I have a feeling that many people who come across this post will benefit greatly! I was recently infected by very nasty looking and stubborn Adware that flashes a red Warning Sign as your Desktop Background! This nasty message reads like this:
“WARNING! Spyware detected on your computer! Install an antivirus or spyware remover to clean your computer.
Warning! Win32/Adware.Virtumonde
Warning! Win32/privacyremover.M64.”
This looks scary enough when this message has replaced your desktop picture or background! Usually I was able to kill most bugs and adwares (that other major free softwares failed to remove) with this very effective yet simple software called SmitfraudFIX. (If you download this, just make sure to run it in Safe mode otherwise it might change a few settings, nothing harmful though)
Anyhow, I spent whole Saturday searching for softwares and actually ended up buying one! I bought Malwarebytes which is actually free! Paying for it just gives you free extras (which are useful though) but with the Free Version you can both search and remove all Malwares on your computer.
I just wish to give you 3 softwares that will make your computer almost totally bug free and protected in future. You will notice that your computer runs a lot faster and internet speed is noticeably increased! So, here are 3 FREE steps to a happy, healthy and protected computer.
1.) Download Avast anti Virus program from Download.com– Another free anti-virus program is AVG but I have used Avast for over a year now and it is absolutely wonderful. It not only scans and removes bugs but also provides real time live protection. Almost every day, while surfing the internet it flashes warning signals for me and asks me to abort or delete some bug it has found. This is indispensable. Download it and run it once, restart and let it run again (second time) if it wants to, after your computer boots. In case you have a paid anti virus installed you may skip this but still I highly recommend it. Avast, in my opinion much better than many paid anti Virus programs!
2.) Download Spybot- Search and Destroy 1.6 from Download.com– I always had reservations about free anti- Spyware softwares as I think they’re not effective enough. But today, as I downloaded and ran this it just surprised me by the number of bugs it searched and destroyed, being true to its name. And my computer ran a lot faster after I’d done that. After you’re done with step 1, as with Avast, run it and then delete all the bugs it has scanned. Then on prompt restart your computer and let it run again as your computer boots. (This might take upto one hour!) But once your computer comes to life it will be a very happy, healthy and agile machine. Spybot may run everytime you start your computer but you can skip this anytime. Just let it run maybe once a week or fortnight for a great maintainence.
But guess what? After running SmitfraudFix and these two great programs I still could not get rid of the Adware I had on my computer. Most sites refer to as only Scareware that only sends you into panic to buy some other rogue anti-Spyware program. Others said that this particular Aware gets nastier with time and starts pop ups, key loggers (tracks whatever you type!) etc. So, I thought of buying an Anti- Spyware. Even the best Anti- Spywares are not 100% effective and they often don’t fix new bugs. I read some reviews of Malwarebytes that were very good. Some people swore that it fixed bugs that no other program could! So, I bought it (but later realized it would do the main job even for free!) But I guess for a program as good as this EVERYONE should buy it and support this wonderful project. So, anyway here is the third step.
3.) Download Malwarebyte’s Anti- Malware software from Download.com– AND YES! It works like a charm. It also takes a lot less time than other softwares. But make sure you do a FULL SCAN and not just the QUICK Scan. It fixed my bug, plus about 30 odd others and yet some other fake alerts etc. Just awesome.
So, again, go through these step 1, 2 and 3 by running these programs in chronological order and you bet you will come out a much happier person. Plus, Avast and Spybot provide real time protection which means malicious bugs will be prevented from entering your machine. Malwarebytes also provides live protection but I guess that’s only for paid version.
Oh and yes, I might mention that you must keep your firewall ON. I have XP and to check if you have your firewall on, Go to control panet, then ”Security Center” and then the screen will tell you if your firewall is on or not. If it’s not, you know what to do!
Good luck and please give your feedback in comments section to let me know if it solved your particular problem or just made your computer faster. Also, post comment on anything that you think novices like me or others can benefit from.
Cheers!
