Free Tools
There are a couple of tools I strongly recommend you download and
install. The first is a Spyware detection and removal tool. Next is
a program that will help me understand your system and thus provide
appropriate support.
Ad-aware is a free Spyware detection and removal tool. The authors
of Spyware, Adware, or whatever latest name is used to describe these
pests, are constantly changing their software. You may believe you
have done nothing to install one of these pests, yet there they are
on your system. The most benign of these pests simply gathers information
about the sites you visit and reports, anonymously, which sites have
been hit most often; basically gathering marketing data on your habits.
The egregious pests are the ones that generate pop-up ads on your system;
going to their server and generating the ads. Or, the ones that track
your keystrokes and send personal information on you, your email address,
or others that are in your address book.
I recommend you download, install, and run the Ad-aware 6.x.
I also recommend setting up Ad-aware to run on a scheduled basis. Hopefully,
you are doing that already with disk defragmentation. There are other
good detection and removal tools. However, I have been using Ad-aware
for years and believe it is consistently the
best.
It
can also be difficult to determine which are spyware removal
tools and which
are designed to spoof general users – removing some spyware but
installing their own agents or disabling other protection software – and
yes, this does happen.
This is a program that we use with all new clients. It generates an
html page with a summary of both the systems hardware and software.
It will show your computers configuration – manufacturer, motherboard,
memory, processor, add-in and optional components. It also lists the
installed software. Often, this is a great tool to discover if any
of the common spyware programs are installed in the system. The file
is stored locally so there is no security breach. It is up to you to
share this information or not, your choice. Even if you are not providing
this information to an outside consultant, it’s great to have
a printout of your system that you can use for upgrades or comparisons.
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Commercial Tools
Anti-Virus
An Anti-virus tool or application is a must. The viruses are too numerous,
sophisticated and destructive to be ignored. Not installing a GOOD
Anti-virus program is an invitation to attack and a good way to render
your system unusable. Choosing Anti-virus software can be daunting.
There are a number of very good packages. The two that I am most familiar
with are Symantec and McAfee . For a given virus, there may be one
package that handles that virus better than the others. The
two companies listed here are rated consistently as the top overall
Anti-virus tools.
My recommendation is to seriously consider the Norton SystemWorks
package. It includes four applications, two of which I use on a regular
basis – the Anti-virus and Utilities. I find the Norton Anti-virus
to be efficient, thorough, and easy to administer. The virus writers
are always adding new ones, trying to beat Microsoft and Anti-virus
packages. The Symantec site is a great
reference for finding out more on a new virus or researching an old
one on an existing system. It provides information on the severity
and on tools or instructions for removing the virus. The automatic
update procedure of Symantec’s Live Update will keep your virus
definitions current and your system protected. The Utilities include
a number of small applications. Their speeddisk will keep your hard
drives defragmented. Both these packages can be setup to run at scheduled
times, like in the middle of the night, to keep the system current,
protected, and tuned-up.
McAfee is another quality vendor of Anti-Virus software. They provide
timely updates and information on Viruses. McAfee has a reputation
for being small, fast, and of equivalent quality as Symantec. My personal
experience with McAfee is fairly limited. It has been used at companies
where I have previously worked, because of its network capabilities,
cross-platform support and affordability. It did work well.
My experience with McAfee, still, is limited. One client
had the McAfee trial package installed on her system from the manufacturer
(Dell). The
on-line registration process must not have been completed properly because
we were never able to get it to work correctly.
Finally, after two visits to clean up her system, we had to uninstall
this version and start over. We used the Symantec Anti-virus, which found
significant viruses in the first scan. I don’t believe this is
a reflection of the standard McAfee package. It may simply be limited
to the trial package, or to this one installation. However, the lack
of an operating Anti-virus package left this client with a system that
was unusable.
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