Ryan Lusvardi

Get it here

One of the most frequent questions that I am asked is how can I remove spyware or adware from my Windows computer?  Windows is susceptible to viruses, spyware and adware so it is important to always have protection in place.  One of the first things that I do when ever I am setting up a new computer or when I have just reinstalled windows is to install Anti Virus software.  I recommend doing this before you ever connect your computer to the network/internet.  (See my article on Anti Virus Software)  After you are running some form of AV (Anti Virus Software) I recommend making sure your windows computer is running the latest patches/updates. Click here to check for updates.  After you have installed Anti Virus Software and ran the latest Windows updates if you are still being plagued by spyware or adware it is time to look to see if you can use some tools from the net to remove the pesky software. Read more…

Awhile back I was asked if it is recommended to run AV software on the MAC.  Apple came out with this response: “Apple encourages the widespread use of multiple antivirus utilities so that virus programmers have more than one application to circumvent, thus making the whole virus writing process more difficult,”  However, when I went to find this original comment on their support website it seemed to be removed. Information week explains their thoughts about this comment.  See here. Check out this users question from Apples support site.  In my opinion there is no great AV software solution out there for the MAC.  I think most of the software out there will probably result in slowing down your computer and will provide little or no help at detecting threats.  The MAC OS is still relatively protected in the virus arena.  However, with time and with the growth of Apple I imagine that one day soon we will all be running robust AV software on our MACs.  In the mean time if you are interested in running an on demand scan the best software out there seems to be ClamXav.  A colleague also told me about this product iAntivirus which I haven’t had a chance to look into yet.

To learn more about this subject read this excellent article from Macworld.

Let’s face it most of us in this world would rather save our money and spend it on something more interesting than Anti Virus software for our computers.  The fact of the matter is if you run windows you absolutely must run Anti Virus (AV) software.  Whenever I am building or rebuilding a computer the first thing I do is try to install AV software before connecting the computer to the internet.  Sometimes it is necessary to connect the machine to the internet in order to install the AV software.  None the less it is the top priority when building a windows machine.  When a machine is unpatched and freshly built that is when it is most vulnerable to viruses.

Where can I get AV software?  What is the best AV software out there?  Read more…