Free Removal of Computer Virus

Are you looking for an anti spyware or anti adware product? Then, you must do your research. Why? The fact is that through a bit of research you’ll find the best possible program for your needs and not get taken by something that does more harm to your computer then it will do good to your computer.

With a list in hand, you’ll want to do some investigating. Here is a list of things that you must learn before you can choose the right and the best anti spyware program.

1. Who makes the program? This information is available when you purchase the product. Obviously, if you know Microsoft makes something, you know the company. Yet, there are plenty of great tools out there for anti spyware that are not associated with well known brand names. Therefore, don’t assume that well known brands can bring you the best anti spyware programs.

2. Who is the manufacturer, really? Take some time to do some research on the manufacturer. Do they provide other software products? Do a search for them. What do you learn? Even better, what can you find about the company’s history? The more you can uncover about the manufacturer, the better.

3. Visit the website of the Better Business Bureau. Look for both the product name and the company that manufacture’s it. There, you’ll learn if there are any complaints about the product or company that have gone unresolved. There will always complain though the product is claim as the best anti spyware programs. Not all companies will be listed, there, though. Nevertheless, learning the company’s rating at the BBB is a good step and decision to make now.

4. Look for software reviews. Many websites provide detailed reviews that are left by consumers that have used the product in the past. You may be one of these after you select and use the best anti spyware product of your choice. You can often use their information to make the right decision.

5. Visit forums and message boards to learn more. Just a search for anti spyware programs online will lead you to many discussions. That’s because finding the best anti spyware programs is such a large topic with lots of resources. You can learn what others are using as well as get expert advice about one product or the other.

Take a few minutes to find several programs that interest you. Remember, you’ll want to pay attention to the details. The best anti spyware programs is a program that will detect and remove spyware but also features real time monitoring of your computer to stop spyware from being downloaded in the process.

Fakhrul Anuar Malek presents more information on anti spyware programs at http://spyware.cosmomatrix.com – a website provides informative articles and resources on everything you’ll ever need to know about spyware

Author: Fakhrul Anuar Malek
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Digital Camera Information

It is quite possible you are inundated on a daily basis with spam mail and unwanted pop-ups which advertise the latest in spy-ware and antivirus protection. As un-amusing and counterintuitive as it may be, competition and the effective differences between competing antivirus application developers is so tight, that even the manufactures of antivirus programs are willing to exploit your computers weaknesses to advertise their solutions.

The sheer size and efficiency of the internet as well its billion-plus users makes new computer viruses more dangerous and virulent than ever. Viruses can literally spread around the globe in only minutes, effecting thousands of unprotected and unprepared users and businesses virtually instantly and simultaneously. The need for antivirus protection is of paramount concern for virtually all PC users.

First Things First: What IS a Computer Virus?

To be considered a true computer Virus, a program needs the ability to replicate itself and trigger its activity at specified events. A computer virus is just one of three types of programs known as maliceware. Maliceware are applications designed to damage, delete or steal your information, hijack your computer and even damage or destroy your computers hardware. The three types of maliceware you need to concern yourself with are Viruses, Trojans and Worms. Most antivirus programs are designed to detect and defend your PC from all three threats.

What Does an Antivirus Program Do?

Antivirus programs take two common approaches to recognize threats to your computer.

1. Signature Detection: Via Signature Detection an antivirus application scans your computer, drives and storage devices for files that contain a code it recognizes as a virus variant.

2. Activity: An antivirus application will monitor the activity on your computer for suspicious behaviors i.e. modification of system files or folders and unauthorized connections to the internet to name two.

Signature detection generally requires the manufacturer of an antivirus application to obtain a copy of a specific virus and then reverse-engineer it to obtain markers relevant to its programming. These markers are then loaded into your antivirus software via updates. Signature detection is a sound methodology for detecting and protecting against computer viruses, however it can be rendered useless when faced with a virus for which is has no definition.

