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Is it Spyware or a Virus? Most likely Spyware.

As a computer consultant, I occasionally come across a tool that is so valuable and so good at what it does, I want to share it with my friends and family. This is the case with Ad-aware 6, an amazing free (really free; no spyware, no advertising) utility that identifies and removes adware, spyware, malware and tracking cookies. Twice now, I have encountered client computers that had all the symptoms of viral infection. They were almost dysfunctional; freezing, crashing and unusable. I ran my trusty Norton Antivirus, sure it would turn up a case of multiple infections and, much to my surprise, both machines tested clean. Then I ran Ad-aware and discovered that there were so many advertising and tracking processes going on, there was no computing power left for the poor user!

This kind of thing can happen naturally as a result of visiting websites and downloading shareware. If you’ve never tested your machine for adware or data miners, I hazard to guess you’ll be startled by what you find. Many people don’t know that their machines accept this stuff automatically and it is not detected by AV software.

Ad-aware works just like antivirus software. You download the utility and then check for the latest adware definitions. Once the definition files are installed, you run the software and it checks your whole computer. After identifying the little nasties, it gives you a report that lets you read the details on each one. You can even elect to keep them, if you want.

It’s made by a company called Lavasoft. To get it, go to http://www.lavasoftusa.com. There are download links to several sources. I run Ad-aware about once a month and it helps keep my machine working smoothly.

Feb 2004 Update: I’m writing my friends and clients to let them all know that this is a particularly bad time for computer viruses. The latest example of this cyber-vandalism is an ugly customer commonly known as MyDoom. It’s more important than ever to know that you are protected, but many people are under the impression that they have working, up-to-date antivirus software, when in fact they don’t.

It’s possible to test your antivirus software using a simple tool called the Eicar AV Test File. It was specifically created to test AV protection and consists of a harmless text string that actually runs a program if executed (at a DOS prompt, it prints the phrase “"EICAR-STANDARD-ANTIVIRUS-TEST-FILE!").

If you’d like to learn about or download the Eicar AV Test File to test your own computer virus protection, you can do so here at http://www.eicar.org/anti_virus_test_file.htm.

- Computer Consultant, Shreveport, LA

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