Review of free security::What Is the Difference between McAfee Security Scan Plus ...
Review of free security::What Is the Difference between McAfee Security Scan Plus ...
If you are in need of help with today's high tech computer security issues, you are not alone. With all the new things going on in internet security and the talk of viruses, adware, spyware, trojans, and all the other things you don't understand, it's no wonder people are frustrated with their computer. I'll give you some easy to understand help with your computer regarding these threats and how to counter them, whether you're new to the computer or just don't understand what all the talk is about. In this article I have some links to web sites that I use for information, a link is a short set of letters and characters used to a get to a website. If you are reading this article on your computer, the link is highlighted in a different color than the rest of the text. Click on the link and your browser, the program that you use to search the internet, will come up with the website from the link. You can type the link into your browsers address bar, they start off with http://, to go to the website. They need to be typed in exactly how they are shown. I will put all the characters you need to type in between the two brackets []. Or use a search engine to search the topic I have underlined, such as Google; a website that searches the internet for the most likely thing you are searching for. Or use the search line on Internet Explorer for the word that I have underlined to find out more information about it. First I will give some definitions to help you understand what all the fuss is about and then what you can do to protect yourself. Adware. Simply put, adware are banners or advertisements put into programs to advertise something. You've probably seen these yourself on websites, an ad on the top to get your attention. But the adware we are talking about is hidden from you until you use the program or file. It is downloaded with the file, picture or program and pops up in front of or behind everything else and is very annoying when you are trying to do something. There are many programs and things we download for free on the internet that are paid for by this advertising. Those cute pictures, emoticons; icons with cute faces, screensavers and such are paid for somehow, usually with ads. Spyware. Small programs used to track what you do, or where you go on the internet. This may also be used to get information from your computer. Just like the part of Windows that is used to get information that a technician might need to help you fix your computer, someone else can get information from your computer through these. Some of the biggest culprits of these are pornographic sites. They have tracking cookies that download with the images and keep track of sites you visit. Cookies are small bits of information downloaded from sites that contain information about that website. Tracking cookies collect information from your computer and share it with others, which can include your surfing habits and personal information you have on your computer. Another one is game sites that give out cheats and fixes for computer games that are not authorized by the game manufacturer. If you have ever visited a web site that seemed to take a long time doing things and afterwards your computer seems to be much slower than before, the chances are you have tracking software on your computer. Computer Virus. Computer viruses are programs that do something to your computer that you don't want it to, usually they are self copying. Many times you can pass these on with your email, that is were the self copying comes in. It doesn't really matter what it does, just that you don't want it and you don't need it. An anti-virus program will not only block these things but get rid of them in many cases. A lot of the problems people face today are due to viruses. Trojans, Adbots, Malware, Hijacker, Scumware, Data miners, Foistware and many more. If you have heard of these others, they are not going to be defined because, you don't need to know exactly what they are. What you do need to know is how to prevent or get rid of them. They are a growing group of malicious programs that the following tools are all designed to help get rid of. Separately, each program here is good at getting rid of or protecting you from the various things added on to your computer without your approval. Together, they are an indispensable set of tools to protect your computer. Now into combating these things in ways that you can understand and will not cost you much. First you need a good anti-virus program. This is the one thing you are probably going to have to pay for. You can click on Google, [http://www.google.com/], and type in free anti-virus and see for yourself some of the free ones available. But this is where an ounce of prevention comes in. If you pay for a good internet security suite such as one from TREND MICRO, [http://www.trendmicro.com/en/home/us/enterprise.htm], you will thank yourself later for money well spent. They have some easy to use and worry free security programs that are rather low cost compared to what you are getting. Their site also has a free virus scan with no obligations, called housecall,[http://housecall.trendmicro.com/]. I use Trend Micro's Internet Security Suite 2005 because of it's ease of use and hassle free updating. Whatever you choose you will need to make sure it gets updated regularly. An anti-virus program uses patterns to recognize a virus program and you need to have the latest patterns for your program to work the best. An anti-virus program that updates automatically is the best, it will update when ever you go onto the internet, in the case of dial up or the slower modem type internet hook ups. Or if you have a connection that is always on, DSL or cable, it will update whenever the company sends out a new pattern file. If you don't necessarily trust someone who is plugging a certain program just trust those around you. Ask friends, neighbors and relatives what they use. If you work somewhere that uses computers ask the administrator about it. See if they have problems and how much time they have to spend using whatever it is they use. The big point here is that you can find out from several sources, even the internet. CNet,[http://www.cnet.com/ is a large website dealing with computers and technology that is a great source for computer related questions and answers. They have reviews of programs and download free programs dealing with security issues. They review the programs and post their findings about what they found and how easy the programs are to use. They also have a great sister site that has free downloads for other security issues that I will be getting into. They even have peoples opinions about the products they review for you to read. On the same idea is another site that is great to help you find out what people think about certain programs, epinions,[http://www.epinions.com/]. They have a section on software where you can lookup the various anti-virus programs and find peoples opinions of them. The people telling you their opinions are just ones that want to share their thoughts about the products, they are not getting paid to do this. It is free and is helpful in finding out about what people think of many products. Whatever you use you need to follow the manufacturers guidelines in using the software. Along with these programs should be help for how to get rid of the viruses when and if you get one. The important part about a paid for program is the support you receive after buying it. If you call and have to wait for a technician to help you out, that is not much help to you. That is were the cost of the software comes in. That and the updating. Some