VIRUS & SPYWARE REMOVAL
You've heard it before, computing today is risky. There are countless viruses and spyware programs that can infect your computer, causing nothing but headaches. Our technicians offer the equivalent of holistic medicine for your computer—we'll clean any infections you have and also help you prevent future attacks. How? Read on...
Where do virus infections begin?
Viruses infect your computer by running executable code on your system. The virus code hides in a distributable package (file) and reaches your computer through a medium such as a disk (cd-rom, hard-drive) or a network (internet, e-mail attachment). Only executable files can infect your machine. Executable extensions include, but are not limited to: .exe, .dat, .scr and .ocx. Pictures, music and most video files (.gif, .jpeg, .mp3, .wav, .wma, etc.) can't hurt your computer because they are not executable. Usually viruses infect a machine through e-mail attachments or web browser plug-ins that you accept unknowingly or are tricked into accepting.
What about spyware?
Spyware is becoming much more pervasive and, in turn, much more of a threat. While some spyware can steal confidential data, like bank account information, most simply reports how you use your computer for marketing purposes. Still, spyware violates your privacy and, in addition, can slow your computer and internet connection down. When too many spyware programs are installed they can conflict with Windows and cripple your system. Spyware is frequently bundled with software that you install, especially free software or games downloaded from the web.
How do you keep your computer safe from viruses and spyware?
There is no sure-fire way to protect yours computer from most viruses and spyware, but certain measures can be taken to ensure that you avoid problems:
A firewall acts as a gatekeeper between your computer and the network (internet). It simply denies or allows connections to and from the internet in an attempt to block unauthorized entry. Most firewall programs will prompt you to allow or disallow a connection when attempts occur. There are some core computer functions, particularly with Windows, that need to access the internet that you may be unaware of. In general, though, It's a good idea to deny any unknown connection attempts at first. If you notice something doesn't work right as a result, then allow the connection in the future. A list of programs with their respective internet access privileges can generally be found your firewall program's configuration options.
Further Information
Popular virus protection vendors with free online virus scan capabilities:
Mcafee
Symantec
Panda
TrendMicro
Free virus protection vendors:
Antivir
AVG
Avast
Valuable free spyware tools:
Ad-Aware
Spybot S&D
Microsoft Antispyware
You've heard it before, computing today is risky. There are countless viruses and spyware programs that can infect your computer, causing nothing but headaches. Our technicians offer the equivalent of holistic medicine for your computer—we'll clean any infections you have and also help you prevent future attacks. How? Read on...
Where do virus infections begin?
Viruses infect your computer by running executable code on your system. The virus code hides in a distributable package (file) and reaches your computer through a medium such as a disk (cd-rom, hard-drive) or a network (internet, e-mail attachment). Only executable files can infect your machine. Executable extensions include, but are not limited to: .exe, .dat, .scr and .ocx. Pictures, music and most video files (.gif, .jpeg, .mp3, .wav, .wma, etc.) can't hurt your computer because they are not executable. Usually viruses infect a machine through e-mail attachments or web browser plug-ins that you accept unknowingly or are tricked into accepting.
What about spyware?
Spyware is becoming much more pervasive and, in turn, much more of a threat. While some spyware can steal confidential data, like bank account information, most simply reports how you use your computer for marketing purposes. Still, spyware violates your privacy and, in addition, can slow your computer and internet connection down. When too many spyware programs are installed they can conflict with Windows and cripple your system. Spyware is frequently bundled with software that you install, especially free software or games downloaded from the web.
How do you keep your computer safe from viruses and spyware?
There is no sure-fire way to protect yours computer from most viruses and spyware, but certain measures can be taken to ensure that you avoid problems:
- The first rule of thumb is to never run/execute a file if you don't trust the original source of the file or have a specific reason for opening it. For example, if you get a forwarded email message with an attachment, you shouldn't open the attachment unless you know the original source and are expecting it. If for some reason you want to open the attachment anyway, make sure it's not an executable file and that your virus protection is updated, enabled and scanning as files are accessed (usually called "on-demand scanning").
- Update your virus protection software regularly, either automatically or manually. Virus protection should be running in the background at all times so it can scan everything accessed by you or your computer. Full-system virus scans should be run about twice a month depending on how and how much you use your computer.
- Use a firewall to keep out general attacks by hackers and viruses that spread through networks. Windows XP SP2 comes with a built in firewall that should be used if you don't have another firewall program.
- Run spyware protection in the background like virus protection. Frequent full-system scans should remove any infections that occur.
- If other people use your computer, create a seperate "guest" login with limited privileges so they can't accidentally install a program.
- Web filtering software can filter out pages with illicit content, which frequently contain viruses and spyware.
- It's a good idea to run a scan from a different virus protection vendor even if your protection doesn't indicate a problem. Each vendor finds different viruses and spyware. Links to popular free online scans are at the bottom of this page.
- Be cautious of pop-up and unknown spyware/virus protection software advertised on the internet. Sometimes the programs that claim to remove spyware are actually spyware in hiding. It's best to use well-known brands.
A firewall acts as a gatekeeper between your computer and the network (internet). It simply denies or allows connections to and from the internet in an attempt to block unauthorized entry. Most firewall programs will prompt you to allow or disallow a connection when attempts occur. There are some core computer functions, particularly with Windows, that need to access the internet that you may be unaware of. In general, though, It's a good idea to deny any unknown connection attempts at first. If you notice something doesn't work right as a result, then allow the connection in the future. A list of programs with their respective internet access privileges can generally be found your firewall program's configuration options.
Further Information
Popular virus protection vendors with free online virus scan capabilities:
Mcafee
Symantec
Panda
TrendMicro
Free virus protection vendors:
Antivir
AVG
Avast
Valuable free spyware tools:
Ad-Aware
Spybot S&D
Microsoft Antispyware
Sierra Tahoe Computers specializes in Virus/Spyware removal and prevention.
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