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Information on several good tools commonly used for removing and preventing spyware, malware, and virus infections, and tips for keeping from becoming infected/again. Last updated 21 February, 2006.

If you have a Windows computer and you've come here because your computer is running slowly, getting lots of pop-up ads, or other odd behavior, it could very well be that your system has become infected with malware, even if you have an anti-virus scanner, since a lot of virus scanners inexplicably don't look for spyware.

The Tools:

Grisoft AVG Anti-Virus
If you don't already have an anti-virus program, AVG Anti-Virus has traditionally performed pretty well, is available with updates for free, and even includes a resident shield that will check your files on the fly. It won't necessarily catch everything, and I've noticed it's sometimes bad about removing certain infected files (which then have to be deleted manually), but it's a lot better than nothing, especially for free. Available from Grisoft.com

Spybot Search & Destroy
This application catches a vast array of spyware, pop up ads, trojan horses¹, backdoors, and other unpleasant malware that may be placed on your computer. Also has the capability to "immunize" Internet Explorer against a list of known bad sites, although I'd still use Firefox if I were you. Running both Spybot Search & Destroy and Ad-Aware periodically on a system is the best bet to ensure a completely clean system. Free updates, and they have a great forum and team. Available from Safer-Networking.org.

Lavasoft Ad-Aware
Another popular anti-spyware/etc. application - slightly more polished and commercial-looking than Spybot, but also slightly alarmist (it classifies many cookies as "critical"). Use in conjunction with Spybot S&D, above. Also offers free updates. Note that some applications are "ad-supported", which means they need the adware to continue working. Qualcomm Eudora is one of the few safe examples of this I know of - in most other cases you don't want adware on your computer at all if you can help it. Ad-Aware is available from Lavasoft.de.

Not all cookies are bad; some allow websites such as Excite e-mail to recognize you when you visit (instead of having to login again each time), others let online shopping systems such as Amazon.com work. Some are used by advertising companies to track user's browsing habits, though, and may be desirable to delete. If in doubt, and the program recommends it, delete the cookie - at worst you'll just have to log in to some website again.

Security:

ZoneAlarm Firewall or Sygate Personal Firewall
Both good firewall applications. Even if you have a hardware router (such as a 2Wire or Linksys product), a software firewall can be useful for preventing unauthorized outgoing transmissions from programs on your computer, and can help close any small remaining security loopholes.
Note: For Sygate Personal Firewall, the free download version is at the bottom of their page

GRC.com ShieldsUP! Internet Port Security Scan
Gibson Research Corporation port scan - let this tool scan the first 1024 Internet ports of your computer, looking for security loopholes. Truly an invaluable tool, it helps takes some of the guesswork out of securing your Internet connection.
Note: On that page press CTRL-F and type "shields" without the quotes to find the link fast.

Mozilla Firefox Web Browser
  Internet Explorer is extremely vulnerable to malware and virus infections, just by browsing certain malicious websites by accident. Firefox isn't foolproof, but it's far, far more secure than IE, and my preferred browser. Recommended.
Now, I don't usually trust toolbars (paranoia has served me well in the past), but people I trust have recommended this, and say that it's safe, not to mention useful (and I've had nothing but good results with Google software so far). So:

Note: You'll still need IE for Windows Update and for certain websites (if you're sure you trust them) that won't support anything but IE. But I strongly advise using Firefox for everything else :)

Preventing Malware:

1) Antivirus up-to-date. Many computers frequently ship with copies of Norton or McAfee anti-virus installed, but only with 1-year or even just trial subscriptions. Once the subscription runs out, your antivirus scanner stops updating, and cannot detect new viruses. This is incredibly common, so if you do not know for a fact how old your antivirus definitions are, check now.²

If you need one, Grisoft offers the free AVG anti-virus scanner, which is fairly effective.

2) Don't open unexpected, or even expected e-mail attachments. I'm extremely paranoid about attachments and programs, even from my friends (after all, one of them could be infected with a virus).

3) Run a firewall. Modern Microsoft operating systems are extremely vulnerable to malware scanning randomly about the Internet from infected machines looking for other machines to infect. An unpatched Windows XP system, connected to a broadband connection, will frequently be infected within five minutes, without any action on the part of the user. Use XP's built-in firewall, or download (on another computer - never connect an unsecured system to the Internet!) a firewall such as ZoneAlarm or Sygate Personal Firewall. If you're using a hardware firewall, such as a 2Wire or Linksys Broadband Router, you're already protected, though it can be a good idea to run a software firewall (program) as well to prevent unauthorized outgoing access from your own computer.

4) Use an alternative browser, such as Firefox. Relative safety in relative obscurity. More people use IE, so more people write malware for IE, in general.

5) Beware sites linked from banner advertisements, and especially from spams, offering you unsolicited anti-virus and anti-spyware services. Most of these will install their own spyware. One needs to be careful to get one's anti-virus from trusted and reputable sites.

Note: How can you trust me, you might ask? Good idea to ask yourself that! In my case, most if not all of my download links point to other sites, rather than files I host, and if you check the Whois information for my domain you'll see I've been around since before the turn of the century.

Additional Information:

This article is deliberately kept fairly short - it just covers the tools and a bit of security information, but leaves most of it up to the user. If you would like to read more information on various types of viruses, security, virus removal, et cetera, I recommend some of the following pages on other sites:

Claymania.com - alt.comp.virus Anti-virus and safe computing introduction. Includes The (comprehensive) Basics, Anti-Virus References, Removal Tools (useful if you have a particularly pesky virus you can't seem to get rid of), and links.

ArsTechnica.com - Malware - what it is and how to prevent it A very in-depth article, covering a wide variety of malware (from adware to viruses), removal tools, and tactics for combating malware.

Spyware Warrior: Anti-Spyware Testing (Guide) A huge number of anti-spyware tests and articles.

GRC.com Internet security information and related reading, including information on DDoS attacks (distributed denial of service attacks) and how they work (forwarned is forearmed).

RealLifeComics.com On the subject of spyware... (entertaining)

^[1] Spyware (which may do anything from report back on what sites you visit up to logging your keystrokes), trojan horses (which masquerade as something else and frequently act as backdoors for crackers and other malware), adware (which in its purest incarnation "merely" displays ads, sometimes pop-up ads, but frequently also spies on your browsing habits and other things you're doing on your computer).

^[2] Typically you can check/update your anti-virus definitions by searching around in your system tray, at the lower right-hand corner of your screen, for an icon labelled "antivirus", or something recognizeable like one of the company names (McAfee/Norton), or "shield"-something (hover your mouse pointer over the icons in your system tray for description tags - don't skip any).