Your Computer May Be Infected. Here's How To Check.. (NOT about virus)

<span style="font-size:85%;">by: <b class="author">Fazly Mohamed</b></span><br /><p style="text-align: justify; font-family: arial;">NOTE: Please take time to read on - it may be vital for your PC's security. If you are not in the mood, just save it or print it out for later reference. </p><p style="text-align: justify; font-family: arial;">A recent research revealed that 80% of the computers today is infected with these dangerous spyware and most of the users not aware of it. (Your computer could fall into this lot too.) The most dangerous fact is, even though the anti-virus software is running, these software can even inactivate them and take over your PC. </p><p style="text-align: justify; font-family: arial;">Have you experienced any of the following? </p><ul style="text-align: justify; font-family: arial;"><li>Awsome popups comes out of nowhere, when browsing the web </li><li>Home page reset to some other site </li></ul><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: arial;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify; font-family: arial;">How can this happen? </p><p style="text-align: justify; font-family: arial;">The components installed when viewing certain sites, starts up and running as soon as it's finished installing (or after the page is completely loaded) and with every windows startup since then. Their job is to collect information and report (or transfer) it to an external computer. </p><p style="text-align: justify; font-family: arial;">What is deceptive software? (Reference: www.microsoft.com) </p><p style="text-align: justify; font-family: arial;">Spyware and unauthorized adware are two examples of "deceptive" software. Deceptive software includes programs which take over your home page or search page without first getting your permission. There are a number of ways deceptive software can get on your system. A common trick is to covertly install the software during the installation of other software you want such as a music or video file sharing program. </p><p style="text-align: justify; font-family: arial;">Whenever you are installing something on your computer, make sure you carefully read all disclosures, including the license agreement and privacy statement. Sometimes the inclusion of adware in a given software installation is documented, but it may appear at the end of a license agreement or privacy statement. </p><p style="text-align: justify; font-family: arial;">Sometimes deceptive software gets silently installed on your system without any warning at all. If you use Internet Explorer as your Web browser, this can happen if your Internet Explorer security setting is set to its lowest value. Make sure to keep this setting at the medium level or higher. Doing so will help you control what is being installed on your computer. </p><p style="text-align: justify; font-family: arial;">Have you ever had an experience where you were repeatedly asked to accept a download even after you said "no"? Creators of deceptive software often use such tricks to get you to load their software. If this happens to you, do not click "yes". Instead, try to close the Web page that first asked you to accept the download by hitting the "X" in the corner of the window. Alternatively, quit Internet Explorer and restart it to begin browsing the Internet again. If you visit a Web page that continually displays these tricky pop-up windows, that Web site may not be worthy of your trust. </p><p style="text-align: justify; font-family: arial;">Your computer may be infected by now, but you may not know. Just have a checkup with a software specifically designed for it, to know the status of your computer. You must clean infections once you find it and the game is not over yet. The spyware might reinfect your PC. So it's highly recommended that you run a firewall on your system after the clean up. This will allow you to monitor every single communication occurs with your computer and block the ones which you feel unnecessary. The firewall acts as a barrier between your PC and the external world (Internet / Network). </p><p style="text-align: justify; font-family: arial;">A good spyware detector recommended by most people is, http://noadware.cjb.net and it shows you all the infections and potential dangers in great detail. It's free to scan but not to clean. It's a good idea to have a scan even you have no idea of cleaning, since you know the status of your PC in great detail. This gives two advantages. </p><p style="text-align: justify; font-family: arial;">Firstly, if there are minor infections and if you have a fair knowledge on registry settings and how to edit them, you may have a try to clean them up. Secondly, if it shows that there are major infections, you can avoid using credit cards and doing other confidential stuff, until you clean it up later. </p><p style="text-align: justify; font-family: arial;">You must run a firewall. In many new operating systems (eg. Windows XP), there is a built-in firewall. Google search on how to activate it. Others may try one at http://www.download.com </p><p style="text-align: justify; font-family: arial;">You may have a question by now. What is the purpose of these spyware? Even though we cannot give an explicit and clear cut answer, we can safely state that every thing boils down to the urge of more profits. How? The spyware collects all your personal information and transfer it to an external computer. The information is reviewed by a software in the receiving computer and then delivered targeted popup ads to your PC. There are many things that spyware does in addition to this. The most dangerous of those is that collecting the credit card numbers. </p><p style="text-align: justify; font-family: arial;">If you have some technical knowledge on your PC, here's a technical explanation on what trouble does the spyware cause. </p><p style="text-align: justify; font-family: arial;">1. An extra process is running to monitor and log your activities in your PC. </p><p style="text-align: justify; font-family: arial;">2. Constant transfer is taking place between your PC and the spyware writer's computer. </p><p style="text-align: justify; font-family: arial;">The first process in it self is an unneeded process and it contributes to slow down your PC. Second is the most harmful. It transfers logged info to the external PC (spyware writer's PC). Then the external PC transfers targeted popups to the infected PC. This, in addition to slowing down your PC because of these extra processes, it also slows down the internet connection, as the bandwidth is shared. In short, PC with a spyware is like a dumping ground for snakes. Once its there and up and running, it can do almost anything with your PC. </p><p style="text-align: justify; font-family: arial;">Please pass this on to all you know. The most risk is for people who use Internet Explorer, as it is the most popular web browser and that very fact has drawn more attention of many malicious software developers. </p><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"> About The Author<br />Fazly Mohamed - fazlymohamed @ yahoo.com</span> </div>

