Spyware Prevention and Recovery
As I touched on yesterday, spyware has become a real problem on the internet. There are many unscrupulous companies and individuals out there who would love to make more money any way that they can. One of the unfortunate ways that they are able to make money is to learn all they can about people who use the internet to target those people with advertising. However, while that may not sound like a really terrible thing, the point of the matter is that spyware installs itself on your computer by hiding inside something apparently legitimate, and watches everything you do, while sending that information to someone out there. To me, that's enough reason to get rid of it, but if you need more motivation, often this software is not written particularly well, and it tends to cause computer crashes and problems! I don't know about you, but I hate it when that happens... Additionally, this software is actively using your internet connection to report on your activity, so it is sending regular reports, and in doing so it is using up some of the precious internet feed you are spending your hard-earned dollars for. Finally, really bad spyware can start to look for really damaging information such as your banking information and start to send that out there to someone! So let's discuss how to get rid of this terrible stuf, shall we?
Up until lately, the only way to get rid of spyware was to search your system for it, and then uninstall it. However, in the last year or so a couple of products have come out that help to protect you against spyware installation. So let's discuss your various options.
Spybot - Search and Destroy
This is one of my personal favorites, and something I use every day. It has an installed search that checks your system for any spyware that has been installed and helps you to eliminate it, but it also has a function called Immunize that helps to prevent known spyware from being installed. One of the new functions of Spybot, however, is the inclusion of something called "Tea Timer" which keeps tabs on anything happening to your system registry, and notifies you when any program tries to modify the registry, so that you can control what is happening on your system more closely. This is a great tool as it can help keep your registry secure, and your system operating the way you expect it to.
Spyware Blaster
Hand in hand with Spybot, actually recommended by the nice folks at Spybot, Spyware Blaster helps to keep you from surfing to internet pages that will attempt to hijack your system, and install some kind of bad software on your computer. This is good, because you may know not to go to certain sites, but you may click on a link somewhere that will take you somewhere you did not want to go, or you may have someone using your computer that is not as aware of the dangers of the internet as you are, and yet you hope to protect your computer even when you are not sitting in front of it.
Ad-Aware
This spyware removal program has been around for several years now, and is very well respected. They have actually moved from an online only presence into publishing software for sale in stores, yet at the same time, have stayed true to their roots in providing a valuable free tool that people can use to help them remove spyware from their system. I use the free version on a bi-weekly basis to help check out my system to see if there is anything that has slipped by me and Spybot. Mainly I find it reassuring to have it another set of eyes to check things out on occasion.
Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware (Beta)
This is currently a free tool that Microsoft has made available for public use to help with the spreading threat of spyware. I personally do not use it, but a coworker of mine does, and finds it a very effective tool for removing and preventing spyware from his system.
Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool
When all else has failed, and you know you have something going wrong with your computer, this little utility can be a lifesaver. Just install and run it, and it checks to see whether you have some nasty little program in your system that it can remove. If you do, it will. Simple.
So there is a brief roundup for you of the free tools available out there to help you remove unwanted, malicious programs from your computer. Some of them are basically rescue tools, but the best ones, to me, are the ones that help keep your system free of these nasty things in the first place.
Up until lately, the only way to get rid of spyware was to search your system for it, and then uninstall it. However, in the last year or so a couple of products have come out that help to protect you against spyware installation. So let's discuss your various options.
Spybot - Search and Destroy
This is one of my personal favorites, and something I use every day. It has an installed search that checks your system for any spyware that has been installed and helps you to eliminate it, but it also has a function called Immunize that helps to prevent known spyware from being installed. One of the new functions of Spybot, however, is the inclusion of something called "Tea Timer" which keeps tabs on anything happening to your system registry, and notifies you when any program tries to modify the registry, so that you can control what is happening on your system more closely. This is a great tool as it can help keep your registry secure, and your system operating the way you expect it to.
Spyware Blaster
Hand in hand with Spybot, actually recommended by the nice folks at Spybot, Spyware Blaster helps to keep you from surfing to internet pages that will attempt to hijack your system, and install some kind of bad software on your computer. This is good, because you may know not to go to certain sites, but you may click on a link somewhere that will take you somewhere you did not want to go, or you may have someone using your computer that is not as aware of the dangers of the internet as you are, and yet you hope to protect your computer even when you are not sitting in front of it.
Ad-Aware
This spyware removal program has been around for several years now, and is very well respected. They have actually moved from an online only presence into publishing software for sale in stores, yet at the same time, have stayed true to their roots in providing a valuable free tool that people can use to help them remove spyware from their system. I use the free version on a bi-weekly basis to help check out my system to see if there is anything that has slipped by me and Spybot. Mainly I find it reassuring to have it another set of eyes to check things out on occasion.
Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware (Beta)
This is currently a free tool that Microsoft has made available for public use to help with the spreading threat of spyware. I personally do not use it, but a coworker of mine does, and finds it a very effective tool for removing and preventing spyware from his system.
Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool
When all else has failed, and you know you have something going wrong with your computer, this little utility can be a lifesaver. Just install and run it, and it checks to see whether you have some nasty little program in your system that it can remove. If you do, it will. Simple.
So there is a brief roundup for you of the free tools available out there to help you remove unwanted, malicious programs from your computer. Some of them are basically rescue tools, but the best ones, to me, are the ones that help keep your system free of these nasty things in the first place.
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