How to remove spyware and viruses from your computer

There are millions of viruses and spyware programs waiting on the Internet for the unsuspecting computer user. Many of these viruses can be downloaded by simply visiting file sharing sites or video sites online. 

These computer viruses range from the benign to more malignant versions whose sole purpose is to hack your computer and steal your personal identity, bank records and more.  Among the worst spyware virus offenders is the Virtumonde program that can completely cripple your computer within a matter of hours after infection. 

The Virtumonde virus is a devastating ad ware based spyware program that installs itself silently on your computer without permission and then proceeds to spawn thousands of unwanted pop up windows. 

The virus accomplishes this by setting itself up as a secondary proxy allowing it to gain unlimited access to the Internet.  Once installed successfully on your computer, the Virtumonde virus can independently contact it's 'home base' site on the Internet for further instructions or to download malware.

While your computer is being initially hijacked by the computer, you may notice that you have no control over your browser.  Afterards, it can control your current Internet browser, allowing it to show you any page that it wants.  The virus 'reads' what you are typing into the search engine or browser bar and then shows you pages that matches your search criteria.  So for instance, if your computer is infected by Virtumonde and you're searching for 'spyware virus removers' on Google, then the virus would redirect your Internet Explorer browser to a spyware removal site.

Virtumonde virus can spawn hundreds of unwanted pop up windows in an hour, leaving your computer completely useless. 

While this might seem like an innocent popup problem, the Virtumonde virus can also be used to redirect your browser to websites where malicious software can be downloaded.  In other words, Virtumonde's main job is to hijack your browser and take you where it wants you to go.  So it's as if your browser is the car and Virtumonde is the driver. 

Since the Virtumonde virus is self replicating, it can reinstall itself easily onto your computer if you don't remove all the hidden files associated with the virus.

However there are a few tricks that can help limit the Virtumonde's control of your computer. 

Scan your computer and identify the file names associated with the virus. Next print out a copy of the scan results and keep for reference.

Go to your control panel and enable hidden files so that the files can be seen. And, then manually delete the infected files. Often moving the file to another location disables the Virtumonde virus.

Spyware Doctor and other free spyware removers, can effectively remove all instances of the Virtumonde virus and block future attempts at replication and is available as a free software download with the Google pack. 

Other effective spyware removers include Spybot which is also available for free online.

Just unplug your Internet connection while scanning or the virus will try to connect to the Internet to call reinforcements. 

Once you have the Virtumonde problem solved, you'll want to prevent future incidences of the virus by keeping your copy of Windows up to date; using a firewall and avoiding downloads whenever possible. 

And, to avoid future infections by the Virtumonde virus, avoid illegal movie download sites as these are notorious for passing along computer viruses and infections.  Also, simply visiting an illegal movie downloads site may be enough to infect your computer. Only download software and files from a trusted source.  Often, SPAM contains links leading to virus sites.  So, never click on a link in an email.  Instead, enter the link address into your browser bar and visit the official site instead.