by: Fazly Mohamed NOTE: Please take time to read on - it may be vital for your PC's security. If you are not in the mood, just save it ...

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Why Is My Computer Slow?

<span style="font-size:85%;"><strong><em>Submitted By: </em></strong><a class="biggerlink" href="http://www.isnare.com/?s=author&a=Logan+Albright"><strong><em>Logan Albright</em></strong></a></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: arial;">Technology and slow are complete opposites with each other. With the rapid advancement of technology, we have become more and more reliant on computers to have information on the go. However, despite how hard we want it to be our way, sometimes our computers fail us and they do not perform at their peak performance when we them to. The question then pops to mind, “why is my computer slow?”<br />There are several reasons to explain why your computer is not performing at its maximum potential.<br /><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: arial;" class="widget-content"> <div class="widget-content"> <strong>Virus or Spyware</strong><br /><br />One of the main causes for ‘slow-down’ performance of computers is due to the introduction of viruses or spyware into the system. Viruses and spywares not only slow down your computer’s performance but it can erase precious data too. Also, viruses can leave behind false registry keys that will slow down your computer as your computer has to go over these false registry keys to get to the right one.<br /></div> <span class="widget-item-control"> <span class="item-control blog-admin"> <a class="quickedit" href="http://www.blogger.com/rearrange?blogID=7291437990568860363&widgetType=Text&widgetId=Text6&action=editWidget" onclick="'return" target="configText6" title="Edit"> </a></span></span><strong><br /><br />Corrupted Registry</strong><br /><br />The registry part of our computers is not something that we often look into however it does play an important role that may be the reason for your computer slowing down. It contains many files that are called registry keys that determine how your computer will function and run. Unfortunately, these registry keys can be ruin overtime as the computer is constantly used for different functions. Through this process, new entries are made and old entries are deleted, resulting in false entries. As such, the computer slows down as it has to go over these false entries before processing the right one. Moreover, after a long period of use, computers can loss files pertaining to the registry or the files may have turned corrupted.<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;font-family:arial;" class="widget Text" id="Text7"> <span class="widget-item-control"> <span class="item-control blog-admin"><br /><br /></span> </span> </div><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: arial;"> <strong>Multiple programs</strong><br /><br />Just like how we wish to complete our tasks in the shortest possible time, we do that through trying to complete our tasks all at the same time! When we are at work, we open numerous windows, Microsoft Word, Excel documents, websites for research, all these while chatting with our friends on the web messenger! How can we then expect our computer to be at its fullest potential? Just imagine, someone were to ask you to wash the clothes while changing the diapers and at the same time cook dinner for the family. It is impossible! You may argue that we are human and are restricted to our boundaries and while computers don’t cry for mummy, they just overload.<br />Machine and men may be different, but both have their limits and capacities. We have to learn how to take care of our computers just as how we take care of ourselves. While, you need not pamper your computer with praises or compliments, what I meant was to keep it at its best. Clear the bad “stuff” inside it and do regular virus checks and keep it well maintained. Only then, will you be able to enjoy the advantages and benefits of having a computer that can function at its best all the time.<br /></div><h6 style="font-family: arial;"><em>About the Author:</em><br /><em>Logan Albright is an authority on troubleshooting computer problems at </em><a href="http://www.pcaholic.com/"><em>http://www.pcaholic.com </em></a><em>. Where he helps thousands how to optimize their computers through a proper </em><a href="http://www.pcaholic.com/"><em>computer check up</em></a><em>. </em><a href="http://www.pcaholic.com/lp/mm/speed-up-pc.php"><em>Click Here</em></a><em> to speed up your pc for free.Article Tags: </em><a href="http://www.isnare.com/tag/computer/"><em>computer</em></a><em>, </em><a href="http://www.isnare.com/tag/computers/"><em>computers</em></a><em>, </em><a href="http://www.isnare.com/tag/registry/"><em>registry</em></a></h6><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Beside that informations, we also should check the hardware or each component of pc, does it normal? if it doesn't, how can we fix it?<br />get more info </span><span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://computer-infocentre.blogspot.com/2008/03/how-to-troubleshoot-your-computer_4042.html" style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(204, 0, 0); font-family: arial;">how to check and fix the computer hardware</a> </span><span style="font-family: arial;">and all component of it.</span>

