Spyware, worms, and other Windows annoyances.

If you own a computer chances are you have at least heard one of the terms in the title of this article. Worms, viruses, Trojan horses, spyware, adware, and malware are all different kinds of programs, but they all share one thing in common – they can all negatively affect the performance of your computer.

There are two types of programs that can be used to prevent, and sometimes remove these harmful programs: antivirus software, and anti-spyware software.

Antivirus software is simple enough to find, and home computer users can download a number of free versions of anti-virus programs:
• Avast http://www.avast.com/ (Windows 95)
• AVG http://free.grisoft.com/doc/2/lng/us/tpl/v5 (Windows 95)
• Clam Anti-Virus http://www.clamwin.com/ (Windows 98)

There are also a number of commercial software packages available; some are discounted if you download them instead of buying the boxed version:
• Kapersky http://www.kaspersky.com/personal-usa (Windows 98)
• McAfee VirusScan http://download.mcafee.com/us/eval/evaluate2.asp (Windows 98)
• Norton Antivirus http://www.symantec.com (Windows 200 Pro/XP)

You will also need an anti-spyware program. Unfortunately, downloading anti-spyware software can be a bit tricky because some adware, malware, and spyware makers create software they claim is anti-spyware, when in fact it is the spyware, malware, or aware program itself. It’s best to download well known anti-spyware software from the company that makes it. The two I use are:
• Adaware (not to be confused with adware – note the extra a) by Lavasoft USA http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/
• Spybot Search and Destroy by Safer Networking http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/

The big commercial anti-virus companies often also sell Internet protection suites which combine anti-virus software with anti-spyware software. If you buy software, make sure that your system can handle the software. Before you buy software you should know:
• What operating system you’re using (Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP)
Click Start, then click Run, and type winver in the dialog box.
• What type and speed processor you have (i.e. Pentium II 400MHz)
One of the easiest ways is to use a program: HWInfo is a 14 day trial program that can show information about your system. It’s available at: http://www.hwinfo.com/

During your system startup the processor speed is displayed. It’s also normally displayed in the CMOS. Computerhope.com has a good article about determining processor speed at: http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000046.htm
• How much free space you have on your hard drive.
Double click on the My Computer icon. Right click on your C: drive and select Properties. You should see a fuchsia-colored slice of a pie chart that shows how much hard drive space you have left.

Not all malicious software can be easily removed. Some programs embed themselves so deeply into your computer’s operating system that the best option is starting from scratch with a fresh install of Windows.

Another way to avoid spyware and viruses is to use an operating system that doesn’t get infected as easily as Microsoft Windows. Both the Linux operating system and the Apple Macintosh operating system are less susceptible to spyware and viruses. The trade off is that most of your old software won’t work in Linux or Mac OS. The good news is that most of the software available for Linux is free, and there are a lot of programs that work in a similar fashion to Windows software. More about Linux tomorrow.

A roaring welcome!

Welcome to my "unofficial web log" of computer recycling. You just bought a Pentium II or III system. Now you need to figure out how to use it, what software works best with it, or what kind of things you can do with your system. This web log hopes to answer some of those questions.

So, hello, and welcome. I'm Charles. I work for The Working Centre as the coordinator of the centre's computer recycling effort. For those who have met me in person, congratulations on finding your way to this small personal recycling space. If we haven't met yet, you'll probably find that I'm a pretty personable. I'm an open source software advocate. This means I usually recommend open-source software (i.e. Open Office) over closed software (Microsoft Office), but not always.

At The Working Centre we use quite a bit of open source software. We have a rock solid Samba file server, an internal LAMP (Web database) server, and we recycle computers with both our own Linux distribution, The Working Centre Linux Project, and Ubuntu Linux. We also host the Kitchener Waterloo Linux User's Group.

We sell systems at a pretty good price, Pentium II's starting at $15 CDN, the procedes of which go to help local programs including job counselling, recycled cycles, paperkraf, housing, etc. We do a bit of computer repair work also.

Well, it's time to head out. Tomorrow, spyware and viruses...