Time for fall cleaning of your PC: Lose the junkware

From the PCMike NBC-TV Report…It’s autumn and time to get ready for winter. But don’t stop with the house and yard. Your computer also needs some attention. Just like we insulate our homes against the elements, so we need to insulate our computers against outside threats.

At the start of every season, you need get rid of the Adware and Spyware. All it takes is a few months for all sorts of needless software to sneak into your computer, gunk that is secretly installed by questionable websites to snoop on your privacy, deliver you unwanted ads and generally clog and clutter your computer.

The problem is… a lot of software that pretends to SOLVE the problem, also causes it. We’re talking abut a huge problem. Attacks on applications, incidents of malware, and unwanted software installations account for 90 percent of the vulnerabilities of most PCs, according to a just-released Microsoft Security Intelligence Report.

The 150-page report says the amount of malware and junk software removed from computers increased 43 percent in the first half of 2008. Some 30% of that junk and malware was Trojan-based, usually in the form of a computer worm or virus disguised as another application that erases data, corrupts files, and reinstalls itself after being disabled.

So how do you find that junk and get rid of it?

Just do a Google search and you’ll find lots of malware and junk removal tools. However, some readers and posters have reported problems with some of these various programs, so before shelling out any money, I’d look them over carefully. I’ve taken down some I recommended earlier. Even though I had no problems, I’ll let you decide for yourself. There are simply too many junkware removal products —literally hundreds of them! – for anyone to personally check each one out.
I appreciate reader feedback and suggestions.

For a junk software removal package that IS safe and effective, I recommend , Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware tool. It throughly removes even the most advanced malware, spyware and junk programs that really clog your machine. And it has a proactive feature that blocks malware processes befpre they can even start.

The malwarebytes.or site also has a list of hundreds of what it claims “rogue” programs that masquerade as junk removal software but really create problems or do little to help. Many of these rogue programs return false positives during their free scan to lure the user into buying the product. So before installing any removal software, make sure it is NOT on the list.

But Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware package, at $24.95, will clean your machine and not clutter it. You can download it here and immediately put it to work

Three other programs I’ve used that also help and have good reputations are Ad-Aware from Lavasoft, Spybot Search and Destroy, and Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2009.

Again, there are many, many tools you can get online that claim to do these important tasks. Most offer free trial versions. But before you run any tool that removes anything, make a backup of any file that you are going to change. That way, if something goes wrong, you can easily restore your files and start over.

Here’s another very important thing: How’s your virus protection?

Worms, malicious programs and trojans are continuing problems. Microsoft has a very handy free offer going with its new Windows Live OneCare protection package for the PC. You can try the whole package for three months at no cost. OneCare provides anti-virus and anti-spyware filtering and screening, online ID protection, a firewall, printer sharing and multi-PC management features.

If you want to try Windows Live OneCare free for 90 days just click here to download the free trial.