Submitted By: Logan Albright Technology and slow are complete opposites with each other. With the rapid advancement of technology, we have b...

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Keeping Your Computer Safe From Viruses

<span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" ><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:arial;" >By : matth02</span></span><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:arial;">To keep your computer safe from the multitude of computer viruses out there, there are several things you should be aware of. Let's examine a few that might just save your computer. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >Get yourself high-quality virus protection software:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">If you don't have virus protection software on your computer, you are pretty much leaving yourself open to viruses, spyware, malware, adware, worms, and other devious programs that can eventually lead to the destruction of your files and your computer. And, if you happen to be hit with a highly malicious virus, you can even become the victim of identity theft. A computer virus can literally get on to your computer, record every keystroke you make, and find out all of your passwords, bank account, and charge card information. So if you think that you don't need good virus protection software, ask yourself if ending up with a drained bank account is worth not taking the care to spend a few extra dollars on a virus protection program. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >What is the best software for virus protection?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">There are many, many companies that market and sell great virus protection software. Some of the top virus protection software available on the market for the year 2007 includes: The Shield Pro, Bit Defender 9, Norton Antivirus, Kaspersky 5.0, McAfee Virusscan, Trend PC-cillin, and Panda Antivirus. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Let's take a look at one of these programs. The Shield Pro, for example, is both an anti-virus and firewall program. (Note that many popular anti-virus software programs come with firewall protection as well.) The Shield Pro is a good program for people who don't know too much about computers or virus protection. This is due to the fact that it is very simple to install and use. It will literally walk the user right through the very short installation process, and explain what is going on. This particular program scans your computer once a week and updates itself just as often. You don't have to remember to run scans with this program, as it does it on its own. If you have a problem getting The Shield Pro to work, it comes with a live help option. The Shield Pro does not take up a lot of space on your hard drive, unlike other popular programs. Therefore, it will not slow down your system to get the virus protection that you need. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The importance of updating anti-virus software:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">It cannot be stressed enough just how important it is to update your anti-virus program. This is because your anti-virus software will only be 100% effective if it is totally up-to-date. Typically, if you purchase anti-virus software, it comes with one year of free updates for virus protection. After your year runs out, you will still have the anti-virus software on your PC, however you will have to purchase additional updates and make sure that you keep them up-to-date! For example, when your year runs out, you can simply purchase service for another year or more.</span><br /></div><br /><h4 style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">About the Author</span></h4><p class="ArticleText" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">More </span><a href="http://ecomputersecurity-today.com/" style="font-style: italic;">Computer Security</a><span style="font-style: italic;"> Articles at http://eComputerSecurity-Today.com. Learn how to operate a Successful </span><b style="font-style: italic;">Niche Website</b><span style="font-style: italic;"> Network at </span><a href="http://ewebcreator.com/" style="font-style: italic;">http://ewebcreator.com/</a><span style="font-style: italic;">. Matthew Hick has been designing profitable Niche Adsense Websites for over 5 years.</span> </span></p>

By : matth02 To keep your computer safe from the multitude of computer viruses out there, there are several things you should be aware of. L...

