Help! I have a virus!

Anti-virus is a big business today because, as you might suspect, there are a ton of viruses out there. A quick google search revealed 22 major anti-virus programs. As you might suspect by now, we will be considering only free software. I am no fan of Norton or Mcafee. Not only do you have to pay for them but they are not even the best. The only thing you will get with either one of these is the privilege to pay for them and a huge program to hog up precious computer resources. Don't fall for slick ads or the fact that new computers come with them preinstalled.  If you already have one of these you may feel bad about uninstalling something native to your computer or because you paid for it. These are not good reasons to keep bloated, ineffective anti-virus software. In fact, to uninstall Norton you generally have to use a special "Norton Removal Tool" because it's roots run deep.

I have 3 anti-virus and anti-spyware tools I use. They are AVG free, Malewarebytes Anti-Malware, and Spybot-search and destroy. All are free but the first two offer paid versions which are unnecessary to the average PC user. The first step is to remove your existing virus software using add/remove programs in control panel. Delete all backups if prompted to and don't panic about not being protected for a few minutes. You have a good browser and firewall installed by now, and if not, please read the previous posts and do it!

First up is AVG free. First off, it's free! Now not everything free is worth it, but this sure is. AVG offers a good virus that is updated frequently to meet the new viruses that are created almost daily. Downloading and installing takes a while, but you won't have to leave your computer unattended. There are other options with the free download including a link scanner and an email scanner. I don't use either one of these but they are good at what they do. Try it out because you can disable those later if you want. Remember, we don't install toolbars so read everything before you click next or ok. You may have to uncheck a box or two during the installation. Once it is installed, click update. It is automatic and will give you the status of the software. After that, I click is all it takes to scan your entire computer. The entire scan will take a while since it is very thorough. The option to schedule scans will be up to you. I don't use the scheduling feature since I prefer to decide when to scan and when not to. It is a good option to have and you may want to try it to see if it works for you.

Next is Malewarebyte's Anti-malware. This software is super speedy and can distinguish between false positives and truly dangerous applications. It has picked up things other software misses. I can't recommend it as a stand alone with nothing else, but it will get into the deep nooks and crannies where vicious maleware likes to hide. While it doesn't offer real time protection like AVG, it is a breeze to use and update. Anti-malware also resists some virus attempts to shut down ordinary anti-virus software. It just might save your computer from the nastier viruses out there. Installation is a breeze as is updating. An interesting thing happened to Malwarebytes recently when IObit stole their database to build their own anti-virus software. Read the article here. I guess they figured if they were going to steal someone else's work, might as well get the best database!

Last, but certainly not least is Spybot! This anti-spyware is truly free although the team behind it accepts donations to keep the work going. Only download the Spybot search and destroy. We will update it after the installation. Spybot has two features that really stand out to me. One is the comprehensive database for, not just viruses, but actual spyware. The difference is that viruses are malicious to your computer but spyware is malicious to your identity. A piece of spyware can reside on your system without causing any damage except your private information becoming public. The other is the ability to immunize your browsers from known hijack attempts. This protection is before a problem happens, not to clean it up later. These two alone make Spybot a necessary tool in your arsenal. Double click the installation icon and spybot will install in a matter of minutes. After installation and 'first run' wizard will appear and walk you through the update and immunization. I usually download updates from giganet (you'll see it on the download list). After the updates and immunizations are complete then comes the scanning. There are nearly a million entries in the database, but it doesn't take all day to complete. After immunization and your first scan, your computer will feel squeaky clean and ready to run like a champ.

These are the only anti-virus programs I use, although I have used Adaware and have tried most of the others (paid and free). My philosophy is to keep it simple, but simply do away with viruses and spyware. Are you ready to use the internet again? Now you can without worry.

Next up...speed up that computer. I've actually seen people buy new desktops or laptops because they were slow or crashed every now and then. We'll look at several free programs to clean up the mess and optimize your system like new.