Get Rid of Spyware Without Commercial Anti Virus Software

So, your computer keeps slowing down for no apparent reason. You don't have any fancy anti-virus program like Norton or McAfee. You think you have spyware, but you're unsure. Here are a few easy ways to check!

Steps

  1. Check to see if the problem is adware or your own programs that are just lagging up your computer. Open the Task Manager [CTRL + ALT + DEL] and look at the processes tab. Find any processes that have an abnormally high Memory Usage. If you don't recognize their names, you may have spyware, however, you should not try to disable them in the Task Manager.
  2. Go to google.com and type in the names of suspicious looking executables. Pages like processlibrary.com or neuber.com are good at identifying malicious processes. [Note: some viruses disguise themselves as windows processes, it is well worth googling0 every process in task manager to find out which could be malicious]
  3. When discovered which processes are malicious, go to My Computer and search your C:\ drive for the executable. Delete the executable and any associated files. If an error message saying it is in use, stop the process using task manager and try again.
  4. When dealing with executables disguised as windows processes, search for them as described in the previous step. And if any duplicates appear in the search results, Take CARE to only delete the suspect file that is not where it should be i.e. not in C:\WINDOWS\System32. When identified as malicious, delete the executable and associated files as before.
  5. Adware often comes 'packaged' with other programs such from places such as Yahoo! and Smiley Central. By not installing/downloading these programs you minimize the amount of adware/spyware you get. Delete these programs first.
  6. For all other Spyware/Adware download a free, easy-to-use anti-adware program like Spybot-S&D or AdAware. AdAware is a bit easier and is recommended for inexperienced users. NOTE: These programs will catch what the other misses so install both.
  7. Also there is free 'AVG free edition': AVG", and Avast Home Edition: [1], which are a free anti virus programs, and should find any or most viruses and Trojan horses in your system, and that gives the same protection as Norton or McAfee, and that sends regular updates automatically and by request (avast is automatic).
  8. Use a browser such as Mozilla Firefox, which blocks most adware.
  9. Also, Microsoft's Windows Defender provides real-time scanning of your system, and has a comprehensive definitions library that does an excellent job of detecting spyware.
  10. [2] has a section with free antivirus and antimalware programs. Downloading several of these will help you keep your system malware-free. (See warning, though.)

Tips

  • Adware is considered "to go beyond the reasonable advertising that one might expect from freeware or shareware." "Adware is often combined with a host application that is provided at no charge as long as the user agrees to accept the adware." [www.100best-web-hosting.com/glossary.html] [www.microsoft.com/security/glossary.mspx]
  • Spyware is defined as "Software that sends information about your Web surfing habits to its Web site." [www.spywaredetection.org/spyware-glossary.htm]
  • If you're really about avoiding adware, then consider Switching to Linux or BSD. They're free and since virtually all programs for them are open-source, anyone can see and improve the code, so your computer will be virtually immune to adware!
  • Not all anti-virus programs offer anti-adware or anti-spyware protection.

Warnings

  • If you install multiple antivirus programs, they may conflict with each other. The best solution is to have one of the programs as your "always-on" guard to prevent viruses and malware from entering your system, and then using the other programs to scan your hard drive on a daily or weekly basis to remove the malware the "always-on" program missed.
  • As stated above, some spyware/adware is required by certain programs for those programs to keep running. By deleting the adware/spyware you run the risk of rendering the program non-functional. This won't happen to any program you have to pay for so it if does happen and you still want the host program all you'll have to do is download/install it again.
  • Some anti-virus programs will tag legitimate programs as malware. This is called a "false positive." The incidence of this is dropping as antivirus programs become more sophisticated, but be aware that it exists.
  • Always make at least two backups of your important files, and keep one of those backups somewhere other than the computer. A daily backup kept on location and a weekly backup kept elsewhere (either a physical backup such as CD-R and DVD-R or an online backup) will insure that you are able to recover from any possible disruption in your computing habits. (Always deep scan the backups for viruses and malware, too--you don't want to install a virus from a backup.)

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  • AdAware
  • ProcessLibrary is a good resource for checking if processes are malware.
  • X-Ray PC is a program that will check running processes for malware. It also helps you delete them.
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