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When, Why, And How Should I Reformat My Hard Drive?

<span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >Submitted By: <a class="biggerlink" href="http://www.isnare.com/?s=author&a=Timothy+Scheiman">Timothy Scheiman</a></span><br /><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;">Sometimes we have no choice when it comes to reformatting your hard drive. Just make sure you understand that all your data will be lost unless you take the time to backup files you do not want to lose. This should only be done as a last resort.</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;">When should I reformat my hard drive? If your windows files are corrupted beyond repair or you have files missing and all your attempts to repair have failed. If you have a virus and all your attempts at removal has not worked. Another reason would be if your computer is infected with spy-ware to the point you cannot open Internet Explorer or your computer's performance has slowed considerably. Another reason would be if your computer will not finish a successful de-frag</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;">Why should I reformat my hard drive? One of the biggest complaints I used to get when working with a clients computer was that it was so slow and it used to be a lot faster. Computers will lose performance over many months of use if it has not been de-fragged, multiple spy-ware infections, multiple virus infections, registry errors, files left after we un-installed programs we are not using. All these factors over time will slow your computer to a crawl. It would be a good idea when your computer is to the point that all your attempts to correct the problems have not improved the situation. If your at this point than its time you make preparations to reload your computer.</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;">How should I reformat my hard drive?</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;">1. Before you can begin to reformat your hard drive you must try to backup any files you may want to keep. Keep in mind if your computer is infected so can the files your backing up be infected. Before you proceed with the backup process separate the files you want to keep into a separate folder. Any folders that contain files you want to keep you can drag and drop those into this folder too.</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;">2. Run a scan virus and spy-ware on this folder and make sure these files are not infected. Any files that cannot be repaired get rid of them.</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;">3. You can backup your folder easy if you have CDRW or zip drive. If you have a secondary hard drive you could just drag and drop those files into it. Just make sure you label your folder backup so you can find it easily. Many of you have songs and pictures you want to keep you can backup those too as long as they are clean from infection.</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;">4. Don't forget to backup your history and bookmarks folder if you do not want to los that information. Take inventory of all items you want to keep and put them in this folder and scan them. This should keep your losses to minimum.</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;">5. Your computer manufacturer would have given you a restore CD and driver CD. You should have least one of each depending on the manufacturer you may have more than just two. If you cannot find your CD's or they are damaged you can get replacement from your computer manufacturer for nominal fee. It is a good idea when you first take your computer out of the box to put the CD's in a safe place. You can also make backups of them so if they become damaged you don't have to buy replacements.</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;">6. If your computer came loaded with Windows XP it is very easy to reformat your computer with the CD. Do not copy Windows over Windows always delete the partition when it prompts you and create a new partition. The next step it will ask you to format the drive and it completes these steps easily for you.</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;">7. It will than run Windows setup and load XP back onto your computer.</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;">8. If your computer is older and your running Windows 98/ME the process is basically the same except depending on your computer manufacturers restore disk you may have a some different steps. You may be required to reformat your drive with a DOS boot disk. Consult your manual for instructions.</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;">9. Your computer manufacturer also supplied driver disks and possibly applications disks. Once Windows is loaded you would use your driver disk to load the applicable drivers you need to operate your computer efficiently. Once all your drivers are installed and working correctly you can install any applications.</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;">10. Your computer manufacturer bundled some trial applications with your computer that the licenses have expired putting those back on at this point is not necessary. You do not have to put on any applications you are not using. If your not using them just save the space for other things.</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;">11. Now you can put the backup folder you created back on your computer. Once you have accomplished that you can drag and drop the files and folders into their original positions over writing any folders Windows created.</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;">12. Now you would install your virus and spy-ware program and make sure you can get on the Internet.</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;">13. Once your on the Internet do not do anything else until you have done all the windows updates. This is critical so you get your browsers security updated. Install any service packs and make sure your Windows firewall is activated.</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;">14. Run any virus definition updates and spy-ware updates.</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;">15. This process make take several hours to get everything up and running but it is important that you do this so your computer operates efficiently.</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;">If you have completed all the steps congratulations you just reloaded your computer and your ready to go.</p> <script type="text/javascript"><!-- google_ad_client = "pub-8542272527121315"; google_alternate_ad_url = "http://www.isnare.com/adsense-alt-728x90.php"; google_ad_width = 728; google_ad_height = 90; google_ad_format = "728x90_as"; google_ad_type = "text"; google_ad_channel ="8710800197"; google_color_border = "F5F7FB"; google_color_bg = "F5F7FB"; google_color_link = "0000FF"; google_color_url = "3E3F43"; google_color_text = "3E3F43"; //--></script><br /><div style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial;" id="authorbio"><p style="padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); width: 100%;" class="text"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b>About the Author</b>:<br /><br />A+ Certified Technician with many years experience in the Computer Support field. <a href="http://pcxpress.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" title="http://pcxpress.blogspot.com/">http://pcxpress.blogspot.com/</a></span></p></div>

