Removing Computer Viruses and Spyware

Computer viruses and spyware are at least annoying and at most requiring a full computer reinstall and lost time. Removing viruses and spyware from your computer, and preventing them from taking over your machine in the first place is the purpose of this post.

After the anti-virus software expired on my laptop, I decided to install a free anti-virus software package called AntiVir Personal Edition. It has a couple of handy features, one of which is automatically checking for and downloading new virus definitions.

For the removal of spyware, I have used Ad-Aware. Like anti-virus software, once it is installed, it takes an hour or longer to completely scan your hard drive. Using Ad-Aware, I have seen hijacked browsers (where spyware has turned the address bar into its own search bar) fixed after Ad-Aware correctly detected and quarantined the spyware that was causing the problem.

Both of these software packages are free for non-commercial use, such as on the computers in your home. Support is provided on their websites, which is the same for commercial anti-virus and spyware removal software.

Conclusion:
It is easy to contract a virus or some form of spyware if your computer is connected to the Internet. These free tools will allow your to remove this type of harmful and annyoing software and restore your computer to its previous state.

Links:

• AntiVir Personal Edition


• Ad-Aware