companies are better at this than others. To find out more, call the companies technical support from their website and find out for yourself, a few minutes call is worth it to find out if they answer their own help lines or if you are put on hold from the start. Do not call their sales area, call their support number for the product you are thinking about purchasing and see if you get a real live person to help you. They should be happy to answer any questions about their product. If not, maybe you should think about another company. Also ask others if they have called and how the call went. It can be an important part of how you buy a program. The removal part depends on what is found and how the program responds to it. In some, it is all automatic and others it has to be done by yourself. This is also when it is nice to be with a company that you can get a hold of someone in person and get a quick response from. Now on to some things for the rest of the security issues of your computer, adware and spy ware. Along with the programs you can buy for anti-virus, there are many you can get for adware and spyware blocking. This is one reason I use Trend Micro. Their suites have programs to help combat these, as well. Along those lines you can check websites such as CNET about the best programs to buy. They will also recommend some free ones for you to use that you can download from them. I have two computers that are regularly hooked up to the internet. On them I have Internet Security Suite from Trend Micro along with six free programs for adware and spyware security. The first five are easy to use and free. The last, WinPatrol is free but is a little more difficult to use than the others. The reason I use so many that would seem to do the same thing is that the programs search for the things you want to get rid of in different ways. They together, can catch most if not all of the offending things in your computer together. 1. Ad-Aware, from Lavasoft, is an easy to use adware detection and removal tool. [http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/] You just download it from the internet and follow the on screen instructions to use. It is quick and simple. It will automatically update regularly for you. It checks and deletes many of the things you need to worry about for your computer, "Ad-Aware is designed to provide advanced protection from known Data-mining, aggressive advertising, Parasites, Scumware, selected traditional Trojans, Dialers, Malware, Browser hijackers, and tracking components. With the release of Ad-Aware SE Personal edition, Lavasoft takes the fight against Spyware to the next level." They offer the free version along with one that has advanced features. 2. Bazooka, from Kephyr, is another spyware and adware removal tool. [http://www.kephyr.com/spywarescanner/index.html?source=appvisit]."Bazooka™ Adware and Spyware Scanner detects a multitude of spyware, adware, trojan, keylogger, foistware and trackware components; sources of irritation that antivirus software does not deal with." Go down the page a little to the download section and follow the instructions. Do not be daunted by the length of the page that my link leads you to. You don't need to get into the technical part of it, just do what it says and don't worry. It gets some of the larger spyware and adware programs that you may get and is very fast. It is also very easy to use and updates automatically. 3. Spy-Bot search and destroy. [http://www.spybot.info/en/download/index.html] "If you see new toolbars in your Internet Explorer that you didn't intentionally install, if your browser crashes, or if you browser start page has changed without your knowing, you most probably have spyware." This great free program is also easy and updates by itself. They plug donating to them which is your choice, but the program is free and contains no other ads. 4.Tweak-Now RegCleaner. [http://www.spybot.info/en/download/index.html]. This free and easy to use program checks your registry, where your computer keeps all its information that it uses about how your computer is set up. When you install a program it uses the registry to save information about the program and about your computer for use by those programs. If another program is changing information in your registry, things can go wrong with your computer. "The Registry is a heart and soul of any Windows system. It contains information that controls how your Windows appears and how it behaves." 5. Spyware Blaster.[http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/]. "Spyware, adware, browser hijackers, and dialers are some of the fastest-growing threats on the Internet today. By simply browsing to a web page, you could find your computer to be the brand-new host of one of these unwanted fiends!" It simply stops the download of these threats from your computer before they are downloaded. It does not run in the background so does not take up resources of your computer from you. 6. WinPatrol. [http://www.winpatrol.com/startup.html] "WinPatrol's top feature is how it monitors and allows you to review the programs that automatically launch when you start Windows. Any type of program determined to infect your system will most likely appear on Startup Programs list. This list is essential to detecting nasty software such as trojans, worms, spyware, adware or other programs that may insert themselves into your PC's auto-startup locations. " WinPatrol is a little different than the others I have mentioned, it requires a little more knowledge and is a little harder to use. It allows you to know when something hijacks or is added to your startup program. Your startup program is the list of things your computer does after you have turned on power to it. These things are how your computer operates and what goes on that you don't see. If you feel you do not have the necessary skills or do not want to mess with this program, that's okay. I mention it because it is a good program and you can start to learn about how your computer works with it. These programs all are easy to use and are an important part of how I keep my computer safe and free of annoyances. To use them you simply click on each link to download them from each website. I use a single file on my computer, call it something like computer files. When you right click on the desktop, one of the options is new, go to that and select folder. A new folder will pop up and you will have the option to name it. Name it something and download the zip files there. Click on each and follow the instructions to install them. I usually use them at least once a week, sometimes more often. You can schedule a certain time of the week for all of this, especially your virus detection, which should be done automatically once a week on your whole computer. When you are having problems, such as slower response times from programs or websites, run the ones that check for spy and adware and get rid of it. Also a few things that may be happening that result in a slower computer are the following: 1. Recycle bin is too full, empty it. 2. Browser history, files, and temp folders are too full, delete temp files. Go to your browser tools; in Internet Explorer, the top of the window, Tools, then Internet Options, then press delete cookies, delete files, clear history. This clears out the three files that could be slowing your computer. 3. If your internet mail provider has a file that stores your mail before it is downloaded on your computer, it may be full and slowing down your mail being delivered to your computer. Ask your provider about this. Some providers have this and some don't. They should be able to explain this to you and help you with any problems with your mail. Enjoy a cleaner, faster computer. |
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