July 9th, 2007
Bustin' malware!
Whenever a Windows PC starts to misbehave - running slow, crashing, locking up, displaying odd messages and so forth - there are chance that the problem is down to some sneaky malware that’s made it onto the system. At these times there are a few tools that I bring out to check the system over and hopefully make it better.
I know that different people have different experiences, but overall I can run Windows systems with relatively few hassles (your mileage may vary!). By only installing applications that I need, updating drivers on a regular basis and keeping the installations of trial software and betas to a minimum (that’s what virtual PCs are for …) I can keep my Windows-based systems ticking over just fine. But I also come across a lot of people who have shocking trouble with their PCs. These problems can be as a result of an almost infinite number of things going wrong, but more and more, the presence of malware on a system is the root cause of the misbehavior.
Malware can get onto a PC with shocking ease. The easiest way for it to get onto a PC is to go browsing the seedier parts of the Internet with an unpatched Internet Explorer and an unpatched copy of Windows. Using this dodgy configurations it’s possible for a system to be taken over in a matter of seconds. All it takes is one Trojan Horse to come into your digital kingdom and the walls are breached and more can follow. Once a system is under the control of malware, it can be darn hard to regain control of the system without resorting to nuking the OS and starting from scratch.
Fortunately, there are some good (and free, for non-commercial use) tools available for folks to deal with a malware infestation. Here is a tour of my favorite tools.
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Adrian is a technology journalist and author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology. He also runs a popular blog called The PC Doctor. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations
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