Antivirus applications that scan for potential computer virus activity can be more useful at detecting the latest threats than those reliant on signature detection. It is important to note that because many applications perform the same activities as a virus writing and changing system files for example a user can quickly become inundated with numerous and unnecessary warnings by antivirus applications that utilize this method for detection.

Most of todays solid antivirus programs utilize a combination of both signature detection and virus activity to protect your computer against threats.

How to Choose the Antivirus Program that is Right for You.

If you try surfing the web for insight into what is the best antivirus program or manufacturer, you will quickly find yourself neck deep in a sea of advertisements which profess themselves to be legitimate and impartial evaluators of the available programs. The truth is, of the major manufacturers, no one solution can provide for all of your potential needs. They all have instances where they are not as effective as the competition at detecting or eliminating a specific infection or threat. There are many good Antivirus applications and manufacturers all vying for your business, be it for personal or business use, and choosing the correct application or manufacturer for your computer security can generally come down to a few simple questions.

How at Risk are You?

Asking yourself this question is perhaps the first and most important step toward choosing what degree of protection you need, and how much money you are willing to spend, on Antivirus protection. Risk generally equates to your computers exposure to outside applications, files or connections. If you were to operate a computer that would never come into contact with any program or file not manufactured by a secure source, then you have virtually no need for an Antivirus application. Simply put, if you never plan to connect your computer to the internet, download files with it or upload at risk files from outside data sources, you should have no need for Antivirus software.

If you are a casual user who perhaps connects to the internet on occasion through a temporary or dial up connection and only download or upload files and programs from reasonably secure sources, your need for an antivirus program is clear, however, your risk may be minimal. In this situation the types and range of protective applications can be kept to a minimum; a basic antivirus program designed to regularly scan your hard drive for infections should offer you the protection that you need. There are many good antivirus programs that will fit this need available as shareware – a free download – throughout the internet.

Now, if you are like what I would consider to be the majority of todays computer users, you are a high risk user and need a wide variety of the most up to date antivirus programs available. If you have a broadband internet connection which keeps your computer connected to the internet 24/7. If you regularly upload and download files and applications from random and un-trusted sources, you need to invest in very thorough security for your computer. High risk users should invest in an antivirus program that offers real time scanning of all incoming and outgoing connections or files, a firewall to prevent unauthorized access to your PC via an open broadband connection, a pop-up blocker that prevents your computers web browser from being hijacked and adware scanners that detect pop-up, spy-ware, tracking and redirection software.

Are you Purchasing for Business or Home?

Antivirus software manufactured for business and home can be two very different applications both in cost and effectiveness. Home versions generally cost less and come with fewer options than business based antivirus programs. Generally the home user does not need the added functionality built into business versions and as such, I would not recommend that a home user invest in an antivirus solution designed for business.

Good antivirus software designed for business is focused on security, both from external and internal threats, as well as ease of maintenance. Most corporate versions of antivirus applications allow for a central point of control over entire networks. Protection can be divided between internet or application servers and individual PCs. New software updates are generally pushed from a central application server through the entire network, allowing for simplicity and assure-ity of a networks protection. Most times, corporate versions of antivirus applications do not allow individual users within a network to make changes to their protection settings; this is of key importance when considering overall network security and stability.

As a business purchasing a corporate class antivirus suite, it is important that your protection extends to each individual user that will access your network. Exchange/mail and internet server protection is a must, as well as protection for mission-critical file and application servers. It is a good rule of thumb for IT managers within corporate environments to assume that all their users will do everything within their power to infect corporate equipment with viruses and threats. Though this most certainly is not true, assuming that users know how to protect themselves or their corporate computer environment from infection is in most cases professional suicide for the IT manger in charge.

Antivirus software for business is generally loaded with more options than software built for home, and as such is often times much more expensive on a whole. Usually business antivirus programs come as a server based application. Clients, or additional licenses, are purchased for each computer or user that connects to the antivirus server.

