Basic Spyware Removal Tips
Posted on September 19, 2007 at 5:24 pm by admin
Spyware: Introduction
Spyware computer programs are malicious in nature and they usually install on your computer without your consent. Their main goal is to stealthily track and monitor your computer and Web browsing activity. In the process, they collect information such as the websites you browse and the tools that you use.
Many spyware programs are keyloggers and they record your keystrokes, take screenshots of your PC, and gather your confidential information such as credit card numbers and bank account details. Spyware programs usually link the information they collect with the MAC and IP addresses of your PC. They then trade this information with affiliate advertising partners, who use this information for advertising purposes.
Spyware Removal Tips:
When a spyware program installs on your computer, it usually copies many files in various locations on the hard disk and enters numerous keys in the registry. Some of these keys are embedded keys that are impossible to remove manually. This makes the spyware removal process quite tedious and difficult. Let’s now have a look at some tips that you can follow to maintain a spyware free PC.
The first and most important part of the spyware removal process is to install a reliable and efficient antispyware utility on your computer. After installing, update the utility with the latest definitions. By doing this, you will ensure that your PC is protected against the latest spyware.
Note: Do not confuse an antispyware utility with an antivirus utility. Not all antivirus programs are equipped with antispyware. And for all around protection of your PC, you must install an antispyware utility on the system.
After configuring a reliable antispyware utility, use it to scan your PC for spyware infestations. For effective scanning, close all programs and tools currently running on your computer and disconnect your PC from LAN and the Internet.
To further improve the effectiveness of the scan, run the antispyware scan in Safe mode. To start your PC in Safe mode, restart the system, press F8 during startup and then select the Safe Mode option from the option list displayed on the screen.
Note: Many other PC maintenance tasks, such as antivirus scan, disk defragment, and disk cleanup are more effective in Safe Mode because in this mode, only essential processes and services are loaded.
Run the antispyware scan at least twice to ensure that your system is completely free of spyware. You must run the scan twice even if no error is reported during the first scan. Many times, errors ignored during the first scan may be detected and reported when you run the process again.
Just like all other programs that are installed on your computer, even spyware need to add entries within the registry to carry out malicious tasks on your PC. Most of the antispyware programs are equipped to identify and remove these entries.
However, at times, some keys may get left behind and may help the spyware to creep on to your system again. Therefore, after performing the antispyware scan, you must use a registry cleaner to perform a thorough scan of the registry for any malicious entries and remove them.
Regular antivirus, antispyware, and registry scans go a long way in helping you keep your system healthy and free from troublesome errors.
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!