|
Jan 8, 2005
This tutorial is for the free removal of spyware, adware, viruses, and trojans.
Introduction
As Spyware has become so prevalent so has the demand for a tutorial for removing it. Since many businesses rely on Spyware as a means of income, they are always one step ahead of the game. This means that no matter how hard you fight it, you can still be infected.
First we must establish the meaning behind Spyware. Not all Spyware Is Spyware. There are Trojans, Viruses, Adware, and Spyware.
A virus is anything that spreads itself. This is not always harmful, but usually annoying. Although, some viruses are highly hazardous to your computers health. To prevent against these you need an anti virus program.
A trojan horse, or, trojan, is a program that allows the client/controller of the trojan to control the host/infected computer. This can be anything from reading click in a web browser to complete administrative access to the computer. To prevent against these an anti virus is also needed.
Adware and Spyware have the same goal, mainly, to track you and force ads/merchandise/propaganda at you. Most Spyware these days are simply download from a website without you even clicking anything. It comes in through security holes in your web browser and operating system and loads itself. This can come in through ActiveX, java, or just a simple browser plug-in. Always be sure you know what you are doing and read the TOS before you download anything. To prevent against these you need anti Spyware programs.
Protection
Update your system. Go to Windows Update. Updating your operating system is very important.
Scan first. You will want to get rid of a lot of viruses before installing antivirus software so scan it. Use Trend Micro's Housecall. This will remove a lot of known viruses.
Since a lot of problems are downloaded from Internet Explorer, I highly recommend using Mozilla Firefox. This will eliminate many problems.
To prevent against email obtained viruses, witch is the majority of harmful viruses, use a better email client. For POP3, instead of using Outlook, use Mozilla Thunderbird. For web based mail I recommend using gmail. Stopping email viruses is very important.
Intervention
Sometimes, and usually, just using different programs to stop Spyware and viruses isn’t enough. I recommend getting both antivirus and antiSpyware.
For a free reliable antivirus, use AVG. Personally I recommend Trend Micro PC-Cillin. This, in my opinion, is the best solution for a home user and antivirus protection. For server users use Trend Micro's Server Protect. This is the best solution for servers, allowing you to synchronize patterns and updates in your network with only one download.
For Spyware/Adware specialized scanners I recommend Spybot. This comes with Spybot Tea Timer witch scans in real-time to block malware from infecting you, just like PC-Cillin.
Two other solutions that work equally as well are Lava Soft AdAware and PC Tools Software Spyware Doctor.
|
