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Almost of the computer problems I get asked to fix deal with Spyware. Most of the time, not even viruses, but tons of hidden crap that clogs your computer. Spyware, unlike viruses, does not necessarily inflict direct harm to computer. It runs in the background, maybe popping up ads to your computer or tracking and relaying your internet stats. It’s mostly just annoying, and can get to points where if you have too much you cant even surf the web.

A new study found that compared to the first three months of 2005, “zombie” computers (those which are infected or have software unintentionally installed allowing authorization of your computer to someone else) increased over 300%. That’s a scary statistic.

To save a lot of you trouble, I’m going to give you my A+ guide to not getting tons of Spyware and Viruses.

• Buy antivirus and software! This is an important one. Many computers come with a trial period virus software (all you uva kids who bought your computer through school.. that norton antivirus that came with it sucks) or no virus software at all. Sack up and pay the money, I PROMISE you it’ll be worth it. I personally recommend Norton Internet Secrutity. It includes a Personal Firewall as well as Antivirus.
• If you’re using Internet Explorer, STOP! While many of you are used to it, it has more holes then swiss cheese and is completley vulnerable. Don’t get rid of it altogether (well, you can’t, but don’t try to). Instead, download Firefox instead. It’s free and much more secure. If you feel like it’s too bland/not personal enough, you can download extensions to improve it’s functionality.
• Download Lavasoft Ad Aware. This is a very popular program, and it’s free! Run this once a week (or once a day if you’re really paranoid) and get rid of all the spyware it finds.
• UPDATE! Update Windows through Windows Update (If you’re using XP and don’t have Windows XP Service Pack (SP) 2… then you deserve to get viruses!). Enable Windows Update to automatically download updates when they are ready.. Microsoft is releasing updates daily! Update your antivirus definitions – again you should set this up to be done automatically!
• Get rid of Kazaa/Morpheus/whatever. These are HUGE spyware scams. If you really want these programs, do a few quick google searches and you’ll find programs that don’t have spyware.
• Be SMART. Don’t download and install a program unless you trust it. Always read to see if there is spyware involved. Rule of thumb: If you download something free that you don’t think should be, it more than likely will have spyware of some sort. Just train yourself to be cautious and on the look out.
• *EDIT* Thanks to Jim for reminding me, one solution would be to choose a different OS. Mac OS has practically no viruses or spyware, and I don’t believe Linux distros do either.. not to mention both are secure. I won’t get into OS Wars in this thread… but most may believe that’s too big of a tradeoff to prevent viruses

Follow these guidelines and get in the habit of doing them and I promise you’ll be spyware/virus free.. and your computer will run better than ever!