With Regard to the Antivirus Program Itself:

Determining the true quality and effectiveness of an antivirus program can sometimes come down to how often the manufacturer releases updates to the program. New viruses are introduced to the web on most certainly a daily, if not hourly basis. The best antivirus manufacturers release updates on a daily basis and often offer updates to their programs on a real-time, as needed basis. The ability for an antivirus software manufacturer to release constant, and relevant, updates to their programs should be of great concern to the user. Not having the latest updates can almost be as dangerous as having no protection at all.

Other Important Factors to Consider:

1. The programs compatibility with your current set up and operating system? If you are still using Windows 98 and you are purchasing an antivirus software manufactured in 2006, chances are it is not compatible with your computer.

2. How much in the way of system resources does the program use? Just like all applications and operating systems, antivirus applications will use your computers processing power, memory and storage space to function. Keeping this use to a minimum will help to keep your computer operating at peak performance.

3. What kind of protection does the software offer? Does the program offer protection against multiple threats such as Worms and Trojans? Will the program scan incoming and outgoing text messages and e-mails?

4. Cost How much will the protection cost you over the life of your usage? Most antivirus programs require that you subscribe to their service and then purchase updates on a yearly basis. The costs of these updates can vary widely between manufacturers and should be considered when making your final decision.

Answering these questions truthfully though an honest assessment of your PC usage will help to guarantee that you invest the proper amount of money and time into ensuring your PC and data are safe and secure.

Copyright 2006 http://www.hcditrading.com Brad Calli

Author: Brad Calli
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Digital Camera News

If you use your computer everyday, or at least depend on it for important functions such as emailing and researching, then you at least need some basic know-how of anti-spy software. There are several manufacturers who claim that their anti-spy software can protect your PC completely, but do they really? Heres what you need to know.

Anti-spy software works by scanning the entire operating system for all of the suspicious codes that may be harmful to your data system. When the anti-spy program detects any piece of suspicious code, it then compares it to the stock codes that are known as signatures. These signatures are kept in file under those already trapped spy programs. Signatures are contained in a signature base, a vital ingredient of an anti-spy software. Needless to say, the more signatures your anti-spy software knows and keeps, the more protected your computer system becomes.

When Anti-Spy Software is Not Good Enough

Like the police departments in all locales, anti-spy software watches out and prepares to trap the outlaws. But there are still some spy programs that remain at large. These days, more and newer spy programs are generated. There are signature-based spy programs recently created that cannot be identified by average anti-spy programs. And, once the code is unknown to your current anti-spy software, it will not be able to protect your system from possible corruption.

The best that you can do is to update your anti-spy software as often as possible. Do your best to backup your data so that if your hard drive crashes because of an attack, your can still retrieve your files.

Spy Software provides detailed information on Spy Software, Email Spy Software, Computer Spy Software, Anti Spy Software and more. Spy Software is affiliated with Computer Security Software.

Author: Steve Valentino
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Digital Camera Times

Antivirus software refers to computer programs or tools that are used for identifying, blocking, and removing malicious applications such as computer viruses and malwares from the system. They have become essential tools for any computer user in todays world of constant threat from virus attacks, spywares, system hijackers, etc.

An antivirus application performs two basic functions. The first is to scan all files, according to user preference, and identify the virus based on matching definitions in its database. This is known as virus dictionary or database approach of identifying viruses. Secondly, if run in real time, it tries to identify and suspicious activities occurring in the system, which may be triggered by other computer programs in the operating system. This is known as suspicious behavior approach. These two functions are the basis on which most antivirus software programs are built.

The Database Approach:

When the antivirus identifies a virus that matches any code or definition in its database, it will alert the user, and the user has the option of repairing, quarantining, deleting or analyzing the infected file. If the virus cannot be removed from the infected file, it is usually set to quarantine. However, users also have the option of immediately deleting the file thereby eliminating any further threats, or before the virus can execute itself. The infected file can also be sent to the software company for analysis and inclusion in the database, or if the antivirus has the feature, the user can analyze the infected file by self.

