Most computers have spyware or malware of some sort. If you go out on the web without both anti-virus and anti-spyware protection or if your protection is expired or compromised, you probably have spyware on your computer, you probably have hundreds of different kinds. Or thousands. Just this week, at my Calgary computer repair shop I cleaned 1095 malware infections off one computer. It was infernally slow. Ai, yai, yai, our eyes glazed over while waiting for it to boot.
Sometimes spyware doesn’t effect the performance of your computer perceptibly, at least not at first, but often it slows it way, way down. And it always makes your data and personal information insecure.
Many people think their virus software is enough, that it protects against spyware and trojan horses too. This is a dangerous misconception because anti-virus software, for the most part, is best for removing viruses. It may miss some spyware and trojan horses. So it’s imperative that you have both anti-virus and some dedicated anti-spyware protection.
This is what you should do to protect yourself:
1. A combination of AVG and Malwarebytes is very effective prevention. There are is so much malware out there now, no one program can prevent all spyware and viruses. Download and update both. AVG runs all the time on your computer and updates itself automatically, but Malwarebytes you have to run and update once a week or so.
2. Download, install, update and run Malwarebytes.
2. After you’ve cleaned up the spyware, then install a virus software. AVG Personal is a free version. It’s excellent.
3. Make sure your Window’s Updates is set for Automatic.
4. Turn on your Windows Firewall. Click the Start button, then Control Panel. Inside the Control Panel, find Security Center. At the bottom of the Security Center page, click Windows Firewall. A Windows Firewall page will open. Click the little circle in front of On (recommended.) At the bottom on the page, Click “Okay.”
If you want more protection from hackers than the Windows Firewall provides, I recommend Zone Alarm’s firewall, which also has a free version, although it can block Internet access if you don’t manage the exceptions well, and may be frustrating, depending on your computer expertise.
5. Use Google Chrome as your browser. Use Ad Block inside Google Chrome. I talk about that in a blog post. http://ducktoes.com/blog/free-utilities/an-excellent-way-to-prevent-computer-viruses/
Here’s a link to my Self-Help Tutorials.
