Almost all of the people who ask me to repair their computers don't know what spyware or adware is. A lot of problems can be solved just by letting a tool like Malwarebytes scan the PC and remove everything that looks suspicious. Do you actively scan for both? Whenever I install a new PC I "immunize" it by running the immunize tool from Spybot Search&Destroy. Is that something you do?
I don't use any anti virus or spyware programs unless something happens to my computer. To many people this sounds unsafe but I've never had serious virus problems before. If something comes up I just use a program to remove and never have to use it again. Maybe it is unsafe but most virus programs annoy me more than they help with constant notifications and install other things in weird places and add context menus. I like malwarebytes though.
I always do. I have a few programs which help with getting rid of adware and spyware. I think it's essential that you get rid of any adware/spyware as they could be affecting the running of programs or slowing your computer down. It seems they're quite unpredictable, some can harm more than others.
I do use software to check for adware and spyware. I also have a program to check for rootkits because I was hit by a really hard to remove rootkit a few years ago. I also clean up junk files and registry errors. I'm not computer savvy at all, but CNET recommended the programs I use. CNET has a lot of useful free downloads.
I do scan my pc with avast and it always alert me whenever any virus enter my system so i can reject it,is very good to have antivirus on pc
I do scan my computer, very often, I have a lot of school work on my computer, and even though it is all backed up, it would be a travesty to lose any of it.
I have two methods. Since I use it for my more strenuous programs I keep my desktop squeaky clean. I usually use malwarebytes. My laptop is a different ordeal. Because I use it mostly for browsing I kind of gave up on keeping it secure. Instead of worrying about everything I click I backed it up to my external after I got it running perfectly (removed all the bloatware and installed all the programs I wanted) and now I just do what ever the hell I feel like with the stupid thing until it gets so buggy that I can not use it any more. I than reformat it to that image that I keep externally. This does mean that I can not use it with any of my more important email accounts and I would not let my debit card number anywhere near the thing. It is kind of a stupid and lazy system but I find it more than a little funny. It reminds me of the XKCD comic where he has created a virus ant farm.
Yes I do, and I use Lavasoft's Ad-Aware, although I rarely get anything detected as I don't frequent torrent sites and the like. It is a good tool though and has done a good job in the past. Many of the Anti-virus's come with ad-ware detection anyway, so it's less needed these days.
Yeah, whenever I have to deal with my younger brother, or my mother's computer, it's the first thing I do. Super easy fix. I probably don't check enough on my own computer, but I rarely de-frag or do anything you're supposed to do to maintain a computer.
I don't always scan my computer like everyday, because I know the things that I do with my computer. Some people get infected by these spywares and viruses because they don't know exactly what they're doing. Like they just download .exe files thinking that they're legit installers for software without having to scrutinize what they're downloading. But if I feel that something isn't quite normal when I'm running my computer, then I always do a quick scan, and fair enough, there are a couple of trojans and adwares that got in.
Spybot Search & Destroy is my software of choice too! Scanning and cleaning your system does make a difference and apart from being safe you also get to browse faster without all that trash in your browser. Besides it I also use CCleaner for cleaning my browser cache and temporary files since as they add up my system becomes slower. The great thing about these tools is that they're totally free and do make an impact! Of course, you can donate or pay for a full version with added features but even that is dirt cheap and inexpensive.
I have Microsoft Security Essentials installed and it does a good job. No adware that am aware of has managed to pass it through the ages. I think most people are using it these days. The good thing about MSE is that it is free and does not use a lot of computer resources.
I do not have to. I have a Windows 8 computer. It has a built in Anti Virus software. It scans everything on it's on. I was so happy when i found out that windows 8 had this feature. It is super convenient I don't have to do anything, or worry about anything. The software does it all It even scans in the background so it will not interrupt me while i am working.
