Virus & Malware, Adware Cleanup
Viruses, malware, adware, and spyware removal are one of the more common service requests I see. Many people confuse the idea that their computer is misbehaving with the idea that their computer has a virus. It’s important to understand the differences between these malicious programs, as well as the best methods of removal.
A virus is a malicious computer program that replicates itself and spreads to other computers. It can be programmed to corrupt data, delete data, or even display messages on the computer. Viruses can be spread through emails, downloads, and other methods. If you have a virus on your computer, it won’t be slow, it will probably be dead, and your data will be gone.
Malware is a broad term that includes viruses, as well as other malicious software, such as Trojans, worms, and ransomware. Even though viruses are classified as Malware, not all malware are viruses. Malware is designed to cause harm to a computer and can be used for various purposes, including stealing data, damaging data, and displaying unwanted messages.
Adware is a type of software that is designed to display intrusive or malicious advertisements designed to trick you into downloading Malware. Adware often comes bundled with other software and can be difficult to remove. It can track user activity and show targeted ads, as well as hijack web browsers by creating pop-ups or installing browser plugins without your permission.
Spyware is a type of malicious software that is designed to track user activity and collect data. It can be used to track keystrokes, read your clipboard, monitor web usage, and even steal passwords. Spyware is usually installed without the user’s knowledge.
Protecting yourself from these malicious objects on the internet is very important, and this is done so generally with the use of anti-virus software. Typical anti-virus programs use signature-based detection, which means they look for known malicious programs and flag them for removal. They are effective at removing viruses, but they are not always effective at removing other types of malicious software, such as malware, adware, and spyware.
Microsoft Defender is a free anti-virus program that is included with Microsoft Windows 10 and 11. It is effective at removing viruses, but it is not as effective at removing other types of malicious software. For example, it does not have the same level of protection against spyware as programs like Malwarebytes or Super Anti-Spyware.
Super Anti-Spyware is a paid program that is designed to detect and remove spyware. It is more effective than Microsoft Defender at finding and removing spyware, as it uses heuristic-based detection. Heuristics can be used to detect new variants of existing malware or to identify entirely new threats that have not yet been identified. However, this type of malware detection can often lead to false positives in your scan results.
There is little to no correlation between how much you pay for anti-virus and how successful that anti-virus program will be at detecting viruses. Some of the free malware detection programs that I frequently recommend are more effective than the majority of paid software available on the market. (Malwarebytes!) However, paying for anti-virus software will almost always include additional quality-of-life features, such as scheduled scanning, real-time protection, and automatic updates. Certain anti-virus companies are notorious for selling snake-oil quality software that I have found on too many occasions to be totally ineffective at detecting even the most basic forms of malware.
In summation, it is important to take steps to protect your computer from viruses, malware, adware, and spyware using a combination of specialized software rather than a “all-in-one” style software package. Microsoft Defender is a perfectly suitable anti-virus, and when used in conjunction with software such as Super Anti-Spyware (for spyware) and Malwarebytes (for everything else), your computer will be significantly more protected from malware on a whole than it would be using something like Norton or McAfee.