Your computer is probably the most valuable asset in your home, even though it’s not the most expensive. Gaining access to your computer can make a lot of money for the creators of spyware, malware, and ransomware. For example, a new ransomware called CryptoWall came out recently that encrypts everything on your hard drive and won’t give you the decryption key until you pay them.
Many systems get infected when someone opens an email attachment that appears to be safe, but is in fact malware. To protect yourself from such situations, you really need a real-time monitoring program to prevent malware from installing itself instantly.
I will mention some great free anti-malware programs, but most of them do not include real-time monitoring in the free versions. Whether you should buy the premium or pro version depends on your type of computer user. If you haven’t had a virus or malware infection in years, you probably know how to avoid these types of scams, but if you’re not sure if something is legit, maybe you should. additional protections.
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Malwarebytes Anti-Malware
One of the best tools to repair malware infection is Malwarebytes Anti-Malware. The free version includes anti-malware, anti-spyware, and anti-rootkit protection. The big downside of the free version is that it doesn’t include real-time protection or automatic scanning, so malware won’t be blocked from installing itself on your system and is only removed after you scan. handmade.
Overall, this is a great product and can really help you get rid of any pre-existing malware on your system. However, the real value of the program lies in the real-time monitoring and protection capabilities available only in the premium version ($25).
Search & destroy Spybot
Spybot has been around for a long time and has a very good track record in finding and removing spyware and malware. It is reliable and regularly updated.
When you install Spybot, you will be asked if you want automatic protection or if you want more control and feedback from the program, so choose the option that suits you best.
After running the program, you need to click the update button on the second window to download the latest signatures.
Once done, you can return to the main window and perform a file or system scan. Again, there is no direct protection in the free version. Also, the free version has only malware and rootkit protection, no virus protection. They have a Home version for $14 and a Professional version for $26.
It has a feature called Vaccination, which basically blocks websites of known malware sites. It is not enabled by default, so you have to enable it manually.
Advertisement Awareness
Advertisement Awareness It’s also been around for a long time and is one of the best antivirus programs out there. When installing the program, be sure to uncheck the two boxes for SafeSearch because that’s not really worth it. Google protects your searches well.
The best thing about Ad-Aware is that it supports real-time protection in the free version! Almost all other programs require a paid version for real-time monitoring. They have several paid versions ranging from $24 to $50, but you get a lot of protection without paying anything.
In the paid versions you can also get email protection, which is really helpful to avoid nefarious attachments that can infect your system.
SUPERAntiSpyware
SUPERAntiSpyware is another spyware/malware removal program with a long history. Many of these old shows have gotten better and better over the years and that’s why you keep hearing the same names over and over.
Again, the free version does not include real-time protection, scheduled scans, or automatic updates. The paid version is $20, but that’s an annual fee. I’m willing to pay companies like Kaspersky an annual subscription fee because they do a great job, but I really don’t think SUPERAntiSpyware is worth $20 per year. If you are going to purchase an anti-spyware program, it is best to choose one of the programs mentioned above instead.
AdwCleaner
AdwCleaner Probably the only show you might not have heard of. Basically, this program focuses on toolbars, browser hijackers, adware, etc.
The program is very simple to use and does not have any options to configure. Press only To scanthen cycle through the tabs to make sure everything selected is unwanted then click Cleaning.
This program catches a lot of malware that other programs sometimes miss, so that’s why I mentioned it here. In my opinion after using malware programs for the past 15 years, these are the best freeware picks. However, I strongly recommend purchasing the full version of one of the programs for real-time protection. Interesting!
