O.K. Here we go. First of all this is meant to answer the most commonly asked questions. Such as. 1) Why is my computer acting funny and what is malware,spyware,trojans,etc? 2)How can I tell if I am really infected? 3)How do I fix the problem? 4)Are there free utilities that I can use and if so which ones are best? 5)What is the best security software.
Your computer is most likely to act up as a result of MALWARE. Malware, also known as Malicious Software, is software designed to infiltrate or damage a computer system without the owner's informed consent. Malware includes computer viruses, worms, trojan horses, most rootkits, spyware, dishonest adware, and other malicious and unwanted software.
There are a couple of good Free online scans to verify the presence of an intrusion. Trend micro Housecall and Kaspersky. Housecall will also remove malware while Kaspersky offers a Free 30day FULL VERSION TRIAL.
Fixing the problem is only half the equasion. First is to attempt to prevent this from happening in the first place. To do this you must employ several tools together. A firewall. An anti-spyware utility. An anti-virus utility. And in some cases a popup blocker. Next is to remove any intrusions that happen to get through.*Note* The stronger your utilities and the more often they update their detection protocols the less likely something will get through.
The proper way to remove malware is to turn off your system restore. (malware hides a copy of itself there quite often) Then re boot into safe mode. (keep pressing f8 when you power up and select safe mode) Then run your anti virus / anti spyware-trojan utilities. Then re-boot with your internet connection disabled and re-run your scans. then turn your restore back on and set a new restore point.
Lets face it. You usually get what you pay for.There are some rather fine Freeware utilities out there but none of them are as strong as the ones you pay for. Of the pay ones Norton / Symantec is almost as big a joke as McAffee.Which is just marginally better than the crap that microsoft packs with windows. Google the anti virus certifying bodies that rate these companies. Use what the pros use. Of the freeware out there my personal preferences are: For Anti-Virus) Avira Antivir, AVG, Avast, Cyber Defender.
For Anti-Spyware) Ad Aware, Panda, SpywareTerminator, SuperAntiSpyware, Spybot S&D. Firewalls) Agnitum outpost, **COMODO PRO**, ZoneAlarm.
As for the paid for utilities There is something that needs saying. Running seperate utilities is more resource intensive on a system. It will use more of your processor as well as more of your RAM. Most GOOD security utilities are Suites which not only use less system resource but include such things as firewall, privacy protection, file anti-vir, mail anti-vir, web anti-vir, Anti-spam, parental control, and a little thing called a "Proactive defense" which monitors your computer for ANY unauthorized changes to its configuration. By the way I am a typical guy and surf porn like the rest of you. (DON'T FRONT) I also operate and download in hostile environments. The reason I'm saying this is to tell you that a GOOD QUALITY SUITE (like Kaspersky or TrendMicro) is capable of really protecting the average user.
Here are some download links for the above mentioned software. And finally. Here is a review by PC Authority magazine of 47 products rated by price, performance,ease of use, etc.
http://www.pcauthority.com.au/Search/Default.aspx?N=147
http://www.free-av.com/
http://lavasoft.com/products/ad_aware_free.php
http://www.spywareterminator.com/
http://www.agnitum.com/products/outpostfree/index.php
http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/
http://www.kaspersky.com/virusscanner
http://usa.kaspersky.com/trials/home-users/internet-security/
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/