Submitted By: Timothy Scheiman Sometimes we have no choice when it comes to reformatting your hard drive. Just make sure you understand that...

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Protecting Your Computer From Viruses, Spyware, And Other Security Threats

<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >Submitted By: </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" ><a class="biggerlink" href="http://www.isnare.com/?s=author&a=Gabriel+Adams" style="font-family: arial;">Gabriel Adams</a></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" > </span><img alt="iSnare Expert Author" src="http://www.isnare.com/images/bulb.gif" style="font-family: arial;" /><br /><br /></span><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;font-family:arial;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">Most of us rely on our personal computers and those in our office to complete multiple tasks each day. If that data is lost or compromised it can create numerous problems for us. Protecting computers against viruses and spyware is something you should do before you start using any program on it. The information you prevent from being accessed could be your credit card accounts and bank accounts. If they are compromised you can end up becoming a victim of identity theft.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;font-family:arial;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">One way that people accidentally end up with viruses or spyware on their computer is by not paying attention to the sites they use. Don’t get into the habit of giving out your personal information online just because a site asks for it. To opt in, you should only have to give them a first name and an email address.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;font-family:arial;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">Always check the address in the URL to make sure you are accessing a secure site. It should start with “https” as this will let you know it is very secure. If it only starts with “http” then the site is not secure and you can end up compromising the security of your computer if you continue entering information on the site.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;font-family:arial;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">Viruses can spread very rapidly so if you think your computer may be infected, you should take care not to pass it to any other area of your computer or to others via email. By disconnecting your computer from the network you have a good chance of isolating the damages.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;font-family:arial;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">Always be on the alert for various types of emails known as phishing. This is a scam to get you to provide personal information. Once you do, spyware can be attached to your computer. Never respond to emails asking you for personal information as most credible companies won’t contact you for such information.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;font-family:arial;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">Make sure you purchase a virus and spyware protection program that is very easy to install. Most of them offer step by step instructions for you to follow. You can find out how easy such software programs are to install before you buy them just by reading some independent reviews online.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;font-family:arial;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">You need to choose the program for your computer protection very carefully. While they are designed to give you the very best security, you can be sure those trying to pass viruses or get spyware into your system are very smart. They have learned elaborate tricks to be able to gain access to your information.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;font-family:arial;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">One of the latest tactics that these criminals have been using is to sell software that is supposed to protect your computer from viruses and spyware. Unfortunately, what they are selling you is actually the very thing you are trying to protect yourself against. Always get such software from a company that has an excellent reputation, not just any one that you come across online for a good price.</span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;font-family:arial;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">In order to ensure your computer is well protected against viruses and spyware, you want a program that offers you instant updates. These will usually happen for one full year after you install the program. This ensures that your protective software is always the most current available and criminals will have a hard time infecting your computer system with viruses or spyware.</span></p><br /><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial; font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" id="authorbio"><p style="padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); width: 100%;" class="text"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b>About the Author</b>:<br /><br />Protect your PC with <a href="http://www.trend-micro-zone.com/">Trend Micro's Security product</a>: <a href="http://www.trend-micro-zone.com/trend-micro-internet-security-us.html">Trend Micro Internet Security 2008 - PC-cillin</a>.</span></p></div>

