I know a lot of people - friends, family and clients, who wage an ongoing battle with spyware, malware, and viruses. As they surf the internet, their computer gets more and more loaded up with these programs, until they either have to pay the “Geek Squad” or other service to clean it up, or they just buy another computer.
Here are some best practices to keep your computer from developing such problems in the first place, or to help you clean it up once you are infected:
1) Avoid surfing the net on an account with administrator priviledges. If you have the priviledge to install a program onto your computer, so does the malevolant website that you are visiting. If you don’t have those priviledges, the bad program CAN’T be installed. This alone has kept my computers clean for years.
2) Install AVG Free Anti Virus Software. I hate Norton, because it always messes up my computer when I try to upgrade it or uninstall it. Plus AVG is FREE!
3) Run the most updated version of Adaware, with updated definitions on a regular basis. It is a free program and is made to search and destroy stuff on your computer that has been installed without your express permission. Looks like the Plus version is FREE for a limited time.
4) If you suspect you are infected, run HijackThis. Running it won’t hurt your computer, but you can really mess things up if you start deleting the files listed in the log without knowing what you are doing. You can, however, use a log autoanalyzer that will interpret the results for you. Here is a screenshot of some typical results.
If you aren’t familiar with an item listed in your HijackThis log, Google it, and if it is spyware or malware, you will often find detailed instructions and software that will aid you in removing it.
Surf Safe!
#1 by Social Network Web Design - May 6th, 2008 at 23:37
Thanks for the tips! One sure way to keep your computer clean is by avoiding clicking on advertisements which are obviously some form of adware and by avoiding opening email attachments from people you don’t know.