My Links Pages Computer Security to protect you from viruses, trojans, hijackers, and other nasties

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The first part is a reiteration of software links found elsewhere, but these links are important enough to repeat. The rest will help you detect and remove various programs that will Windows Update is the most important security measure you can do on your computer. Without it, you're a sitting duck for all sorts of viruses and trojans.

You can download Windows XP Service Pack 2. Or if you prefer, you can order the CD.

You can also download and save Windows XP Service Pack 1a and burn it to disk instead of having to download it every time you reinstall Windows XP.

826939 Update Rollup 1 for Windows XP. Microsoft has released Update Rollup 1 for Microsoft Windows XP. An update rollup is a cumulative set of hotfixes, security patches, critical updates, and updates that are packaged together for easy deployment. Update Rollup 1 for Windows XP is a single package that includes many previously released critical updates for Windows XP.

Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer 6 SP1. This download wraps up multiple security patches from Microsoft into a single download. There are other security patches available as well. See Microsoft's Protect Your PC page for more details.

Windows 98 Critical and Beneficial Updates. Get them while Microsoft still supports Windows 98. Save them to your computer and burn them to CD.

Avast, Home Editon
AVG AntiVirus
And if you find that AVG cannot connect to the update website, I have a fix here.
Mike Lins Startup Monitor alerts you if any programs like trojans, viruses, or hijackers register to run at startup.

The following three links provide information about what anti virus programs find and how to deal with them. The first two are essentially search engines for viral information and removal instructions.
Symantec Security Response
McAfee Virus Information Center
Besttechie.net is a link to many se.

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If your anti virus program finds nothing and you are experiencing virus like symptoms or unwanted advertisements, these programs may help. Avti Virus Scanners currently do not detect and remove hijackers, adware, and spyware. While these programs do, they do not commonly detect viruses and trojans. The combination of a good AV program and these programs will provide almost complete coverage of all the nasties you are likely to encounter.
Spybot Search and Destroy removes advertising and spyware from your computer.
AdAware removes advertising and spyware from your computer.
Hijack This is a highly useful program for finding computer hijacking. Excellent instructions are found here.
A² free scans your computer for trojans, worms, spyware, dialers, etc..
Winpatrol also alerts you to programs that are installed on your computer without your knowlege.
Spyware Blaster prevents some spyware from being installed in the first place.
Spyware Guard is a resident program that scans for spyware and prevents them from running. An excellent compliment to Spyware Blaster
KazaaBeGone removes Kazaa and all of its spyware components. Just scroll down to the bottom of the page.
IE Spyad places advertisement sites in the restricted zone and disables many of the tools they use to hijack your computer.