Virus Recovery and Spyware Removal

Virus and Spyware infections are the leading cause of non-hardware related computer problems and if not removed quickly can result in data loss or the inability to use your computer.

Although Viruses, Spyware, Malware, Scareware, Adware, Extortionware or whatever you want to call them are all infections that can damage your computer the intent of their creators and the damage they inflict are different.

The Differences Between Viruses and Spyware

One of the easiest ways to distinguish a virus from spyware is the way it spreads. Most viruses try to replicate themselves as quickly as possible and spread from PC to PC or to any Computer or Server it can reach by any means programed into it. Typically viruses spread from machine to machine through email or networks but they can also spread through flash drives and other removable media. Viruses are destructive in nature and try to infect the largest number of machines possible usually for the bragging rights of its creator.

Spyware is typically something picked up from not so reputable websites but there have been cases of reputable website that get hacked that have spread spyware to its visitors. Spyware does not spread machine to machine but rather engrains itself deeply into its host making it difficult to remove and typically slows a PC down giving its presence away. Some spyware will act as a piece of security software or pretend to be helping to get its viewers to take whatever action it wants usually trying to get you to buy some bogus security software or lead you to sites it profits from.

Protection From Viruses And Spyware

Protection from the things that break your computer is easier said than done. Virus protection is often easy to achieve but there is a reason. There is a common agreement between the virus software manufactures to share the viruses they find and how they work on an almost real time basis so all the major software vendors are on the same page and almost any virus software package protects you as well as the next.

Unfortunately there is no governing body behind spyware protection companies and typically when one finds a solution they use their knowledge as a selling point rather than share with the community. This leads to incomplete protection from any one spyware protection software manufacture. Although there are some that are better than others the lead is usually passed around between a few of the top contenders. Based on our experience Malwarebytes and SuperAntiSpyware are consistently on top.

One More Virus and Spyware Problem To Know

The differences between Viruses and Spyware are not concrete and tend to overlap so even the coverage from some virus protection software packages can be spotty and vary from vendor to vendor. The best protection you have is to keep your systems as up to date as you can, do regular scans of your system and use virus protection software as well as spyware protection software while occasionally scanning your machine with one of the free or trial version of some of the other spyware protection software packages out there.