Computer slow? Make sure you aren’t hacked.
David January 4th, 2009
Five to ten years ago the PC industry was really pushing anti-virus software, even as the most popular versions became large and bloated, taking up scarce computer resources. Just a couple years ago anti-popup and anti-spyware software were all the rage. With free alternatives to the expensive Norton and McAfee software services, the focus seems to be less on installing the expensive versions of this software. But with more people not keeping their computers protected, that leaves open the opportunity for new viruses and trojans to spread across the internet.
Some computers have been compromised by just visiting compromised web sites. Recently Microsoft published warnings that Internet Explorer was particularly susceptible to attack, prompting a massive migration to other browsers. In some cases the trojan software won’t even prompt you for confirmation to installation. If you discover that your PC is running slower that it has in the past even without you installing new software, you may have a virus or be hacked by a trojan.
Here are a few resources: (anyone out there have other favorites?)
Trend Micro online virus scanner
Do You Run Antivirus Software?
Avast (popular virus checker… a free version is available)
AVG (another popular free virus checker)
I have always been in the “you get what you pay for” crowd. The free virus checkers are better than nothing, but do not do near the job that paid programs do.
I used Eset NOD32 for antivirus and Sunblet Software’s CounterSpy for spyware for several years. Then Sunbelt Software came out with Viper. Viper takes care of the anti-virus and spyware and is much less of a performance drag. The speed difference was very noticeable in every aspect.
http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/
That being said, I still do a once-per-month or so scan with Spybot Search and Destroy for any spyware that may have gotten past. No program can stop all malware.
I still recommend AVG or Avast if affordability is the issue and the computer is use is generally low-risk. If the client wants to go the free route, then I also suggest Ad-Aware and Spybot S&D and train the client to use these programs on a regular basis.
Stupidity is also difficult to protect against. Ignorance can be overcome with training. But if you insist on doing stupid things…
Ad-Aware: http://www.lavasoft.com/
Spybot Search and Destroy: http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html
Just buy a Mac and you won’t have these problems.