”A virus actually spreads software, usually malicious in nature, from computer to computer. A lot of spyware is now spread by viruses.”

You don’t need to be a computer wiz to diagnose the problem, says Larry Elpinter, owner of a similar local business, Computer Weenies.

”Other than obvious things, like your computer doesn’t start or it has a blue screen, the more subtle signs of a virus attacking are: slowing down for no reason; software that you can’t remove; hardware that won’t start, like you put a flash drive in [and it's not recognized].”It should be noted that experts agree — for the time being — that users on Macintosh (Mac) systems don’t have to worry about viruses and spyware as do users of PCs running on Microsoft Windows systems.

Source: http://www.metroweekly.com/domestic_partner/tech/?ak=3746

If you are getting any of these symptoms visit the main page to scan your computer for free to be certain.

Most internet users have probably had a run in with the Windows Blue Screen. Also called the “Blue screen of death” this problem has many potential causes. While the #1 instigator is a spyware or virus infection, a blue screen can come from bad memory, power supply problems, hardware overheating or the computer running beyond its specification limits.

If the Windows blue screen continues then the issue might be a lot worse. First you have th determine if the blue screen of death is real or not. If you are able to click out of the screen (try using alt tab) then the blue screen is a fake. It is simply been implanted by a rogue anti spyware program to frighten you into buying their software.

Occasionally the blue screen in windows will pop up every time you reboot your computer. People call this the “windows, boot, blue screen” problem. When this occurs the next time you reboot tap the “F8 key” at startup. This will boot your computer in safe mode which should help you avoid the blue screen.

Source:

http://ezinearticles.com/?Windows-Blue-Screen—Help,-My-Computer-is-Stuck-on-the-Windows-Blue-Screen&id=1428052

There are sooooo many options out there these days for spyware removal tools. It can be hard to figure out how to separate the average ones from the great ones. These are some of the important features to look for:

Actively updated threat database

A spyware removal tool can only remove what it can detect. And this all depends on the amount of spyware threats in the detection database. You should purchase software from a company that continually keeps their software updated (at least once a week) to detect the latest threats.

Real time protection

Killing the spyware alone is not enough. You have to keep your computer protected from becoming infected in the first place. Along with a firewall you need realtime spyware defense. For Internet Explorer users it is helpful to have an anti spyware program with ActiveX protections. The ActiveX controls are a hole in the IE browser that spyware and viruses can exploit rather easy. You need to fill that hole with an anti spyware program that has real time ActiveX defense!

Stop Browser Hijacking

I’m sure it has happened before. You visit an unscrupulous looking site and suddenly your browser goes haywire with new windows and queries. You frantically try to click out of it but the damage has already been done. Your computer has just been the victim of a spyware attack. Often times we don’t know if the next website we visit will attempt to infect us. That is why you need browser hijacking defense.

I will be updating this blog pretty frequently with the latest news and product reviews regarding anti spyware, anti adware, and anti viruses. Please come back soon.