Last updated Tuesday, September 21, 2004 .

The proliferation of not only viruses, but also spyware and adware programs that can slow down your computer, pester you with annoying popup ads, and at worst allow others to intercept information from your computer or even control it remotely is eye opening. Are you having any of these problems? This list from PC magazine can help you decide.

Macintosh users can basically ignore all this information (see more about Macs below). I have yet to see a virus written for Macintosh OS X, or an adware/spyware program that runs on OS X. I am sure at some point someone is going to write one, but at this point the 12 year olds across the globe with lots of time on their hands who are writing these things don't seem to have Macintosh computers.

If you are lucky enough to live in Lubbock, Texas, you can contact and hire me to come to your house and take care of your adware / spyware or virus problems. If you do not already own a license to an updated antivirus software program, the first thing I will counsel you to do is purchase Symantec Antivirus. I charge an hourly rate for in-house computer consultations. I am not a software reseller, however, so you will have to purchase Antivirus software on your own, preferably before I come to help you.

Some free antivirus software tools are available, and you may opt to give these a try instead of Symantec Antivirus. Miguel Guhlin has an excellent list of suggested free antivirus software tools worth checking out.

If you do not live in Lubbock, find a knowledgeable computer friend who can help. Don't know where to turn? Try the Geek Squad.

Go to the task manager (control-alt-delete in Windows XP) and sort by the CPU consumption of active programs. Any program you cannot readily identify taking up a large amount of processor power should be suspect. Force quit that program.

Go to the control panel, add/remove programs, and remove any suspicious programs you don't recognize or have not installed yourself. Some spyware/adware programs can be removed in this straightforward way, however many cannot. Restart after you remove any programs.

Make sure your antivirus software is installed, updated, and scheduled to run regular scans on your entire hard drive. If your Liveupdate program can't run and you cannot even go to the antivirus website to download updated virus definitions, your "hosts" file has likely been hijacked to prevent your computer from connecting to known antivirus websites. Locate and edit your hosts file to remove those website entries, using Notepad. Depending on your Windows operating system, your hosts file is located:

1. Ad-Aware SE Personal Edition
2. Spybot - Search & Destroy

For persistent spyware / adware programs, you can try to scan your registry and remove possible problem settings and software programs with the application HijackThis. Beware that this program can disable legitimate software functionality, so you should really only use this if you know what you are doing. Since it does not target specific programs, but rather general methods hackers use to place spyware/adware on your computer, HijackThis can be an effective removal tool when others fail, especially for newly developed spyware/adware. Miguel Guhlin also has some good tips on getting rid of adware/spyware worth checking out, including download links.

If your computer has not been updated lately, visit www.windowsupdate.com and scan for / download / install available critical updates. Make sure your computer is configured to download regular security patch updates from Microsoft. In addition to updating your operating system software, you should also regularly download and install software patches for the programs you use regularly on your computer.

If you have used Windows-based computers for most or all of your computer-use career, and are not familiar with Macintosh computers, you may think this suggestion sounds crazy.

If so, then keep enjoying all your virus, spyware, and adware problems, as you continue to download updated critical security patches on a regular basis from Uncle Bill.

If not, by all means BUY A MACINTOSH!

In my extensive computer support experience, which includes supporting a wide variety of Windows-based as well as Macintosh operating systems and users, Macintosh users have VASTLY fewer computer problems than their Windows counterparts. In our current climate of prolific Windows-based viruses, spyware and adware, this is more true than ever.

Not convinced? Consider these admittedly biased options about Macs:

1. Macs look MUCH cooler than Windows computers.
2. Macintosh OS X has a MUCH sexier interface than Windows XP, and is more stable with its UNIX core. And once Microsoft releases it's "next-gen" operating system, "Longhorn," who besides nuts that live in Austin are going to want to use something with THAT name?!
3. The vast majority of commonly used applications have cross platform file formats, which means you can exchange a wide variety of file types with Windows users if you use a Mac.

Read more on my perspectives on operating systems for additional insights.

At the very least, even if you don't switch to a Macintosh, consider changing some of your computer use habits. Even if you are not a teacher, my "Computer Security 101 for Teachers" article contains helpful tips you may be able to put into practice right away.

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