Here are a few important bits to remember:

• No matter what package you choose, you can still get infected with a virus or some type of malware
• The costs of an antivirus package does not have any relationship to the likeliness of infection
• Most importantly, your usage habits and computer settings have the most impact on your PC safety
• Research what you want.  Once you choose one, you should stick with it.  Removal can sometimes be tricky.

Malware: a window posing as Antivirus

Some of the most marketed software is just that.  When you purchase a copy of a big-brand-name package, you are likely paying more for the marketing so that you feel comfortable in knowing its name.  While these products work well, there are others that work just as well or better available for a better price.

First, I will list some of the popular packages and some of their disadvantages:

• Norton: Works very well, but naggy, confusing and will seriously slow down your PC
• TrendMirco: Mixed experiences, but overall  overrated.  More practical for large deployments
• McAfee: Bad experiences, works ok, but overall a bad choice
• Symantec: Works very well, but also naggy, confusing, and will seriously slow down your PC
• Kaspersky: Simply overrated.

If you already have one of these products, don’t panic.  You are fine with what you have.  Remember that usage habits have far more influence on safety than your antivirus software.  Although once renewal comes up, you may want to consider switching.

Upon switching, you should consider:

Avast Professional has recently become my favorite since it is well liked by my clients and has performed very well thus far.  Avast offers a free home version version for non-commercial users. It is very affordable for business licensing.  Licensing starts at $39.95 per year and goes down dramatically with volume purchases.  Check out Avast’s Cost Calculator.

AVG Antivirus is popular for its ease of use, small footprint and overall effectiveness.  AVG also offers a free basic home version for non-commercial use.  Also starting at a bargain price of just $39.99 per year, this suite works sweet for business workstations.  While a more enhanced version, Complete Internet Security is available, I recommend sticking with the  standard antivirus suite.

Avira is among the top and no less powerful or practical than the others listed above.  Avira, amongst the others, offers a free personal edition available for home non-commercial users.  Avira Premium licensing starts at only $26.95 per year. 

Clamwin is among the few that are GPL licensed, General Public License (free as in no cost, and free as in freedom).  Contrary to much commentary, Clamwin is very effective and has a very small footprint.  Clamwin does not have a real-time on-access scanner which, to some, is a disadvantage.  To others this may be an advantage since this will significantly increase the performance of a PC. 

Panda Antivirus is a highly rated and powerful solution offering enterprise and cloud protection products for environments where security is an essential part of business.

Microsoft Security Essentials is new 2009 released FREE product from Microsoft for complete virus and malware protection.  While this new product has not yet been widely used yet, it has scored high in reviews.  I have not yet fully evaluated this product, but since it is a trusted product of Microsoft and I have yet to hear any complaints, I would recommend people to give it a try.

Many technicians and authors have suggested that “you get what you pay for” in antivirus software.  While that is true for most products, software is often an exception for many reasons including marketing, manufacturer contracts and incentives, name recognition and more.

Once hit by a drive-by, you may have a virus, a trojan, a file deleting pacman, or perhaps a key logger which sends every keystroke over the net to someone waiting for a bank log-in or credit card number.  Often times your antivirus software is unaware and continues to show that your PC is safe.  This is the path that malware travels for unsuspecting users to get taken advantage of.

It can happen the same way in an email.  A friend or stranger sends you an email with a funny message or picture with a link.  You open it, unsuspectingly, and click on the link… Is it safe? 

Safe browsing habits (aka Safe Surfing Habits) are key to staying safe and avoiding these dreaded consequences. 

1. Be sure to be using the latest version of Internet Explorer (now version 8) or Mozilla Firefox.  Other safe browsers include Opera and Google Chrome, all of which are free.  Right now, Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox are the top competing browsers.  It is their competitiveness for speed and safety that makes both browsers great.  Older versions may not have the security protection needed.

2. Turn on the build in security features in your browser.  Turning then off may speed up your browsing, but will seriously increase your likeliness of infection.

3. Get all of the latest windows updates.  windowsupdate.microsoft.com

4. Be sure the you have some sort of firewall; whether built into your router, as part of your security suite or use the windows firewall.

5. Avoid pornography.  It is very difficult to tell which sites are safe.  Since people are often too embarrassed to admit they got a virus by searching for pornography, many drive-by sites go unreported.

6. Avoid shortened URLs, unless you have confidence in the person sending you the link.  URL shortening services can pose a risk, since you are unable to tell where you are going until it is too late.  Check out this article from TechRepublic.

7. Before clicking on a link, Roll over a link and look at the bottom of the browser to verify the link is accurate.  Without checking, you may click on a link that re-directs you elsewhere.  For example, the link may say, “Health and Fitness Magazine”, but he url may read, “http://www.up-fd-r43.com” which looks highly suspicious considering the links reads something completely unrelated.

Some of the tools here are very powerful and, on occasion, windows will not properly boot after cleaning the infected file(s) which are sometimes attached to important windows system files.  It is highly recommended that you back up any important documents on the PC before proceeding.  If you are having trouble accessing the system because of the malware, you can remove the hard drive and backup documents using another PC, or you can boot with a Windows Boot CD, which is an excellent tool to have around.  

It is a good idea to download these tools and store them on a portable USB flash drive for ease of use.

These tools are posted in order of which to try:

First use MalwareBytes Anti-malware - download, install, update, then run quick scan, follow prompts, reboot, then use full scan.  Updating is important – so if you are unable to update, try restarting in safe mode with network, then update and scan.  Follow prompts, reboot and then check to see if the malware persists.

Next download and install Avast Antivirus (if not already installed), update, then select a boot-time scan.  You will then reboot and your scan will begin before windows loads its startup applications.  This is a long scan and will often take several hours.  After startup, reboot again to see if the malware persists.

If the malware persists, download and install SuperAntiSpyware free edition.  Update and run scan.  Follow the prompts then reboot after it is complete.

And finally, if the treat is that persistent, try using ComboFix.  You can read the guide on how to use it as well as download it from bleepingcomputer.com.  This tool is extremely powerful and only should be used after reading the guide completely. 

After this, if the malware should still persists, it if certainly not worth any additional effort other that to wipe your drive and start clean.  If these applications will not remove the problem, there is a certain chance that none other will effectively help.

The best way to increase your speed is to apply a few simple tweaks to your operating system, remove old programs and run the famous no-cost CCleaner and Defragler applications.

These steps often double or triple the speed of a healthy PC in minutes.

1. Adjust your Visual Effects Performance Settings

• Left Click on the Start Bar > Highlight ‘Control Panel’ > Left Click

Start Menu

• Switch to ’Classic View’ if you are in Category View: Left Click on ‘Switch to Classic View’

Switch to Classic View

• Double-Left-Click ”System”

Locate the Icon titled 'System'

• Left-Click on the ‘Advanced’ tab, then left-click ‘Settings’

System Performance Options

•  Un-check all the boxes except the following
  • Use common tasks in folders
  • Use drop shadows for icon labels on desktop
  • Use visual styles on windows and buttons
• Then left-Ccick ‘Apply’ then ‘OK’

This will increase performance by cutting down on CPU usage wasted by unnecessary visual effects. 

System Visual Effects Window

•  Left-click ‘Apply’ then ‘OK’