First, let's clear-up some misconceptions about computer viruses.
Computer viruses are very rare.
Although you should be cautious and aware of viruses, they are no reason not to surf the Web. The vast majority of viruses are actually fake, or phreaks , so named because their sole intend is to phreak you out, and do no actual harm to your system at all. Somewhat of a computing practical joke. Urban legends run more rampant than the viruses themselves. There are those viruses, however, that are designed with the intend to cause a great deal of harm to a computer system.