Viruses and Spyware
The little nasties are hell bent on ruining your enjoyment of your PC. Here we tell you how to win the war.What is a virus and what is spyware?
Viruses: A computer program with the characteristic feature of being able to generate copies of itself, and thereby spread. Additionally most computer viruses have a destructive payload that is activated under certain conditions.
Spyware: A general term for a program that surreptitiously monitors your actions. While they are sometimes sinister, like a remote control program used by a hacker, software companies have been known to use Spyware to gather data about customers.
Free software to use
Your computer may be beyond able to get access to the internet and as such you may have to use another computer to download the following tools.
We recommend the use of the following software:
- Grisoft AVG available from Grisoft
- Lavasoft Ad Aware avaialable from Lavasoft
- Spybot S&D available from Kolla Security
- New to this list is SmitFraudFix which is a great tool for getting rid of the Winanitvirus variants. You must be able to get into safe mode though.
How to win the war
First off let me start by saying that most (I estimate 80% or more) of computers we see are infected by both categories of nasty. That is to say most computers are infected by Viruses AND Spyware.
When the tools above are setup properly the trick is to use them regularly. We recommend do a complete Virus and Spyware cleanup fortnightly.
Full Program vs. Definitions
In order to win the war against these baddies you will need to have the latest full program and the latest definitions for each of these programs. Many people have said they keep updating one of these programs and it doesn't work.
You need to revisit the websites to check for a new version of the whole program. When Ad Aware went from version 6 to version SE it looked as though version 6 was still updating, but it wasn't.
Each one of these prgrams has a feature within it to check for the latest updates. With AVG it is automatic, but be paranoid check it anyway. Remember this rule Always update the definitions before you scan.
How to use Ad Aware
How to use Spybot S&D
About AVG
For starters you should do the right thing. AVG is a dam good product and you should NOT use the free version unless you are authorised to do so by the licence agreement. This basically means you must be a Home User.Also please don't hesitate to check out our spywarelist.php (advanced) and spyware articles.