TFC - Technical Support

The infamous virus is not the only thing that can infect your computer. There are numerous other programs that can cause problems in your computer. Anti virus software is only designed to protect you from viruses, worms & trojans. There is a serious and fast growing threat from spyware, hijack programs, key loggers, adware and similar malicious programming that are not always detected by anti virus software.

These programs are very easy to get and may be very difficult to detect and remove. Most non-malicious spyware finds it's way into your computer when you go to a web page that places a cookie in your computer that contains information about your visit to that site. Most of these type of programs can be detected and removed with a good spyware checking program.

The more invasive and dangerous types of programs that invade computers today are programs that hijack your browser to undesirable sites, pop up advertising banners on you screen or in some way attempt to divert you to other sites to promote products or services sold on-line. Some of these programs may extract more personal information from your computer as well as your e-mail address. These malicious advertising processes can also be advertising products to protect your computer from adware but are really smoke screens to infect your computer with more adware. The biggest danger to your computer created by adware is not just the annoyance of the in-your-face advertising, but the effect they have on the performance of your computer. The bigger the collection of these types of programs you have on your computer, the slower it will operate and your Internet access can he seriously compromised as well.

Unfortunately there are no programs that can find and remove all the malicious software and adware you could possibly have on your computer and prevent further infections. Numerous tests run by various experts in the field indicate that the best anti-aware programs on the market can only find and remove 70% to 80% of the invasive programs and this can only be accomplished by using at least 2 or 3 different programs together. Most anti adware programs on their own rate much lower than 70% detection and removal.

Most malicious adware finds it's way on to your computer when you download and install free programs form the Internet. Free programs, especially ones that advertise themselves as performance enhancers, faster Internet access, add-on browser tool bars, or protection programs, potentially come with any number of adware programs to infect your computer. The most invasive programs you can install on your computer are free music exchange programs. Most come with some kind of adware and the also install Peer-to-Peer Networking software that sets up your computer to be accessed by anyone on the internet. Any protective firewall software or hardware you have on your computer cannot protect you from invasion when you install Peer-to-Peer Networking. This program opens a path of access to your computer for the world, thus bypassing your firewall protection and allowing access to your computer for other people to download music from your computer. This Peer to Peer Networking provides an access path to your computer not only for music exchange, but also for people with malicious intent.

Removal of invasive adware and other malicious software can be a daunting and time consuming task. Any programs you may have that are not detected or removed by the best adware removal programs on the market have to be located and removed manually. Some adware programs, that are detected and removed by cleanup programs, are designed to be re-activated the next time you re-start your computer and some of these programs are loader programs that are designed to contact other sites on the Internet and download more adware re-infecting your computer all over again.

Manual removal of invasive and damaging software from your computer can be a very arduous task that takes up a lot of time and cannot guarantee that every bit of malicious code has been located and removed. The only way to be assured that your computer has been completely cleaned, is to back up your important files and re-format your hard drive and re-install your operating system and programs, then restore your backed up files. This is a task that may be beyond the capabilities of the average user to accomplish on their own. If you are not sure how to do this procedure or are not confident in your skills to successfully complete this task and protect your valuable files, than you should seek our help. We specialize in dealing with all the problems created by malicious software and can clean up your computer in the most cost effective way. The normal time for effective cleanup or restore is 1 to 3 hours and can usually be accommodated within one day. Bring your computer into our shop in the morning and it could be ready that afternoon or drop it off in the afternoon and have it back the next day. To make our job easier and more efficient, please bring in all the software you would want us to restore on your computer. If you can provide us with all the relevant software to restore your computer, it will save us time and you money.

Cleaning up your computer will be all for naught if you don't take steps to protect yourself better than you did in the past. You must educate yourself about the dangers on the Internet and how to avoid the traps and enticements that are offered by unscrupulous companies and individuals that prowl the Internet searching for unsuspecting users to exploit. Without installing security software and implementing personal security procedures it won't take long before your computer is infected again. Studies, by professionals, have shown that an unprotected computer may be infected as fast as 30 seconds when re-connected to the Internet. Some of the software you had on your computer before it was disinfected may have recorded the unique IP address of your computer which will allow them to access your computer and re-infect it if you don't take steps to protect your computer before you connect up to the Internet again. For more information on how to protect your computer, check out our Internet Security page.