Virus or Spyware what is the difference and how does that affect my PC speed.

One of the things I still find comes up as a frequent question is, "what's the difference between Viruses and Spyware"? I will try and clarify that in this post.

One of the biggest slowdowns of a PC is caused by viruses and adware or spyware as it's commonly called. Before you can benefit from any other optimisation tips or improvements you really need a system relatively free from those pests.

A virus is a piece of malicious software code written to cause some kind of damage to a computer system or network or even the Internet itself.

Viruses spread, similar to their biological namesake, from one machine to another and can cause havoc wherever they go. They are most commonly spread by sharing files with others or through email attachments where they can be set up automatically to send themselves to everyone in your email address book.

Adware is usually downloaded and installed with some other program (with or without your knowledge) and unlike a virus doesn't usually spread by itself. Very often you click "OK" without reading the terms and conditions when installing some program or other and by doing so you agree to have the files installed.

An example is you see a "free" program being offered that you think might be useful and download it without thinking. Even some anti-spyware programs install adware and the website will earn money from any ads that are shown that you might click on.

The catch is that these extra files that are introduced to your computer are used to determine things like your surfing habits and the data is often used to serve up popup ads or redirect your browser to a page other than the one you wanted.

Some of the programs can be used to install keyloggers which can be used to send back information about passwords and bank details found on your computer.

Adware itself is not necessarily a security problem it is more of an annoyance especially when you have ten different programs running that are trying to show ads. The amount of computer resources they use up can slow your computer to a crawl.

Spyware is more malicious and evil intentioned and is designed to steal something from you. It can be downloaded by visiting the wrong types of websites or along with other files the same way as adware can be. Spyware can often be hard to remove as it can continually recreate itself and hide somewhere on your hard drive.

Programs such as trojans can be used to allow access to hackers at a later date. From the story of the Trojan horse where the Greeks hid inside the wooden horse, which was then left as a peace offering, and they were wheeled in to the fort by the unsuspecting Trojans themselves. Then at night the Greeks crept out of the wooden horse and opened the gates and let the rest of the troops in. Trojans and adware, unlike viruses don't spread by themselves.

It is wise to run more than one spyware checker as not one program gets rid of them all. You can never be certain you have every one removed because new ones that have been introduced may not have been discovered yet and the Spyware program isn't able to recognise them yet.

I personally use two free ones "Spybot search and destroy" and "Adaware" and I also use Counterspy which comes from a reputable company that specialises in removing spyware and now also they have a brilliant antivirus program that is especially good for laptops as it uses very little of the system's resources.

Sometimes people say to me "doesn't my anti-virus software remove spyware"? Well the answer is, most don't and even if it does I always find a specialist product works best.

Beware also of bogus spyware scanners available on-line which actually install their own spyware once they have removed their competitors. Sometimes you run a free scan and it finds all sorts of nasties but you will have to sign up and pay to remove them. I have even seen it where they find things that don't even exist or they try to frighten people into believing they have lots of spyware when all they have are advertising cookies which are harmless.

Cookies are small text files that websites leave on your system so that when you return to that site they can customise the page that loads or they can count you as a returning visitor. They are harmless and most of them are useful. They can be easily removed by deleting them in your browser settings.

So to be safe you need to be running a suitable and up to date antivirus program and one or more Spyware checkers. Clearing away any viruses or spyware regularly will make a big difference to the speed of your machine.

More computer tips can be gotten from my website at Speed up my PC