Protect your computer.Take care of your equipment and systems before you head out into the Internet realm. You need to have a firewall and anti-virus protection for your email and for when you search websites and interact online. At bare minimum, you may want these two solutions that are offered at no charge to home computer users (i.e not for commercial use):

Free Firewall Download: ZoneAlarm http://www.zonelabs.com/

Free Anti-Virus Download: AVG Anti-Virus http://www.grisoft.com/

Take care of yourself, too, by choosing appropriate dating sites. Seek and choose a reputable online dating service. How? Begin by asking around with friends, neighbours, co-workers and others you may know who have tried online dating, and see which places they recommend.

In addition, search "online dating services" and keep a notebook of their URLs or website links, the fees, rules and regulations, complete contact information of each and any other useful information that spikes your interest. Then compare each place.

Try only those places where you feel safe. Avoid the others.

A lot of people have taken online dating like a duck takes to water because it works or it can work. Unlike men, women are in general, terrified of it. The idea of meeting a man that she has been chatting with online is totally terrifying. All they heard about are the spooky and scary things that have happened and I must agree with them if they want to be extremely careful about meeting up. It's not only a must but vital to the online dating practice. So what does a nice guy have to do then? You're not a pervert or a sexual predator or even a weirdo. You're just looking for "the" right girl . Somebody to bring home to meet your mom. A noble intention I must say.

One must be patient. Try not to press for your online date's personal information like her real name or her address. Keep your conversation light and fun until she feels comfortable talking with you online. And don't try to rush her for a face to face meeting. She might get the wrong idea and thinks your a pervert or worse, desperate. Three words. Patience, patience, patience.

Be honest. Absolutely honest. Tell the truth about your appearance and your job. From previous online dating experience, good relations are never built on lies and deceit. She will find out about the truth eventually. By then, you'll be back where you started.

In your profile, post as many pictures as possible. Post "real" pictures. Pictures of yourself doing normal everyday activities. Full body pictures if possible, not just head shots. If your dating a girl in real world she wouldn't just be dating your head.

Once the online discussion has been opened about meeting face-to-face for the first time, suggest that you meet in a very public place, during broad daylight and she bring a friend along. You have nothing to hide if you've told her the truth about yourself and she has already seen a lot of pictures of you. What's left is to make her feel safe meeting you. Good luck!