You cannot obtain complete security by using a single software application. That is you will need three kinds of software — antivirus scanner, spyware removal tool and firewall software. Many antivirus scanners do not detect Trojan horses. For this reason, you can also install a Trojan removal software on your computer. Firewall software will protect your computer from hacking attempts from the Internet. If you install all of these four applications computer, your computer will be very secure. However, installing the software can also make your computer very slow. For this reason, it is essential that you strike a balance between security and speed.

Always stick to well-known antivirus software. The same goes for spyware removal tools as well. There are many fake antivirus and spyware removal tools on the Internet. In fact, many of these contain viruses themselves and the design only to force you to purchase the so-called "full versions". Some of the leading antivirus software in the market include Norton, Kaspersky, Avira and others. Before installing any software from the Internet, always ensure that you are installing the real software and not some fake one. Also read software reviews and user feedback before installing new antivirus software on your computer.

If you think that investing in security software is not a good idea, there are other alternatives. You can use the antivirus software on their computer. There are several free antivirus software on the Internet and these are equally effective in providing security to the computer. When compared to paid versions, these may lag behind in some aspects. However, they are better option than leaving your computer without an antivirus software installed. There are also several open source antivirus projects. ClamWin is one such project.

Several free spyware removal tools are also available on Internet. These include Spyware Terminator, Spy bot — search and destroy and Ad Aware SE. You can download these tools by searching in Google for the names. Alternatively, you can also download these from download.com.

To keep your computer free from spyware, you have to install anti-spyware software. This has to be installed in addition to an anti-virus and a firewall for maximum protection. There are both free and paid versions of anti-spyware software. If security is the main consideration, it is always better to opt for a paid solution. However, there are some free versions that are equally good.

The main difference between paid and free anti-spyware solutions is that paid solutions identify newer spyware faster and release updates more often. Many update spyware definitions almost on a daily basis to ensure that their software is always up to date and effective against all the newly discovered threats. Paid solutions may also offer better customer support services.

Here are some examples of paid spyware removal software:

Spyware Doctor: Spyware Doctor is a top-rated malware & spyware remover that detects, removes and protects your PC from thousands of potential spyware, adware, trojans, keyloggers, spybots and tracking threats. Spyware Doctor costs $29.95 and comes with a 12 month subscription.

Sunbelt Counter Spy: Counter Spy is another highly recommended anti-spyware solution. It was ranked as the best spyware removal software by CNET in 2008. Subscription costs $19.95 (for 1 year) per computer. They also offer unlimited home site license for $39.95 (for 1 year). Counter Spy has very high detection rate, but at the same time, it is very light on system resources. They also offer a 14 day free trial.

Webroot Spy Sweeper: Spy Sweeper is one of most effective anti-spyware. It costs $29.95 (1 year), $39.95 (2 years) and $49.95 (3 years). It has many features like advanced spyware detection, real time protection, and enhanced rootkit detection. The subscription also includes free customer support. They also offer a free trial.

There are many other spyware protection solutions that are almost as good as the ones mentioned here. However, before buying them read user reviews and check if they are really worth the money. There are many rouge spyware removal software, which are themselves spyware. There software can be easily avoided by doing a little background check.

Spyware removal |

In response to the emergence of spyware, a small industry has sprung up dealing in anti-spyware software. Running anti-spyware software has become a widely recognized element of computer security best practices for Microsoft Windows desktop computers. A number of jurisdictions have passed anti-spyware laws, which usually target any software that is surreptitiously installed to control a user’s computer.

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The attack makes use of the ICMP protocol, a service intended for checking the speed and availability of network connections. Using the ping command, you can send a network packet from your computer to another computer on the Internet. The remote computer will recognize the packet as an ICMP request and echo a reply packet to your computer. Your computer can then print a message revealing that the remote system is up and telling you how long it took to reply to the ping.

A smurfing attack uses a malformed ICMP request to bury your computer in network traffic. The attacker does this by bouncing a ping request off an unwitting third party in such a way that the reply is duplicated dozens or even hundreds of times. An organization with a fast Internet connection and a large number of computers is used as a relay. The destination address of ping is set to an entire subnet instead of a single host. The return address is forged to be your machine;s address instead of the actual sender. When the ICMP packet arrives at the unwitting relay’s network, every host on that subnet replies to the ping! Furthermore, they replay to your computer instead of the actual sender. If the relay’s network has hundreds of computers, your Internet connection can get quickly flooded.

The best fix to this issue is to contact the organization being used as a relay and inform them of the abuse. Usually, they need only to reconfigure their Internet router to stop any further attack by blocking the ICMP protocol of the router. This will help keep the traffic off your internal network. If you can convince your ISP to block ICMP packets aimed at your network, it will help even more.

Click ‘Start > Run’ and type ‘gpedit.msc’ and press [Enter].

When the Group Policy Editor window opens, you can tweak the settings of your choice. Make sure that you take note of the settings before changing any so you can undo the same. This is because there are a lot of settings here and is difcult to fnd something in particular, so you might have to browse through the whole list to get to the settings you require.

