Your PC is a very vulnerable machine. Every day when you log online, chances are you see the ads warning you what horrible things are going to sneak their way into your hard drive, destroy years of hard work, and email your credit card numbers to a criminal mob. So, it seems only sensible that the very first thing you want to do is find a reliable software package to help protect your computer against what everything that could wrong. But, what kind of software should you get? Do you need Anti-virus software or Anti-spyware software or both?
To answer that question, let’s first take a look at what anti-virus and anti-spyware programs protect your PC against. A virus is a small file that can attach itself to your hard drive. Viruses attack your computer surreptitiously from the Internet. When click on their file, or when a “timer” goes off, they launch their attacks. Virus can delete your data. They can edit your registry. Or they can slow everything to a crawl.
Spyware likewise comes in to your computer from the World Wide Web, but is also found in otherwise useful software. Many software designers write spyware code into programs so they can see how you use their product. The idea is to make a better version later, but your permission to them to do this is usually buried in the fine print of your user agreement. The harm spyware does to your PC is not glaringly obvious. What spyware does is to start finding and transmitting data about you and your computer. First thing you know, spam chokes your email inbox. Or you get an unexplained credit charge, maybe just a little one. Or your identity is assumed by a criminal ring and Homeland Security arrests you and sends you off to Guantanamo Bay. The only sure way to know whether your computer is infected by spyware is to run a detection program. But a warning sign is your computer running slow.
So, what is the key distinction between anti-spyware and anti-virus software? Most of the time these days your computer protection provides both. By updating for new spyware and virus definitions every week, your protection software will know the definitions it needs scan and disinfect your hard drive on a regular basis.
Anti-virus and anti-spyware programs typically integrate into your web browser and email. This function makes sure that malware programs never get into your computer in the first place. Anti-spyware software by itself may perform the same function, but spyware detection programs are usually more focused on deleting files that have infected your computer already. Anti-spyware programs often will stop you from logging on and warn you the pages contain malicious code or have been reported as installing spyware on other computers.
To keep your computer secure and virus- and spyware-free, your the best option is to obtain a software suite that protects you against both problems. Anti-virus software and anti-spyware software together will give you a more complete, unified front against the vast array of malware that threatening your computer from the World Wide Web.
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