We all have some experience with “bad” things on the computer. ”Don’t click the link in the email” and “don’t open that attachment” are common phrases. While these may help, there are also dangers hidden in your favorite website. Dangers that don’t require clicking on anything or opening anything. By using the web you are opening your computer to malware that may bring unsolicited problems to your computer. Included herein are a few tools that I use as a computer repairman to clean up the messes we all may get into sometimes.
The first is CCleaner from Piriform. Once installed this program will clean up temporary files, empty the trash, and do any number of routine cleaning tasks. It will also look through the registry and clean up all sorts of old gunk which will make the computer start up a little faster and possibly run a little faster. I think of CCleaner as the oil change of computers. It is good to run regularly just to keep things running smoothly. Just a little note, watch the installation, it allows you to install CCleaner as a right click on the trash can. I find this very handy, especially for people like me who hate to add stuff to the start menu. I run CCleaner weekly.
The second tool I use is Malware Bytes’ Anti-Malware program, known affectionately as MBAM. This program has a free version and a paid version. The paid version has some active protection options unavailable in the free version. The free version is very good at removing trojans and malware. The quick scan option is wonderful as it provides a quick way to see a broad overview of what problems are on a computer in a short amount of time. The full scan may take a while depending on the speed of your system and how much ‘stuff’ is on your hard drive. MBAM in conjunction with my third tool provide a very efficient and thorough removal of spyware, malware, and in some cases viruses.
My third tool is Spybot Search and Destroy from Safer Networking. This tool is great at removing spyware, malware, trojans, and in some cases viruses. MBAM and Spybot use different scanning techniques so used together nearly all ‘bad stuff’ will be detected. Sometimes there are some very nasty things on the computer that are so entangled into Windows that they won’t come out. One option is to try Spybot’s bootable CD. This allows you to scan the computer without starting Windows. Sometimes this is the only way to get rid of a bug without wiping everything off and starting from scratch. MBAM and Spybot are like the 15,000 mi. service. You can wait to do them but the result may be more expensive than just running them occasionally. I run these programs monthly.
The fourth tool is any antivirus program that runs all the time. These include AVG Antivirus, CA Antivirus, Symantec, etc. In some cases these can act like a virus, and in all cases they will slow down your computer, although with newer machines it shouldn’t be very noticeable. These are essential to keep viruses off the computer before they become a big problem.
It ought be noted that these programs should obviously be made current with the latest updates prior to their use, and in the case of the anti-virus software, it should be updated daily.
Hopefully these tools are able to help you keep your computer in good working order. If not a call to your local computer nerd may be in order.
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