Your anti virus on the other hand should be automatically running in the background, which is known as “resident” or “resident protection”. Even though the program is running on its own I still think it’s a good idea to run this at least once a month manually.

The key to both of these programs is that they are up to date.  Making sure your definitions are the most recent versions for both your anti virus and anti spyware programs is very important.  New viruses come out faster than the companies can write ways to stop them and if you’re not up to date, you’ll be on the fast track to a hard drive that been eaten by things like Sasser, and Trojans.  No not the one’s with Helen, although similar in the sense that they both carry things in them, these Trojans carry mean files that will attack your PC.

Keeping up to date is not very tough, you just have to make sure you are vigil and keep on top of it.  I opened both my anti spyware program only to find that I was over 100 days behind.  Yikes! I hit update as fast as I could because I don’t know what I would do if my computer fell victim to spyware and viruses.

Luckily my anti virus software automatically updates itself, but even this can’t be trusted, as there are viruses that will turn off your anti virus software’s ability to auto-update, and you’ll never know.  So it’s a good idea to update both anti virus and anti spyware programs within the same day.
So let this be a reminder to update your software regularly, and scan your PC at least once a week for spyware, and once a month for viruses to keep it running like new.

How often do you update and run your virus and spyware programs?

• Conficker Virus Removal
• Some helpful links to promote PC health
• 5 things anti-spyware software should do but doesn’t
• Local Computer Tech Support
• Defrag your hard drive to speed up your computer

I recently tried out a few of these anti-spyware programs (which will remain nameless) and I found some striking similarities between them all.  They all claim certain features that are only available if you pay for the upgraded version.

Now keep in mind the programs I sampled offer free versions that have the same features as the paid versions.

A lot of these programs claim that you can download them for free and it will clean your computer of any spyware that it finds traces of, but sometimes that’s not quite what they do.

So here is my list of 5 things that all of these programs should do if they claim that they are free and have the same features as the standard paid version.

1. If you’re going to remove all the known traces, then REMOVE them.
   I hate when a program says it will remove it all, so you scan you computer and wait until it finishes, only to find out that you have to pay for the “standard” version for it to actually remove the spyware from your computer.  There are plenty of software packages that do this already such as, Adaware, Spybot, and Spyware Doctor and these are all free to use.
2. Don’t tell me you’re up to date on the latest spyware traces if you’re not.
   There were times I would update and then run these programs side by side and they would all tell me different things on how many traces they found.  Now I can’t say it was just these programs I used that do this, many times I will run Adaware and Spybot only to get conflicting results.
3. Stop telling me that my tool bars are spyware.
   I ran several scans and a few programs told me that my StumbleUpon tool bar was malicious and needed to be removed.  Sometimes, yes there are tool bars that get installed and we didn’t want them to be, but they aren’t installed by Google, Alexa, or StumbleUpon.
4. If you have features like safe scan and deep search, then have them be on by default.
   If your software package is so efficient at scanning every nook and cranny of my hard drive then make sure it’s set up that way right out of the box.  I don’t want to search through the help guide to find out how to use your software to it’s fullest.
5. And finally, if I have to pay for the software to use it properly, then make it worth it.
   If these companies are going to go through all the trouble of hiding features that only paying customers get, they better be worth it.  Many times the paid versions are exactly the same as the free version with paltry features like scheduling and priority customer service.

So there you have it folks, some of you might consider this as a rant, but I’d like to think of it as a small step towards a larger complaint that will hopefully change the way these programs are designed and released to the masses.  What are your thoughts on this issue?  What programs (if any) do you use to clean spyware off of your computer?

• When should you run anti spyware / anti virus?
• Stop using Limewire
• Some helpful links to promote PC health
• Defrag your hard drive to speed up your computer
• Audials Software Giveaway!

Ad-aware
For ad-aware, CNet.com offers a download link, this software is free to use

SpyBot
The link above will take you to the homepage for SpyBot, choose your language and then download and install. This software is free as well

Avast Antivirus
Download the anti virus software and register for 18 months of free anti virus support. Please follow the install instructions and only install this if you do not already have anti virus protection.

Diskkeeper
This software is a trial download that will allow you to use it for 30 days, if you like it you can purchase the full version. This software is to defrag your hard drive.

• Essential PC software
• Local Computer Tech Support
• When should you run anti spyware / anti virus?
• Don’t use Geek Squad
• Conficker Virus Removal