In the left pane of the window, browse to ‘User Confguration > Administrative Templates > WindowsComponents > WindowsExplorer’.

Then in the right pane, look for the setting ‘Prevent access to drives from My Computer’ and double-click on it.

In the new window, select the ‘Enabled’ button and from the dropdown list in the bottom window, select the drives you want to restrict access to. Apply and save the settings.

Exit from the policy editor and Windows will not allow the drives to be accessed, but note that they can still be accessed through the DOS prompt.

This tip is contributed by Prasanth Chandra from PCs Place < http://pcsplace.com> and Review Unit<http://reviewunit.com>

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Free Antivirus Install Tutorial by TechEase – Avast 2 of 2

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Free Antivirus Install by TechEase – Avast 1 of 2

Antivirus software protects your computer from worms,Trojan horses and many other types of threats. Without a antivirus application your computer is vulnerable to these types of attacks.

1. Decide if you want to sped some extra money and pay for your antivirus software or use a free antivirus application.

• If you decide to pay for your antivirus software you can buy it directly from the antivirus company or head out to your local store with a electronic section and buy it there.
• If you decide to download a free antivirus application you can download it from directly from the antivirus company’s website. If you have dial-up internet it may take hours to download.

2. Run the installer for your antivirus application. Follow all steps exactly as the installer says too. About all antivirus installers setup the antivirus application for maximum protection.

3. Once installed it is a good idea to check for updates if the installer did not do it during the installation.

4. Once everything is setup and updated it is also a good idea to run a scan and remove any virus that may have been on your computer before the antivirus application was installed.

–> Install an Antivirus Scanner:
Antivirus software are applications that are designed to detect viruses and other malware. Installing a good quality antivirus software is the first step to protect your computer from viruses. There are several virus scanners in the market. You have to purchase a subscription to install and use many of these. However, there are also several free antivirus software that provide good protection. Some of the leading software in the field include Avira, Kaspersky, BitDefender, Norton, Avast and AVG.

–> Install a Firewall Software:
A firewall is a computer software that prevents hacking attempts from the Internet. Many viruses and spyware infect your computer from the Internet. Installing a firewall blocks such malicious programs and prevents them from infecting your computer. If you can afford it, a hardware firewall is a better choice.

–> Switch to a Secure Browser:
Many virus programs make use of vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer. If you are using an older version of Internet Explorer, upgrade to the latest version. For more security consider switching to browsers like Firefox, Opera and Safari. These browsers are not only more secure, they also offer better features that Internet Explorer.

–> Keep your OS updated:
Malware spread and infect computers by exploiting the bugs and software vulnerabilities in the operating system. Keeping your computer updated with the latest patches and bug fixes not only makes your computer stable and faster, it also gives you protection from viruses and other malicious programs. You have update Windows by enabling Automatic Updates in the Control Panel.

–> Never Download Files from P2P Networks:
Many viruses and spyware spread through peer-to-peer networks. For this reason, avoid downloading files from torrents and other file sharing networks. Always download software from legitimate sites like Download.com. Always scan the files downloaded from the Internet before executing or installing them.

–> Be Careful with e-mail attachments:
Many viruses spread through e-mail as attachments. If you receive attachments in e-mail from someone whom you don’t know, exercise caution before opening it. Scan it throughly using a virus scanner and open it only if it is clean.

If your computer is infected with a virus program, there are two choices: Delete the virus and other files associated with it (or) reinstall everything after formatting the hard disk. The first option is usually preferred. Only in certain cases, when the virus is very stubborn or when the computer becomes completely unusable should the latter be opted for. Viruses can be cleaned both automatically by installing a suitable virus scanner and manually using tools that diagnose your computer and provide information on the type of virus.

Most virus programs spread through the Internet. There is a certain class of viruses called worms, which spread through email and cause networks to slow down. Worms are very effective and spread very fast. Other malware like adware and spyware spread through infected websites. Virus programs also spread through file sharing networks (i.e. torrents, etc.) and direct download sites. For this reason, it is advisable to download software and other files only from reputed sites like MicroSoft.com, Download.com, etc. Think twice before downloading unknown files from the Internet.

Virus programs can be deleted using virus scanners. It is important that they be stopped and removed timely. Many viruses obfuscate themselves and thus are very difficult to detect. The user may not even be aware that his/her computer has been infected until symptoms like error message pop-ups and system slowdown becomes evident.

Virus programs infect computers and spread by making use of software vulnerabilities. No software is fool proof and newer bugs and vulnerabilities are discovered almost everyday. When these are found, the companies that make these software release fixes and patches. For this reason, keeping the software installed on your computer up-to-date can prevent virus infections to a large extent.

You can keep your computer software updated by enabling Windows Automatic Updates in the Control Panel. You also should update your browser to the latest version. If you are currently using Internet Explorer, consider switching to Mozilla Firefox or Opera. Many virus programs are designed to exploit Internet Explorer as this browser has a larger market share. Switching to another browser will make your computer resistant to these viruses.

Complete protection from viruses can be only be obtained by installing proper security software like Avira, Kasperky or BitDefender. More importantly, following simple safety precautions can keep your computer virus free to a large extent.