Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Spyware And How Its Slowing Down Your Computer

By Bob Logan

What exactly is spyware? Spyware is a form of malware that is used to gain valuable knowledge on a user, without them knowing that you are obtaining this information. This valuable knowledge can be anything from passwords and usernames to bank account and credit card information. It can even be as simple as a co-worker placing in a key logger on your computer to steal your passwords. Malware on the other hand is software that also installs itself on your computer without you knowing but its role is more or less to damage your computer.

Overall the point that I'm trying to make here is that spyware is bad and you should be protecting yourself against it at all costs. I personally use two different pieces of software to protect myself against spyware. One prevents spyware from ever getting into my computer and another is used to find and remove spyware that already on my computer. I suggest using both as you will get a much better level of protection.

The first is called MalwareBytes Anti Malware and is a free program. Once you have installed it on your computer perform a full scan to fully scan your hard drive. I highly recommend doing this as it will go through each and every single file on your computer individually to make sure that it is not infected. Once a full scan is done and you plan on doing another scan in the future, quick scan will be sufficient. There is only one downside to using the free version of this software- you have to manually update it by clicking on the update button. If you are interested just do a Google search for them.

The second piece of software that I mainly use to defend my computer is called Spyware Blaster. Take note of the difference here: one program eliminates malware/spyware and the other prevents Malware and Spyware from ever coming in. The program will provide you will full protection as soon as you install it. By the way, you are also going to have to manaully update this program, just like the last one.

What most people don't know that is that if your computer is infected with spyware it can drastically slow down your computer. This is why it is critical that you take care of your computers health as much as possible.

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