Instructions for using Spybot Search & Destroy, SpywareBlaster, avast! Anti-virus, Home Edition, and AVG Anti-virus Free Edition
|
Spybot Search&Destroy, SpywareBlaster, avast! Anti-Virus Home Edition and AVG Free Edition are all free of charge; avast! and AVG also have inexpensive versions for commercial use. |
|
Spybot S&D - open the icon on the desktop or from the Start/Programs menu; it will automatically check on the Internet for updates and install them if so. Spybot S&D may need to restart once if the updates include program changes. Run 'Check for Problems' about once a month from the main program, and call me if you have more than a couple things appear when the scan is done; a few 'tracking cookies' are normal. |
| SpywareBlaster - open the icon, then go to 'Updates' on the left hand side of the startup screen. Hit the 'Check for Updates' button and after 15-30 seconds the new updates should be downloaded. If there are any new 'protections' to be installed, tell it to do so. Then you can quit until the next time you update. |
|
Both 'safer-networking.org' (Spybot S&D) and 'javacoolosoftware.com' (SpywareBlaster) accept donations; there are links in the programs to do this, and both work with PayPal. PLEASE do this if you really like what the programs do for you. |
|
Avast! Anti-virus Home Edition requires e-mail registration once a year. Some e-mail providers (such as Centurytel) treat the registration e-mail as spam, so be sure to check your 'Junk' folder on the webmail site to find it if you have registered but have not received a registration key.
Run a scan at least once a month; start the program from the Start/Programs menu, let the startup screen finish. Choose 'local hard drives' (item 1), 'thorough' (Item 2), and then hit the 'Start Scan' button; this will take about an hour or so. PLEASE call me if avast! detects anything; I can talk you through any problems. |
|
AVG Anti-virus Free Edition updates and runs scans automatically, so it is a little less hassle than avast!, but in my experience not quite as effective. It also should be registered via e-mail, although this is optional. You may have to reinstall it once a year as major upgrades to the program become available.
AVG usually runs its automatic scan at 8AM; your computer will run very slow while this is going on, but you can pause or cancel a scheduled scan by right-clicking on the second AVG icon (the one with the little right arrow) in the system tray and choosing appropriately from the popup menu. |
Back to Wyrdchao Main Page.
