ADWARE - MALWARE - SPYWARE - VIRUS

So many terms exist to describe problems that occur from unprotected internet use that it is confusing and overwhelming to keep in mind for most users and difficult for most technicians to differentiate and explain. Although most people know that these terms are bad and do not want them on their computer they are not sure how to protect themselves or to get rid of these problems that may be lurking in their computer.

Rather than explaining each and every definition in a laborious and boring manner I will take an excerpt from the Federal Trade Commission webpage for a list of symptoms to watch for.

a barrage of pop-up ads
a hijacked browser - that is, a browser that takes you to sites other than those you type into the address box
a sudden or repeated change in your computer's Internet home page
new and unexpected toolbars
new and unexpected icons on the system tray at the bottom of your computer screen
keys that don't work (for example, the "Tab" key that might not work when you try to move to the next field in a Web form)
random error messages
sluggish or downright slow performance when opening programs or saving files

The standard recommendation is to make sure that clients receive all of their operating system updates, browser updates and have a properly configured and updated Internet security package installed on their computer.

For clients with infected computers the solution is not as easy. Unfortunately, there is not any single program or utility that removes all problems from your computer.

The remedy is time consuming work to run 4 to 5 different programs to pinpoint and identify the problem and then manually or automatically removed the infected files and registry entries. Each program or utility must inspect the entire hard drive and can take from 45 minutes to 1.5 hours each. In some cases, Microsoft Windows will need to be reinstalled for your computer to function properly.