Since new viruses are created everyday, the virus database of the antivirus has to be updated continually. Almost all database updates are free and they can be scheduled or done manually.

Suspicious Behavior Approach:

There is no attempt to identify known viruses here like in the dictionary approach. Every activity and behavior in the system is monitored here by the antivirus. Therefore, this approach may protect from new viruses which has not yet been identified out of suspicion. However, this approach has mostly been abandoned by many antivirus companies because of its tendency to sound too many false positives. And today, there are so many non-malicious programs which can modify other executable files in disregard to the false positive issue. So this technique has become almost obsolete.

Popular Antivirus Software:

Norton Antivirus: One of the most well-known antivirus software, Norton automatically detects and removes viruses, rids computer of unwanted spyware, and scans email and IM attachments for threats.

McAfee VirusScan: The antivirus detects, blocks, and removes viruses and spyware, and protects irreplaceable documents such as digital photos, family movies, and financial spreadsheets, identity theft and slower PC performance.

PC-cillin Internet Security: From Trend Micro, it is an award-winning antivirus security and a personal firewall. Protects against viruses, worms, Trojans, and hackers, detects and removes spyware and blocks spam. Also protects your wireless network with Wi-Fi Intrusion Detection.

Panda Titanium: It uses TruPrevent Technologies, offering a double layer of protection against unknown viruses and intruders. It also protects system from hackers, phishing and other online fraud.

Antivirus HQ http://antivirus-hq.com/ your online resource to help protect your PC from viruses and spyware.

Author: George Royal
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Programmable Multi-cooker

In the first part of this CompTIA Network+ certification exam tutorial, we looked at the different types of viruses and other invaders trying to get into our network, and how antivirus programs help to stop them. Today, well discuss some tips on how to get the maximum protection from your antivirus program.

I strongly recommend you choose an antivirus program that offers automatic updates. If you rely on manual updates – that is, relying on remembering to go out and check for updates yourself instead of having them automatically downloaded when new updates are available – I can practically guarantee you’re going to forget to do so, and this can be a fatal mistake for both your network and your career.

Why is this so important? The #1 mistake network administrators and home PC owners alike make with antivirus software is not keeping the program up-to-date. New viruses are being created every minute of every day, and reputable antivirus program vendors such as Symantec are monitoring that situation, looking for new viruses and writing virus signature updates or virus definitions regularly. (A virus signature is the actual binary pattern of a virus, and just as your signature identifies you, a virus signature identifies the virus.) It’s not enough for the vendors to create these updates – they’ve got to be downloaded to your computers and servers.

Most vendors offer some kind of automatic download for virus definitions, so when new updates are created, they’re automatically downloaded by the antivirus program. For example, Symantec offers LiveUpdate, which will download new virus definitions to their popular Norton Antivirus program when new ones are available. Another popular antivirus program, Kaspersky Antivirus, will download several new virus updates several times a day! Identifying viruses and writing new definitions to defend against them is a never-ending battle, so make sure you have the latest protection.

These updates do cost money, but it’s money well-spent. Most antivirus vendors give you 30 or 60 days of free updates, but after that you must purchase a subscription to the service.

Regardless of which antivirus program you choose, I urge you to use automatic updates if they’re available. As busy as we get, it’s easy to forget these important updates, and they’re too important to be forgotten.

The only viruses you’re totally unprotected against are the unknown ones, and the only way for your network hosts and servers to know about new viruses is to keep them updated!

Don’t be lulled into a false sense of security by seeing that your servers all have the latest updates. Every single workstation and server in your network must have an antivirus program with the latest updates running. I know that neither you or I have the time to walk around to every workstation every day checking on this, so I recommend you check two separate PCs on your network each day. That only takes a few minutes, and if you see one PC with outdated definitions, there’s a good chance that other PCs on the network have the same problem. Believe me, that’s one problem you want to fix now.

