Virus & Spyware Removal

If you use the internet and/or email, you are at risk from computer viruses and spyware which can either slow down your computer or make it unusable. Let us help remove those viruses and spyware programs and help ensure they never bother you again.

Spyware scans generally run in less than half an hour. A basic virus scan generally takes less than an hour depending on the number of user accounts and data. More in depth scans are usually started after everything else has been tried and can take several hours to run. In depth scans are usually run off-site to minimize the time charged.

Following are some of the tools I use to help combat viruses and spyware. While your welcome and even encouraged to use the software and tips provided, many things can go wrong and I can not guarantee the results if you try them yourself.

Be warned, installation and use of the following software and tips can make your computer unstable and unusable if used improperly.

Anti-Virus Software

Viruses and other malicous software can capture your keystrokes, take over your computer, stop programs from working and even make your system unusable.

If your connected to the internet, chances are it's not a matter of if you will get a virus, but more a matter of when and how.

A couple of the best anti-virus products on the market are McAfee Anti-Virus and Norton Anti-Virus. Both products are great at removing viruses and have huge market shares. However, like everything else now days, they get you in the pocket book not only when you buy their software, but for annual renewals to ensure you are protected against the latest threats.

A great alternative for home users is AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition. It's a great free anti-virus program that includes on access executable, document and email scanning, automatic updates and a built in scheduler for automating your scans.

If your running Windows 2000/XP/2003, you can also run Microsoft's Malicious Software Removal Tool.

Spyware & Adware removal

Spyware and adware collects personal information and/or monitor surfing habits. Originally bundled with freeware and music sharing programs to deliver targeted advertising, programs of this ilk have become a plague infecting a large percentage of home computers attached to the internet. While generally not as harmful as viruses, spyware and ad-ware can be used to capture keyboard input, install and run porn dialers, change your default browser pages and generate advertising popups. They not only collect personal information and change system settings, they can also make your system unstable or bring it to a crawl.

If your running Windows XP/2003/Vista and Internet Explorer 6 or higher, you can use Microsoft Windows Defender. Otherwise, a couple of good spyware/ad-ware removers are Ad-Aware and SpyBot. HijackThis is a good program for restoring default browser pages and checking startup programs. Running these programs can cause loss of web page passwords and can stop installed programs from running.

Question

Ok, so you've given us the links for the software, why do we need you?

Answer

Use of these programs can cause loss of information or prevent programs from running. We have extensive experience with identifying what programs are running and their purpose.

Software has been installed, but now my computer is running slow or crashing. We can help with the configuration and scheduling to ensure your protected while not compromising your system performance.

I got a virus even with the software installed. A lot of times the software is either not configured for automatic updates or there is something stopping the updates from occurring.

I've already got a computer virus and need help removing it. A lot of viruses can disable your anti-virus software, make it impossible to install new software or even make your system un-bootable. We keep our tools and processes up to date to help recover in these situations.

This is all greek to you. I'm just the geek to help you out.