Keeping it Clean: Virus Removal Basics

Keeping it Clean: Virus Removal Basics The day you learn your computer is infected with a virus or spyware is a lonely yet aggravating day. You’ll be angry that you fell victim, and may feel helpless because of your lack of knowledge about virus removal or pc repair. But don’t worry - you’re not alone! Unfortunately, you’re actually part of a club of tens of thousands of people who feel the same way every day! According to AVG, virus protection usually doesn’t detect adware or spyware both of which can wreak havoc on a computer. Thousands of people each day are infected with malicious programs! Worry no longer and stop feeling helpless because this guide is a basic computer virus repair guide that will help you identify and remove viruses and malware. Are You Running Antivirus Software? If you already have virus software perform an update for the latest version and then run a system scan. If you do not have such software, download a free copy of AVG virus protection at http://www.grisoft.com/doc/40/lng/us/tpl/tpl01. This will give you free real time virus protection, email scanning and virus removal tools. Next, download and run Ad-Aware to remove spyware, adware, and other troublesome programs http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/. Then download SpyBot Search & Destroy http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html. By using Ad-Aware and SpyBot you will have excellent protection against files that are often missed by virus protection. To check for and eliminate browser hijackers, download and run CWShredder at http://www.intermute.com/spysubtract/cwshredder_download.html. With the above programs simply run a scan and follow the prompts to remove any infected files or unwanted programs. Once that is done, upgrade your operating system, or download any needed patches, then reboot your computer. These steps won’t solve every problem, but they will fix a large percentage of the things that cause your computer to act up.

?Is Spyware Slowing Your Computer Down To A Crawl

?Is Spyware Slowing Your Computer Down To A Crawl Everyday more and more computers are becoming infected with Spyware and Adware (advertising tracking). No matter where you go on the web, someone is trying to sneak something on your computer. From honest web sites placing simple logon cookies, to paid advertising tracking your movements on the web, to malicious software that is designed to record your keystrokes and discover your passwords, Spyware and Adware have together become the web’s number one problem. Many of these programs are down right dangerous and seriously threaten your online privacy and identity. But even the simple and supposedly benign Adware programs can cause you serious problems. Spyware is any program that installs itself onto your computer with the intent to spy on your activity. This can be recording your online searching habits, or whatever you type on your keyboard. Adware is not much better. It is designed to watch what you do online, where you go, which terms you search for and then report this to the ad agency that runs the adware program. Adware programs may be designed with the best intentions in mind, but even these can cause your computer serious problems. Here is what happens. Many, if not most, advertisers on the internet will try and place a cookie or other small program on your computer. Many will add code that will track that cookie as it hits different pages. The code may be designed simply to gather anonymous data, or it may be trying to send ads to your browser that the advertising company thinks you will be more likely to respond to. Whatever the case, the Adware or Spyware is using your computer to do its tracking. This means that part of your computer’s power and CPU cycles are being diverted away from the activity you are trying to perform. Your computer is being used by someone else instead to track your movements. Now, when we multiply this behavior by tens or hundreds of Adware or Spyware programs all trying to use your computer for their work you can begin to see the problem. These programs can literally slow your computer down to a crawl, or make it crash altogether. They can fill your computer up with trash files, open unwanted popup windows, use up the space in your internet cache and generally just make working on your computer a nightmare. Luckily there are several easy solutions to the problem. But first let me make one distinction, Spyware and Adware are not the same thing as a computer virus. Although a computer virus can install spyware on a computer, you will need different tools to remove a computer virus and to keep your system clean from Spyware and Adware. You should be using both a high quality commercial anti-virus program and one or more good quality programs for handling the spyware/adware problem. There are several good Spyware/adware programs on the market. I use two different programs on my network, Ad-aware from Lavasoft and Spy Sweeper from Webroot Software although there are several others. You can easily find both of these by doing an internet search for Ad-aware and Spy Sweeper. Or simply do a search for spyware. Both of these programs will scan your hard drives and registry and present you with a list of spyware/adware programs hiding on your system. You can then quarantine or remove the offending programs. I use both of these programs since neither one seems to catch everything. Plus I will run them 2 or more times in a row, the nastier spyware will not be completely removed on the first pass. The process is very easy and I recommend running these programs at least once a week and every time you have been doing some extended web surfing. You will be surprised at how many of these spyware/adware programs will sneak onto your system. I run a very clean network and I have yet to scan my system and not come up with at least a few of these hiding on my hard drive. So be aware of the problem, take reasonable precautions, scan your system frequently, and the spyware/adware curse can be broken