Submitted By: Gabriel Adams Most of us rely on our personal computers and those in our office to complete multiple tasks each day. If that ...

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Effects Of Spyware On The Computer

<div style="text-align: left;"><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-style: italic;">by: </span><b style="font-style: italic;" class="author">Arvind Singh</b></span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">S<span style="font-family:arial;">pyware has a lot of side effects of the registry. One of the greatest drawbacks is the slowing down of the system. This process will continue until the registry is cleaned with a registry cleaner.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">If you have browsed the Internet for a substantial number of hours it is guaranteed that you have downloaded some sort of Spyware to your system, albeit inadvertently. That is the reason it is called Spyware. If it made itself known it would not be spying. Spyware is not illegal software. It is downloaded with the 'permission' of the user. Once the Spyware downloads and installs itself it begins, first of all, to consolidate itself on the machine. It does this by entering its information in multiple parts of the registry. These entries can only be removed with Spyware removal utilities and there are many free anti Spyware and Adware removal tools available to do a satisfactory job for you.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >Effects On The Registry</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">A lot of add-on Internet Explorer tool bars are also Spyware. They constantly monitor the users browsing habits and the type of software that is installed and run on the computer. At times this may be helpful to the user as the relevant advertisements are directed to the browser. However, in the long run this Spyware will definitely slow down the system to a crawl. This malicious software must be removed from the system as soon as possible with free Adware and Spyware removal tools. Spyware is constantly making entries to the registry. This makes the registry grow out of proportion. Since the system has to refer to the registry multiple times in a session, the registry has to be scanned from the beginning every time. Considering that the registry has tens of thousands of records it may take a very long time to scan and locate the information being sought. Spyware keeps adding junk to the registry and this slows the system down.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >Removal Technique</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Spyware can be removed from the Computer with the use of anti-Spyware utilities. However, these utilities will only uninstall the Spyware from the operating system. The anti-Spyware utilities are not designed to go in to the registry hives and make changes. Going into the registry and removing the entries is very specialized operations and cannot be clubbed with some other software or program. Removing the Spyware entries from the registry is very important. Because once the Spyware determines that the exe file has been removed it will kick in from the registry and reinstall the exe from the Internet site it came from initially. Therefore removing the entries with a registry cleaner is very important. Free Microsoft Spyware removal tools and PC registry Cleaner are good software that can remove all redundant and bad entries from the system registry.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >Qualities Of A Good Registry Cleaner</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">A good free Spyware removal utility will have three facilities such as a registry backup function a restore function and a scan and repair function. It is important that the spyware cleaner make a good backup of the registry just in case the system fails to function properly after the computer clean up.</span><br /></div><br /><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b>About The Author</b></span> </p><div style="text-align: justify;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Arvind Singh is admin and technical expert associated with development of computer security and performance enhancing software like Registry Cleaner, Window Cleaner, Anti Spam Filter etc. More information can be found at<br /><span class="hft-urls">http://www.pcmantra.com</span><br />To know about the Registry Cleaner visit at:<br /><span class="hft-urls">http://www.pcmantra.com/registry-cleaner.htm</span><br />Know more about Registry Cleaner?<br />Read Articles at :<br /><span class="hft-urls">http://www.pcmantra.com/RegistryCleanerResource.aspx</span></span></div>

by: Arvind Singh S pyware has a lot of side effects of the registry. One of the greatest drawbacks is the slowing down of the system. This p...