When you configure antivirus software, you’ll have the option of setting a time when a virus scan should run on the host, as well as what files should be scanned for viruses. If your network PCs are left on at night, setting the antivirus program to run a full scan at 1 AM is a great idea.

If a host or server has too many files to scan them all at once, you may have to pick which files should be scanned. First on your list should be any file whose extension is .com, .exe, .ocx, or .dll. These are all executable files, which are primary carriers and targets of viruses. I personally like to scan a host’s Microsoft Word documents as well, since those files are passed from user to user more often than any other file type.

Additionally, most network administrators have been in a position where they’ve had to turn the antivirus program off, and you may have installed programs on your own PC where the installation program recommends you to turn the antivirus program off.

If you’re downloading software from a vendor you’re not familiar with, realize that when you comply with their request to turn the antivirus off, you’re trusting them with the health of your network. Maybe they’re asking you to turn it off in order to correctly install the software, and maybe they’re asking you to turn it off to make it easier for the download to launch a virus.

Legitimate vendors often have you turn antivirus protection off during a software install. I personally scan any disk or downloaded file before I begin the install process, and I recommend you do so as well. And if you do turn the antivirus off … make sure to turn it back on. I once saw an entire network go down because a virus managed to launch on an email server that had become infected one day earlier – and the infection occurred when the admin turned the antivirus off to install a program on the server and then forgot to turn it back on. The next morning, that server was toast. Don’t let that happen to you or your servers.

Knowing the basics of antivirus programs is great preparation for passing your CompTIA Network+ certification exam, but as you can see, its also a vital part of protecting the real-world networks that you and I are in charge of. Keep your virus definitions up to date!

Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the owner of The Bryant Advantage, home of over 100 free certification exam tutorials, including Cisco CCNA certification test prep articles. His exclusive Cisco CCNA study guide and Cisco CCNA training is also available!

Visit his blog and sign up for Cisco Certification Central, a daily newsletter packed with CCNA, Network+, Security+, A+, and CCNP certification exam practice questions! A free 7-part course, “How To Pass The CCNA”, is also available, and you can attend an in-person or online CCNA boot camp with The Bryant Advantage!

Author: Chris Bryant
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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A virus is a piece of code that gets loaded onto your computer without your knowledge and runs against your wishes. The first known occurrence of viruses goes back to 1987 when the ARPANET was infected by one.

One common misnomer among people is that you can infect your computer just by opening an email and reading its text. That is not possible; it is usually the files attached to the email that contain the virus. The most common file types are “.SCR” “.VBS” “, “.PIF”

Prevention is better than a cure: Here are some tips to make sure that your computer does not get infected.

* Get a good Anti-Virus software like Norton Anti-Virus, MacAfee, PC Cillin etc.

* Keep your anti virus software updated by downloading new virus definitions regularly. Most Anti-Virus software comes with the feature of updating virus definitions.

* Keep your windows operating system updated by regularly downloading new updates from the Internet. Windows O/S’s have a lot of security loopholes and bugs that can be easily exploited by worms and viruses.

* Make sure the anti virus scans the file each time before its opened.

* Floppy disks and removable media are a good source of viruses; always scan them before accessing files on them.

* Never open email attachments from sources that are unknown or suspicious.

* Do not open emails that have questionable subject lines.

* When in doubt about a file, don’t open it.

* Even with the best of precautions bad things can still happen. Backup all your data and important files.

Even after taking all these precautions if your computer does get infected, then here are a few things that you can do:

Online clearing tools – are a good source of trying to clean out the virus, there are many Anti-Virus websites that offer free online virus detection and removal services.

Removal tools – If you have an Anti-Virus software then you can go to the website of that software and download removal tools designed specifically for the virus. However, you must find out the name of the virus that infects your PC beforehand.

If you have a backup of all your important files, you can also consider formatting your hard disk.

Ashish Jain
http://www.m6.net
Ashish is an integral member of the M6.Net Web Helpers team

Author: Ashish Jain
Article Source: EzineArticles.com