has a bar toward the top with “http://” starting out a string of text, usually with .com or .php at the end.  You can set your home page (what pops up when you open your browser) through the “tools” or “options” menu.

A search engine is a website (Google, Yahoo, AOL, Bing, Ask).  You can browse to it and use it to search the web, but it is not a “browser.”

Many people have their browser’s home page (the website that automatically shows up when you open your browser) set to a search engine and browse to websites by using the search engine.

You can get to, say, “Facebook Login” by Googling it.  But sometimes you have weird snafoos like the time hundreds of people Googled “Facebook Login” and got some random guy’s blog post about Facebook as the first link — and they thought it was actually Facebook.  (Seriously, check that guy’s comments section.)

This has happened before.  Notably with “Cancel Google” (again, check the comments) and more seriously with “WoW Armory,” when the first sponsored link was a computer virus that hit thousands of Warcraft players — simply because they used a search engine to browse to a website when they really really shouldn’t have.

How can you avoid search engine embarrassments?  Browse without a search engine through the use of Bookmarks or by typing a web address into your browser bar (the one with “http://”).  For example, my web address is “www.eablevins.net”.  If you look at the browser bar, you will see a web address that includes “eablevins.net” at the beginning and more after it to denote a specific web page.

The benefits of changing a browsing-through-search-engines habit?  Simple: fewer viruses and less confusion.  You’re much less likely to stumble onto an erroneous website if you go directly to a website without using a search engine.

OTHER COMPUTER SECURITY TIPS

1) Stop using Internet Explorer.  Use Chrome, Firefox, or Opera instead. This is not about preference; IE makes you more vulnerable because it is more popular and thus hackers target it the most. So don’t question this one. Just do it.

2) Never run files with .exe unless you know what they are, as unknown .exe files that you get from strange places ARE VIRUSES.  (Chrome is good for this because it won’t automatically run .exe files on webpages.)

3) If you don’t have bought (and updated) virus protection, use AVG.  It’s free and good.

4) Spyware is not the same as viruses.  To protect from spyware, get Malwarebytes (free version you have to run yourself, but the pay version can be set up to autorun when you want it).

5) Keyloggers are a form of spyware that record what you type.  Even if you get a keylogger, you have to run a program to remove it, so get I-Hate-Keyloggers to prevent keyloggers from recording your keystrokes.

6) Use a strong password and don’t share it. I’d recommend 8 symbols long without special characters, as I’ve run into issues with websites that won’t accept passwords longer than 8 symbols (crazy, right?) or special characters.

Special Note: This post has been extra-simplified because people who don’t already know this need a step-by-step.