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Removing Viruses, Spyware, Adware And Trojans Using Free Antivirus And Free Antimalware

<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Submitted By: </span><span class="biggerlink" style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial;">Matthew Rizos</span><br /><br /></span><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;">Please follow the steps below to become malware free.</p><div> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;">1. Backup your critical documents and system files</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;">2. Create a Restore Point by clicking start – run – and typing rstrui.exe and click choose the option that allows you to create a restore point. The exact text\options will vary according the version of Windows you are using.</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;">3. Backup personal files such as documents and pictures to external media (like a usb hard drive, cd/dvd or flash drive)</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;">4. Uninstall your current antivirus via add/remove programs in the control panel. I know this may seem a little weird since we are trying to remove malware, but it’s obvious that your current antivirus is not working otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this. If you don’t have antivirus, then you can skip this step.</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;">5. Visit the following link to download AntiVir Free Edition to your download folder (like you’re my documents or desktop for example) The download is about 17 mb and takes about 1-2 min on cable or dsl.</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;">6. Double Click antivir_workstation_win7u_en_h (looks like a little umbrella) and follow the default install options.</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;">7. AntiVir will want to download an update. Please let the update download and install.</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;">6. Once AntiVir has been completely updated you may start encountering some virus detections. If you do please quarantine infections first (and only delete as a second option).</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;">7. Now, we are going to reboot your PC in Safe Mode. Safe Mode loads a “bare bones” version of windows and disables 90% of viruses and their protection mechanisms.</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;">8. Reboot your pc.</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;">9. As the PC is starting please type the F8 key on your keyboard until you receive a text based list of about 6-10 options.</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;">10. Please use your up/down arrows on your keyboard and select safe mode. You will see about 30 lines of quickly scrolling text. This is normal.</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;">11. After 30 seconds – 5 minutes you will be loaded into windows safe mode (it says safe mode on all four corners of your screen). Windows may ask if you if you would like to enter safe mode. Choose Yes.</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;">12. Now it’s time to load AntiVir. You may have a shortcut on your desktop or you can load AntiVir by clicking Start – Programs – AntiVir PersonalClassic Edition -- Start AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;">13. Click the “Scanner Tab”.</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;">14. Right Click “Local Drives” and click scan.</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;">15. Your entire computer will be scanned now. This entire process can take 1-4 hours (typically). During this process will most likely encounter malware ( such as viruses, spyware, adware or Trojans ). You should always try to remove malware in this order:</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;">a. Repair<br />b. Quarantine<br />c. Rename<br />d. Delete</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;">16. After the scan has completed and the malware has been neutralized you should do a reboot.</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;">The following steps below are removing additional malware left behind. We will be using MalwareBytes’ AntiMalware which can be downloaded from (malwarebytes.org). MalwareBytes Antimalware comes in 2 flavors: Free and Paid. The paid version offers always on protection and the free version requires you to initialize the scan.</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;">1. So, download MalwareBytes (from malwarebytes.org) and install it.</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;">2. Update MalwareBytes by launching it and clicking the update tab and then clicking check for updates.</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;">3. Once MalwareBytes has been completely updated please reboot into safe mode. If you don’t remember how to boot into safe mode please read steps 9,10 and 11 from above.</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;">4. In safe mode launch MalwareBytes.</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;">5. Select “Perform a Full Scan” and click Scan.</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;">6. Select the Drives that you want to scan and click Scan.</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;">7. At the end of the malware bytes scan quarantine anything that it finds.</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;">8. Reboot.</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;">Optional Programs to run if your still experiencing malware issue are</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: arial; text-align: justify;">ComboFix (Windows XP ONLY)<br />SmitFraudFix<br />VundoFix</p><br /><div id="authorbio" style="font-family:arial;"><p style="padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); width: 100%;" class="text"><span style="font-size:85%;"><b>About the Author</b>:<br /><br />Matthew Rizos is a PC Security Consultant in Saint Louis Mo You can read my blog at www.remove-malware.com</span></p></div><span style="font-family:arial;"></span>

Submitted By: Matthew Rizos Please follow the steps below to become malware free. 1. Backup your critical documents and system files 2. Cr...

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