Clean Your PC – Double Your Speed – What’s the deal?

You might have heard an ever-growing chorus of advertisements claiming they will make your computer like new again, double your speed or otherwise clean the system. PLEASE NOTE: We are not evaluating these tools. We only offer a free alternative to them. I am in now way rating or reviewing the paid-for tools. They might work great! Without speaking about any one in particular I can point out a few tips about viruses, spyware and other malware. On a positive note, the first thing we cover is that they do tell the truth, if you listen carefully. One claim is that you can be at risk, or infected, even if you have antivirus software installed AND RUNNING! This is very true, but how is that possible?

Well, the quick answer is that if you don’t have virus updates at least weekly, then the virus software is out of date almost immediately. These updates are yet one more cost to do business, but you don’t have to pay for them! Also, some virus programs miss things. None of them are perfect and most fee stuff will do the scan, but not fix the problem until you pay them. Notice that most of the ads say “Free Scan,” not free fixes.

Is the software better when you pay for it? NOPE! The tools I use are completely free, come with updates and check for, and fix, viruses, Trojans, spyware and just about everything. The FIRST thing you need to do is get rid of all the other scanners that are on the machine because they will interact with the software I recommend. ALSO, the way you use these tools will affect effectiveness. While online, go get updates for the software. Then, you must be offline when your use any virus and spyware programs. Then you restart, still offline, to complete the scanning. Then do it again one more time while OFFLINE.

The free software is called AVG Antivirus Free Version and Spybot Search and Destroy. Watch for that word free, because there is a version you pay for too! There’s links to download them from DownLoad.com below. BE AWARE that many of the programs that offer to get rid of spyware are actually spyware themselves. We do not rate, review or comment about any of the software mentioned in the title. We haven’t tested them and we are not implying that they are bad. This is simply an alternative to paying for these programs.

WARNING! If you are not very good with the computer, you might need help downloading and installing these tools. You also might need help getting rid of the other scanners that are out of date on your machine.

SpyBot Search and Destroy: http://tinyurl.com/clbek4
AVG Antivirus Free: http://tinyurl.com/ajrg46
Free online scan and fix: http://housecall.trendmicro.com/