Internet Security Basics 101

Internet Security Basics 101 The explosive growth of the Internet has meant that thousands of people are today experiencing the joys of being online for the first time. With growth there always comes pain. Be it your growing pains as a child or the growth and development of this part of our culture called the Internet.  Firstly we need to quickly explain what the Internet is and where it came from. The Internet is the offspring of a military project called Arpanet. Arpanet was designed to provide reliable communication during global nuclear war. A vast network of interconnected computers was set up all over the world to allow the various branches of US and NATO forces to communicate with each other.  Nuclear war never came (thankfully) and the world was left with a massive network of computers all connected together with nothing to do. Colleges and universities started to use these computers for sharing research internationally. From there it grew and spread outside colleges to local homes and businesses. The World Wide Web was born and its father was a guy called Tim Berners Lee.  When you're connected to the Internet you're sharing a vast network with hundreds of millions of other users. This shared network provides resources that 15 years ago were never thought possible. Unfortunately when something is shared its open to abuse. On the Internet this abuse comes from hackers and virus creators. Their sole intent is to cause chaos and/or harm to your computer system and millions of other computer systems all over the world.  How do you combat this? You need an Internet security system. This might sound complicated but your Internet security system will be quite straigtforward being comprised of just 2 - 3 Internet security products. We'll look at each of these products in more detail now:  AntiVirus Software  The first and most critical element of your Internet security system is antivirus software. If you don't have up-to-date antivirus software on your PC you're asking for trouble. 300 new viruses appear each month and if you're not constantly protecting your system against this threat your computer will become infected with at least one virus - it's only a matter of time.  Antivirus software scans your PC for signatures of a virus. A virus signature is the unique part of that virus. It can be a a file name, how the virus behaves or the size of the virus file itself. Good antivirus software will find viruses that haven't yet infected your PC and eliminate the ones that have.  Antivirus software can only protect your computer from viruses trying to infect it via email, CD-Rom, floppy disk, Word documents or other types of computer files. Antivirus software alone will not keep your computer 100% safe. You also need to use firewall software.  Firewall Software  The use of firewall software by home computer users is a relatively new occurence. All Internet connections are a two way process. Data must be sent and received by your computer. This data is sent through something called ports. These are not physical things rather aspects of the way your computer communicates online.  Firewall software watches these ports to make sure that only safe communication is happening between your computer and other computers online. If it sees something dangerous happening it blocks that port on your computer to make sure your computer stays safe from the person who is trying to hack into your system.  An easier way to understand a firewall would be to picture your computer as an apartment complex. At the front door of this complex there is a security guard. Every person who enters the complex must pass this security guard. If the security guard recognizes the person entering as a resident he allows them to pass without saying anything. If, however, the person entering the complex is unknown to him then he will stop that person and ask for identification. If they have no business being at the apartment complex he escorts them from the building.  If you are not currently using firewall software your computer will get hacked into - that's a guarantee.  PopUP Blocker  You can get a good popup blocker at no cost. An easy way to do this is to install either the Google or Yahoo toolbar. Both of these come with popup blockers built in. Popups are not necessarily dangerous but are a nuisance and using either of these toolbars will make your life that bit easier.  A simple rule for practicing online security is: "If in doubt then don't". If you don't recognize the file, the email address, the website or if your gut feeling says "no" then don't click that button.

If you are chasing the latest help in relation to computer

If you are chasing the latest help in relation to computer

If you are chasing the latest help in relation to computer. When you're trying to find top information relating to computer, you'll find it hard unscrambling quality information from reckless computer proposals and guidance so it is important to recognize how to qualify the information you are given.  Now we'd like to offer you some advice that we believe you should consider using when you're searching for information regarding computer. You need to realize the recommendation we give is only appropriate to internet information concerning computer. We do not give you any direction or assistance if you are receiving information offline.  A great hint to follow when you are presented with information or advice on a computer site is to ascertain who owns the site. Doing this could reveal the owners computer authorizations The fastest way to determine who owns the computer web site is to look on the 'about' page or the sites 'contact' page.  All decent sites providing information on computer, will nearly always have an 'about' or 'contact' page which will list the people behind the site. The details should disclose some key points about the owner's necessary expertise. This permits you to make an informed assessment about the vendor's education and practical knowledge, to offer guidance about computer.

