Spyware Cleaners - What They Can And Can"t Do About Spyware
Once you know you are infected with malicious software, it is essential that you get some kind of anti-virus (AV) program that is able to delete spyware found.
Even if you do not think you are infected, it is still very beneficial to have some kind of protection, because the odds are you will need it sometime.
In choosing a spyware cleaning software it is important to know how they work.
Database of threats: First of all, AV programs contain very large databases of known malicious software.
Things such as the file name and size of known harmful programs are recorded, and good AV software will often have tens of thousands of definitions in its database.
Moreover, new spyware is being developed and released all the time, and so good software will constantly update the database in order to keep up with new developments.
Scanning of your PC: Using its database of known threats, an AV program will scan practically every file and folder on your hard drive.
It will also scan known places where spyware likes to hide, such as for example your windows registry.
When it finds a file on your computer that corresponds to the name of a malicious program in its database, it will list it out for you to see.
Good programs will also tell you what type of malicious program the file is, the threat risk, and (most importantly) where it was found on your computer.
Removing spyware found: Once your AV software has found spyware on your PC, the next step is to remove it.
This is where it gets a little difficult.
Spyware that hides in places like the registry is often part of important system processes, and can be very difficult to delete.
Moreover, the spyware may already be actively running, and deleting it could cause your system to crash or your computer to stop working.
In order to do something about this, good AV programs will often "quarantine" deleted spyware - that is, the spyware is deleted, but it is backed up on another part of the hard drive in case it is important for the computer to function.
In other cases, spyware that gets un-installed may automatically re-install itself back, which can prove to be very annoying.
In other cases, the only way to delete spyware is to run your computer in safe mode, or completely reinstall windows.
That said, there are also spyware programs that can easily be removed by AV software, and so it is worth getting a good piece of software that can detect and remove spyware.
Even if you do not think you are infected, it is still very beneficial to have some kind of protection, because the odds are you will need it sometime.
In choosing a spyware cleaning software it is important to know how they work.
Database of threats: First of all, AV programs contain very large databases of known malicious software.
Things such as the file name and size of known harmful programs are recorded, and good AV software will often have tens of thousands of definitions in its database.
Moreover, new spyware is being developed and released all the time, and so good software will constantly update the database in order to keep up with new developments.
Scanning of your PC: Using its database of known threats, an AV program will scan practically every file and folder on your hard drive.
It will also scan known places where spyware likes to hide, such as for example your windows registry.
When it finds a file on your computer that corresponds to the name of a malicious program in its database, it will list it out for you to see.
Good programs will also tell you what type of malicious program the file is, the threat risk, and (most importantly) where it was found on your computer.
Removing spyware found: Once your AV software has found spyware on your PC, the next step is to remove it.
This is where it gets a little difficult.
Spyware that hides in places like the registry is often part of important system processes, and can be very difficult to delete.
Moreover, the spyware may already be actively running, and deleting it could cause your system to crash or your computer to stop working.
In order to do something about this, good AV programs will often "quarantine" deleted spyware - that is, the spyware is deleted, but it is backed up on another part of the hard drive in case it is important for the computer to function.
In other cases, spyware that gets un-installed may automatically re-install itself back, which can prove to be very annoying.
In other cases, the only way to delete spyware is to run your computer in safe mode, or completely reinstall windows.
That said, there are also spyware programs that can easily be removed by AV software, and so it is worth getting a good piece of software that can detect and remove spyware.
Source...