"I think I have a virus, what can I do?"

With virus emails spreading so fast even updating your virus checker every few hours may not be enough. With a lot of the newer viruses, once they infect your machine they will prevent your virus checker from detecting them once you do finally update.

There are plenty of basic steps you can make to help prevent this but with the huge amount of viruses checkers out there where do you start? Well, we've tried all the big companies and some of the smaller ones so we can offer you advice based on 9 years experience dealing with virus checkers.

Whats the difference between a Virus and Spyware?

• Spyware and adware  collect information about you without appropriate notice and consent.

• A computer virus spreads software, usually malicious in nature, from computer to computer. 

Spyware can get installed on your computer in a number of ways.  One way is via a virus. Another way is for it to be secretly downloaded and installed with other software you've chosen to install. We all know how easy it is to skip reading all the documentation on a free program and just click "OK." That's often how they get you.

In short, spyware is a specific type of unwanted software that covertly collects your information. A virus is a specific way software can be covertly distributed, often by e-mail.  Both spyware and viruses can cause damage to your computer or cause you to lose important data.

Is there one program that will guarantee to stop all Virus and Spyware?

Unfortunately the short answer is no!

We recommend having a "full time" antivirus and internet security system always running on your system, preferably one that doesnt take up to many of your systems resources. The best one we have found so far is Kaspersky Internet Security, which, we estimate stops around 90-95% of attacks. We would also recommend a back up system especially for spyware, there are plenty of free ones on the internet to choose from that are only active when running a scan so do not take constant resources from your system.

This is what we will do when we come round to see if you have a virus and then repair:

• We scan your computer for viruses using our own method which will ignore a viruses attempt to block the scan.
• We will check your registry for signs of virus infection.
• We will install either a free virus checker for you if you have none or install Kaspersky Internet Security for £25
• We will explain the differences between the most common virus checkers to tailor the best one to you.
• We will update the virus list on the program you use or we install.
• We will install a secondary spyware detection program and inform you how to use it.
• We will offer advice on how to limit the chances of getting infected.
• We will explain in layman terms how they infect you.

See the prices page for more details.

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