How To Remove Winfixer 2005 Plus Unwanted Spyware And Adware

How To Remove Winfixer 2005 Plus Unwanted Spyware And Adware

Spyware and adware is advertising supported software that allows its publishers to snoop on a computer user's internet activity.  It is designed to obtain information about computer users and their surfing behavior usually without their knowledge or consent. Spyware is potentially more harmful than Adware because it can record your keystrokes, history, passwords, credit card number and other confidential and private information. Besides spyware and adware, computers can also be infected with my other internet parasites such as Winfixer 2005, viruses, trojans, dialers, etc.  Spyware and adware are installed quite easily on most computers. Many spyware programs often enter computers hidden in programs such as freeware, shareware or demos. Some programs like Winfixer 2005 will often load on boot up, take up your computer memory, cause a computer to display system errors, spawn multiple pop-up windows and even shut down itself.  Why is it important to detect and remove spyware, adware and other internet parasites?  - Loss of privacy  - Reduced and slow PC performance  - Annoying pop-ups that do not go away.  - A computer's homepage can be changed.  - In severe cases, a person's sensitive and confidential information can be recorded and then subsequently misused...exposing that person to identity theft, unauthorized use of their bank account or credit card and many other problems.  How to protect against spyware:  - Download and install a spyware remover. Every week you should check for updates to install for the scanner.  This will help protect you against the latest threats.  - Use a firewall and an Anti-virus program. Many people have a direct connection the Internet and do not setup and run a firewall. This can potentially be very dangerous. Firewalls should be running to protect against many potential problems including hackers and spyware.  - Be careful about installing freeware software and downloading music online. Some spyware programs display messages asking for your permission to install the application. Read their agreements carefully as well.  - Be careful as to what sites you visit...sometimes spyware and adware can be installed on a computer simply by visiting a website.  - Use The Mozilla Firefox browser as it is less vulnerable to spyware and adware than Internet Explorer.

How to Increase Your Computer Speed Fast

How to Increase Your Computer Speed Fast

I'm sure you've come across tons of articles and even suggestions from some of your friends on how to get your computer to work faster. Its really not that hard to increase your internet speed. I'm going to make it real simple for you and you don't need to be a computer geek to make this work. The first thing you need to remember is to never, and I mean absolutely never download programs especially free software without reading the fine print. Most free computer software will bombard your computer with spyware which will eventually bring your internet speed to a screeching halt! If your computer is already infected with spyware you can download the leading spyware remover called ad-aware which will scan your computer and remove spyware and tracking cookies from your computer. 

Another way of making your computer and internet connection faster is by clicking on start, then run and typing in msconfig. Go to start tab and remove any program except your antivirus software and any other program which you must have start when windows starts. This tip will increase your computer start up time dramatically! 

Step number 3, and I do this almost on a daily basis is to clean up your internet cache. Go to your control panel which you can access from your start button and click on internet options. Go to temporary internet files and clear your history. I would recommend that you also set internet history to a maximum of 2 days. Next step is to delete your temporary internet files including offline content. Last step is to delete cookies. Be careful though because deleting your cookies will also delete useful information from your computer. You can read a how to on cookies here 
These steps are the basics you can take which will speed up your internet connection immediately. I would also recommend doing a virus check on your computer on a weekly basis. If you don't have antivirus software, get it! You'll be happy you did. Just one virus can wreak havoc on your computer! Make sure you test your internet speed whether its broadband or dial-up, before and after you take these simple steps so you can compare if these steps you've taken have worked. Taking these basic steps will make you a happy surfer and will restore your faith in the World wide web! 

