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How to Kill Spyware and Adware Dead! | - by Dave Cottrell |
There are a lot of programs you can download to scan your computer for spyware and other malicious pests. However, most of them either don't work, work poorly, are themselves spyware, or just run a scan on your computer, show you a long list of "problems," then require you to buy the software to get rid of the problems.
Secondly, when a program does actually do what it says and get rid of the junk it finds, your computer still runs slowly.
Unfortunately, this is a very common problem. It's difficult to wade through the list of software available, and no one program seems to be able to get rid of everything.
There are some excellent programs that I recommend very highly. (Incidently, the best way to determine which ones DO work is to get recommendations from others who have successfully tried them.)
AdAware is a good free program that does work well. It won't necessarily get everything, but it gets a lot and cleans it, too.
Windows Defender, formerly called Microsoft Antispyware, is an excellent piece of software that is also free and really works well. I have had great success with this one.
NoAdware isn't free, but it's an excellent investment for your computer security. Yes, I am an affiliate for this one, and would recommend that anyone buying it become an affiliate, too. Like many of you, I've bought a few others and have been very disappointed with them. However, this one works great, and as far as I'm concerned, is a MUST HAVE for your computer.
To sum up, I recommend that you get all three pieces of software and run them all, one at a time. This should clean out any malicious software presently running on your computer.
Also, make sure your antivirus and firewall software is up-to-date. If you're running free antivirus and firewall protection, which can be a bit dicey, I would recommend AVG Antivirus and Zone Alarm Free. Sygate Personal Firewall is better, but Sygate has been bought out by Symantec and the firewall is no longer free.
I hope all this is helpful to you. If you run these programs and your computer is still slow, it's likely time to run a product like Norton Systemworks from Symantec or Registry Doctor, available from Download.com. These products may look expensive, but they work well and will save you a ton of money in bills from the computer repair people!
Dave Cottrell is opinionated, compassionate, and passionate about people, marketing and online business. He does a lot of digging, experimenting and research, and writes like crazy about a wide variety
of topics and subjects. He is the owner of many websites and blogs; you can read his rants and find out more about him at http://davecottrell.com/blog.html
This article can be shared freely as long as this box remains intact.
Copyright © 2006 David H. Cottrell. All rights reserved.
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