If you are using the Internet at all, you probably already know your computer is susceptible to threats and viruses developed by thieves looking to steal your personal information. They could be snooping for your credit card numbers, banking information, or any other pertinent data that might help them “impersonate” you. They may use a tactic of gaining access to your email address book to attack other computer users whose email addresses you store on your PC. It is for reasons such as these that you need to ensure your computer is protected at all times.

There are many ways you can protect your computer, starting with the critical anti-virus program. This type of program when running on your PC is always on the lookout for viruses that attempt to enter through your email, computer programs, or Internet downloads and then alerts you to their presence and deletes them. The anti-virus program is your first wall of defense while on the Internet.

Along with your anti-virus program, you absolutely must have a firewall program on your computer. Most newer computer operating systems come equipped with a built-in firewall; but if you do not have one, you should purchase and install one as soon as possible. A firewall guards your computer by determining the type of pre-configured information allowed onto your computer. It keeps out any unwanted or dangerous traffic and alerts you when something damaging is attempting to infiltrate your computer.

You can also help to maintain your computer’s security by taking appropriate email precautions. This includes not opening any unsolicited email, especially those with attachments. Never – under any circumstances – open an attachment if you are not completely sure you know the sender and what is being delivered.

Sometimes it’s not just running your anti-virus program to get rid of a terrible virus such as a rootkit. What a rootkit does is hack its way through allowing itself to have master privileges on a computer. Then it disguises itself so that most antivirus software won’t be able to recognize it. Then, once it is disguised from the major anti-virus programs, it begins to download malware such as spyware and other types of viruses. Rootkits are usually only detected with a trained eye from a virus removal professional.

What are the symptoms of a rootkit?

1. If you have a respected virus removal program installed and running and are still continuously running into spyware and viruses, this is the number one sign you have a rootkit.
2. Your anti-virus program is not running or is missing altogether. It’s common practice for rootkits to kill anti-virus programs.
3. You are connected to the internet but not able to view web pages. Rootkits like to change the proxy settings in your internet options so you can’t go online to view websites or download anti-virus programs.
4. Your desktop background changes or is disabled every time your computer starts.
5. Your computer seems like it’s running really slow even though you aren’t doing anything major

The spyware, rogueware and other malware programs are likely to be recognized and removed by an anti-virus program, which is good. The problem is catching it before it’s too late. Your sensitive information can be stolen by these programs. So if you are getting a lot of spyware on your computer over time, it might be that you have a rootkit. A very bad type of virus. Seek out a virus removal specialist and ask them about the possibility of a rootkit.

First let’s cover the basics.

Definitions

*Virus: a software program capable of reproducing itself and usually capable of causing great harm to files or other programs on the same computer …

*Spy-ware is computer software that is installed surreptitiously on a personal computer to intercept or take partial control over the users interaction with the computer, without the users informed consent.

*Junk Files: Over the course of time, your computer accumulates unwanted and unremoved junk files that are no longer necessary. These junk files remain unused by the operating system, but occupy much disk space.

The first step to optimizing your computer is removal of any virus, malware, spyware, and adware infecting your computer. You may notice pop-ups, error messages, difficulty navigating on the internet, a change in home page, a slowdown in computer functions, and other undesirable behaviours. You need programs designed to eliminate these threats. Once the threats have been neutralized and eliminated you will be ready to take the next step in optimizing the performance of your computer. First let’s look at what we are dealing with.

A computer virus is a malicious program that can do irreparable harm to your computer. An anti virus program is necessary to prevent, and or remove these. Ad-ware and spy-ware are also troublesome. They can create unwanted pop ups and also track the way you surf the web. Over time, if not addressed, they can significantly slow down the operation of your computer. An antivirus or anti-spyware program is necessary to remove these from your computer. Some companies offer what is called a ‘suite’ which encompasses all this into one program and usually has preventative protection as well. This makes it easy and uncomplicated for the regular user to combat and prevent these threats.

When it comes to identifying a top registry cleaner that will help you to keep your computer operating at optimum speed and performance, there are a couple of things you will need to bear in mind. Besides finding a registry utility that works well with your specific needs and Windows operating system, you will need to decide whether or not to choose a paid registry cleaner or a free registry cleaner. Each option comes with its own built-in advantages or disadvantages.

Obviously, free software is always nice. That’s the advantage. But unless you are aware of the various websites and companies that offer freeware, which ones are legitimate and which ones are not, you may need to beware of free offers that lead you to unintentionally download a malicious virus onto your PC in exchange for the freeware. Unfortunately, like it or not, this is a reality in the wide wild world of the Internet. There are bad guys out there looking for any opportunity they can find in order to convert your computer into their bot-net slave. Only deal with companies and websites that you KNOW are legitimate.

One way to prevent a malicious website from taking advantage of your good nature and your computer is to have a good anti-virus program working in the background in real time. If you are going to choose a free registry cleaner, then make sure you have an anti-virus program like Avast on your machine, and keep it updated regularly. (Actually, Avast updates itself on your computer, so you won’t have to worry about doing it manually.) Avast, which is available free, is a reputable software developer and distributor, and their program has built-in real-time alerts to help you avoid contacting or downloading from a website that may have viruses.

Internet protection and computer security go hand in hand, when we look at why we need both of these additional measures when using our computers and the internet together. More and more people are using their computers for shopping online and banking online, because of this present trend the undesirable people in today’s society have now found a another way to obtain money easy. Computer security and internet protection are one of the same things.

The undesirables in our society will steal your information from your computer will even damage your hard drive for the pure fun of it. The security of your personal information should be at the very top of your wish list if using the internet. Let’s look at some of the things you can do to reduce if not eliminate the risk of the information held on your computer being stolen/hacked into:

Top of the list is obtaining and installing a good anti-virus/anti-spyware software, although the present operating systems have some of these facilities already in them it is always better to have your own, make sure that this software will work in conjunction with the operating system. These programs will check everything whilst you are using the machine and warn if an attempt is being made to access your system, it will also block known virus’s and threats, scan your e-mail for the same problems and warn or block the content. Remember these people are good at what they do namely hacking into systems, granted the software will cost some money but it far cheaper than having your bank details, credit card details and other personal details stolen that they can then use to defraud you.

An advertising-supported software, or adware as many knows it, is basically a type of software that shows advertisements of certain products, services, or a website on your PC’s. Besides it being annoying, there are many problems that it can also give to your computer. That is why removal of adware is very important.

Some of the damage or bad effects it can bring to your computers are slowing of your browser, pop-ups that suddenly shows, problems with your internet connection, and the worst, it can also infringe your privacy. There are some signs that you should look for to see if your computers are affected by adwares or spywares.

The most common signs that you would easily see are, sudden slowness of the whole system. Some also makes you land on an unknown site different from what you searched. Your default internet browser suddenly changed. You will also notice that every time you open or start your PC, an error sign often shows up.

If you noticed some of these signs, it would be good to check immediately if indeed you are infected. The first step that you will need to do is to always update your computer, most importantly the security updates. Then download an anti-virus or anti-malware software, there are free or trial versions but it would be wiser to buy them to get the most support they can give.

Keep in mind though that every day, different kind of viruses, malwares, and adwares are created. So choose the best anti-malware you could possibly get. Study the capabilities first or ask other peoples referrals, if they knew any great software for fighting adwares. If you already have this, it would be a good practice to regularly scan your computers, if at all possible, use a full system scan.