How to Avoid Getting Ripped-Off Online

How to Avoid Getting Ripped-Off Online

Online security is one of the top catch phrases these days, but hardly anybody knows what it means and worse, most home computer users think security only applies to corporations and online businesses. 
Most people think online security means simply protecting your credit card data from fraud and theft, but it actually goes way beyond that. 
The potential for mayhem and just plain disruption of your life doesn't just mean credit card fraud - it can mean having your identity stolen, your life disrupted and spending hours cleaning up after an online 'vandalism' attack. 
You must protect yourself from everyone from the teenage computer hacker to the organized crime syndicate using computer worms and keystroke logging viruses. 
The great news is that a number of simple techniques should protect you against the vast majority of threats, since the evil doers will simply move on to easier pastures.

Update your anti-virus files 
The widespread 'Bad Trans' worm logged keystrokes and transmitted potentially sensitive data such as credit card and social security numbers to the 'bad guys'. 
Though this virus contained a high level of criminal intent, it was easily blocked by anyone with up-to-date anti-virus files. 
If you don't have anti-virus software with current virus definitions installed, you leave the door wide open for security problems. 
Install a 'Firewall' 
A firewall helps prevent unauthorized access to your computer by 'hackers'. 
It closes off the entry points (called open 'ports') carried by virtually every computer connected to the Internet. 
A common misconception is that firewalls are only for people with cable or other high-speed connections. 
Even if you use a dial up connection to get online, a firewall can help you detect and prevent people from logging on to your computer, stealing files or even using your computer to break into others! 
You can take a free test of your computer's security by logging on to http://www.symantec.com/securitycheck/ and clicking 'Find out today if you are safe'. The results may surprise you.
Use secure sites 
Only give sensitive data such as credit cards, social security numbers and important passwords over a secure connection. 
This means the little yellow lock appears in the lower part of your browser and nobody but the website you are connected to should be able to read the data you send. 
Change passwords often 
An easy way for you to protect your sensitive data and email is to change your passwords on a monthly basis, or even more often depending on how frequently you use computers away from home. 
If you log on to your email at the library, in 'cyber cafes' or any other remote computer then the possibility exists that computer could have a key-stroking virus present. 
This means everything you type into the computer (passwords, birthdays, social security numbers, credit cards) could be logged and used by someone else. 
** Change your passwords at lease once a month. 
Though not fool-proof, these security tips should help reduce your vulnerability and keep you safer online. 

How Spyware Blaster Can Protect Your Computer From Harm

How Spyware Blaster Can Protect Your Computer From Harm

By browsing a web page, you could infect your computer with 

spy ware, ad ware, dialers and hijackers. These, unwelcome 

guests, are some of the fastest growing threats on the 

Internet today. It is important to protect your computer 

and one of the most powerful software products, available 

for this, is Spy ware Blaster, a program created by Java 

cool. 

How are you affected? 

A spyware program will record every keystroke and e-mail as 

well as every web page you visit and every chat session. 

Some spyware programs will try to take control of your 

homepage, search page and other browser settings. Some may 

silently download themselves onto your computer. Others may 

pose as legitimate programs and persuade you to download 

them. 

Private and confidential information extracted from a 

user's computer may be put on the Internet before he can 

realize that he is a victim of these malicious programs. 

A Microsoft program called ActiveX is used to download 

software from websites for supporting legitimate services 

like file viewers or games. ActiveX can also be used to 

download spyware, hijackers, dialers and ad ware. Spyware 

Blaster can make it difficult for these ActiveX programs to 

run on your computer. It can also protect your computer 

from certain cookies while running Mozilla based browsers 

like Fire fox. 

The major anti-virus software product manufacturers have 

ignored the risks of spyware, hijackers, dialers and ad 

ware till now. Due to this, users have little knowledge of 

the software products that can be effective in detecting 

and eliminating them. One of the most powerful products 

available to provide security from spy ware is Spyware 

Blaster. 

Spyware Blaster 

Spyware Blaster is a freeware that offers effective 

protection from malicious Internet downloads. It disables 

malicious ActiveX controls that are already present and 

prevents downloads of malicious ActiveX controls from a web 

page. Its current database contains 822 items against which 

it provides protection. About 100 of these are tracking 

cookies, used by advertisers. 

Spy ware Blaster's Flash Killer capability enables it to 

block the installation of distracting macromedia flash 

content. It gives the user the option to block specific 

search engine toolbars and browser plug-ins.