Spam and Malware can slow down your computer like crazy and just leaves you wondering why it’s so slow! These are programs that are running in the background, taking up your computer’s resources.

How did I get this stuff on my computer?
Simply by browsing the internet. You don’t even realize it but by going to websites that you use to keep tabs on sporting events, look up information, catch up on television shows these sites will have pop-ups that you click on by accident or they will have a window pop up that looks identical to a Microsoft Windows warning!

How do I avoid getting it on my computer?
You just have to be careful where you are clicking to. If a window does pop up on your screen, it is always best to click on the on the top right to close it. If that doesn’t work, go to your task bar (the bottom of your screen that has the title of the window), right click on that and click “Close”.

These windows like to trick you. They will have a “Continue” button and a “Cancel” or “Close” button but they really all lead to the same place and don’t actually close the window.

How do I get these programs off my computer?
There are many programs out there to help do this. One of the best that I’ve found is a program called “Malwarebytes”. You’ll have to install the program and I would recommend to do a complete scan which may take some time. You should either do it overnight or when you don”t mind missing your computer for a few hours.

Another thing I would recommend is to not use Internet Explorer. There are a few decent web browser programs out there as an alternative. The reason you should avoid Internet Explorer is because most viruses, spyware etc are oriented towards it so if you are using something else, the virus or spyware may not work as it was intended and therefor, not get on your computer. You can download Mozilla Firefox by clicking here.

If you have something really messy going on with your computer and would like advice, feel free to comment.