The Problem

Protection from malicious viruses and spyware (or adware) isn't an option anymore, it's absolutely essential! In fact, according to recent studies there's a 90% chance your computer is infected.

There are over 100,000 known viruses. And that number increases by 3-10 new viruses every day. Depending on the virus/spyware, the effects can range from annoying to destructive. The worst infections can delete files on your hard drive, make your computer inoperable, and even send your personal and financial information to people who will abuse it. Even a mild infection can reduce the speed of your computer and Internet connection.

In the past you could only catch a virus/spyware by actually opening a file or running an application. Now you can become infected simply by going to a web site or opening an email.

The problem with today's viruses and especially spyware is that there's no one program that's good enough to remove and/or prevent all of them. There are some decent antivirus programs and there are some decent anti spyware programs but so far no one has created one program that can do both very well. Also, some programs are better at removal while others are better at prevention.

The Cure

Basically, if your computer is doing anything out of the ordinary I would suggest scanning your computer with any of the following FREE online virus scans:

Eset Nod3
Kaspersky
Trend Micro

Also, to insure you don't have any spyware on your computer, install and run scans with the following FREE anti-spyware programs:

SUPERAntiSpyware
Spyware Terminator

*Download updates prior to running Adaware and Spybot S&D.

Hopefully, after running the above programs you've taken care of the problem.

If you're still having problems, give me a call at 612.308.0978. I can insure your computer is clean and take measures to help prevent future infections. I charge $50 for virus/spyware removal and prevention services (the Geek Squad charges $299 for this service).  

Prevention

There are two ways to go for preventing future infections from viruses and spyware: paid or free.

The most recent antivirus reviews give McAfee Antivirus ($40) top marks. I don't recommend any of McAfee's suites though, nor do I recommend anything from Norton. These applications tend to consume too many system resources which can significantly slow down your computer.

Free antivirus software gets better all the time.  AVG Anti-Virus was recently upgraded to include virus and spyware protection. It's getting high marks in recent tests. Recently I've been loading AVG and Windows Defender together. Windows Defender isn't the best but it does give you the ability to modify startup items as well.

For spyware prevention I'd recommend either Webroot's Spy Sweeper ($30) or Spware Doctor ($30).

Also, insure you have a firewall running. In Windows XP you can turn on the system firewall. If that's not an option, download ZoneAlarm which is free.

Lastly, insure you have automatic updates turned on for your anti-virus/spyware programs and update Microsoft Windows.

Good luck and happy computing!

Bert Moen

Computer Recovery Services

www.bmoen.com