Do I have spyware? What is spyware? What is Malware? In short, the terms spyware and malware are used almost interchangeably to describe unwanted and usually uninvited programs that get downloaded and installed into your system through surreptitious means. Most of these programs have the singular goal of placing some kind of advertising on your screen, whether it be via pop-ups, browser hijacking or redirection, search-engine displacement, or other means. Of course some malwares can be much more damaging, logging keystrokes to capture login and password information, or turning your computer into a "spam zombie" or "spam gateway" where your system is used as a portal for the distribution of hundreds or thousands of spam messages to other hapless Internet users.

What are the symptoms? There are a wide variety of symptoms that indicate spyware or malware infestation. Customers who experience spyware and malware problems sometimes see only one symptom, but more often report multiple symptoms. Here are some typical symptoms that our customers report:

• My computer is running slow (often described as "sluggish" or "crawling")
• My screen is overrun with popup advertisements
• I get popup ads even when I'm not on the Internet
• I keep getting "page not found" errors on the Internet
• My Internet Explorer has all kinds of extra menus and "search bars" that I never installed
• My home page keeps changing and even though I change it back to what I want, it changes on its own again.
• I get weird "script"errors when I'm on the Internet
• My computer seems to have a life of its own, "waking up" and churning away even when I'm not using it.
• My modem keeps trying to dial out on its own
• I get error messages asking me to end programs that I don't recognize when I'm shutting down or restarting.
• I have a bunch of new icons on my desktop for programs I never installed
• I keep getting a little message balloon that tells me I'm infected and directs me to a website where I can buy a program that will supposedly get rid of the infection (This is a hoax, whatever you do, don't buy it!)

What can be done about it? There are many general protection and specialty removal tools available on the web today for dealing with malwares (see sidebar). Unfortunately for do-it-yourselfers, this route is fraught with peril as the creators of spyware and malware are a wily lot who have taken social engineering to a whole new level, even stuffing the Internet with bogus spyware/malware "cleaning" utilities that are themselves, nothing more than cleverly disguised malwares!

How can Geek Housecalls help? Your geek arrives armed with a battery of proven tools for the eradication of malwares and restoration of lost performance. More importantly though, your geek specializes in the surgical removal of registry keys and system-level files that are associated with malwares, and that are not always effectively removed by available tools. With this one-two punch of tools and know-how, we are able to clean up most machines in less than 2 hours. Sometimes however, malwares have done more damage than is practical to try and reverse by typical cleanup methods. In this case, your geek may recommend a complete rebuild of your machine including re-installation of windows. Either way, your problem will be solved, system performance restored, preventive tools offered and friendly advice given, leaving you with a well-behaved computer and a smile!