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Tutorials

Malware and Viruses:

How To: Check for and Remove Spyware and Malware

Mobile:

How To: Root Your T-Mobile G1 (HTC Dream) Phone to Make it More Powerful

How To: Restore a Nandroid Backup of Your G1

How To: Get rid of Malware and Viruses

This article is going to help you with some tips and tricks, as well as a general guide on how to check for and remove malware, spyware, and viruses on your PC. But first:

What are these terms?

Spyware is a type of computer program that is programmed by someone who probably is trying to make a profit by advertising to you. These programs are bad because in addition to bombarding you with pop-ups, they slow down your computer.

Malware is programmed by someone with malicious intent. These are generally not classified as viruses, but the two can overlap. These programs are usually meant to steal your data (Think credit card numbers or passwords) and will sometimes behave like legitimate malware removal programs. If you had a program that suddenly came out of nowhere that claims to have found viruses on your computer, it's a piece of malware.

Viruses are generally intended either to destroy data or use your computer for another malicious purpose such as spreading the virus or sending out spam from your computer (sometimes both) and will definitely cause major slowdowns. These are the hardest to remove, and generally will affect you the most.

So what do we do about it?

First, you're going to need a few programs that are made for the sole purpose of getting rid of the threats I have just described. The first of which is:

AVG Free is a complete (and free) antivirus solution. It is what I use personally and is an extremely capable and reliable solution. You can download it here.

Malwarebytes (also free) is a great anti-malware solution. Using this in conjunction with AVG will help protect your computer from threats, and get rid of ones you may have already encountered. It can be downloaded here.

Before you install these, you need to remove any existing antivirus programs you may have on your computer, including Norton and/or McAfee. Failure to do so will slow your computer down significantly. You never want to have two antivirus programs installed simultaneously.

Both programs can be installed using all the default options. (Clicking 'next' all the way through.)

To scan using these programs:

Malwarebytes:

1. Open Malwarebytes using the icon it created on your desktop during the installation we just went through.

2. Click on the update tab at the top of the application window.

3. Click "Check for Updates"

Malwarebytes is now downloading and installing the most recent update.

4. After it notifies you it has updated, press "Ok"

5. Click the "Scanner" tab

6. Click "Perform Full Scan"

7. Click "Scan"

8. Make sure all your local hard drives are selected. If you don't know what this means, then at least make sure "C:\" is selected.

9. Press "Start Scan"

Malwarebytes is now scanning your computer for Malware and Spyware