One of the more common reasons I get invited to a home to work on a PC is to fix a problem caused by a virus or malware. Of all the PCs I've worked on, I've only needed to completely reinstall windows *and remove everything on the hard drive* twice. I take it as a challenge to see how fast I can get the varmints out and to do so with the least harm to the software and information on the computer that people need or want to keep.

What I see the most of these days is what goes under the heading of malware. The malware that I've seen often turns off virus protection software running on the infected PCs and suggests instead that it itself is Malware or Virus protection software and has found dangerous infections on your PC.

Folks often trust the initial suggestions of these cyber beasts and follow them to a website where they are asked to provide credit card information so to purchase the software, which, it is claimed will then remove the threats it has found. Usually most will stop playing along at this point and realize they need to find something to clear up this thing or to at least seek advice.

If a program asks you to pay for it before it will clean up the infections it has found... Don't.

These scumware programs are getting past Microsoft Security Essentials. I have seen 3 cases where PCs protected by MS Security Essentials were infected by Malware just like I described. One called itself Security Essentials 2010, another called itself ThinkPoint and a third went by Hard Drive Diagnostics.

I used to recommend MS Security Essentials. It is very well regarded in the tech community for its ability to ;protect a computer from malware and viiruses. Steve Gibson of the TWIT podcast Security Now and www.grc.com recommends MSSE as does the well reputed geek venue Lifehacker.com and the former founder of Lifehacker, Gina Trapani.

Gina dealt with a PC violated by a similar predator in March of 2010. Her post about it mentions that the malware she found was undetected by MSSE: http://smarterware.org/5530/how-to-uninstall-xp-antispyware

In the post she describes the steps needed to remove the infection from the infected PC. In the second step she talks about what I have been seeing.

Second, you had to install a real spyware killer to kill XP AntiSpyware. (Imagine me trying to explain this to my computer illiterate friend. By now his eyes were glazed over.) Microsoft Security Essentials didn't detect it. At the article's suggestion, I installed Malwarebytes Anti-Malware and scanned away, cleaning off everything it found including AntiSpyware.

Since I've turned away from MSSE, I needed a different well regarded PC based solution to act as virus and malware protection and that would include a good firewall. I have been systematically going through the security software which appears most frequently at the top of the list ,maintained by http://www.matousec.com, a company which tests and ranks pc security software. That list is here:

They regularly test internet security software for what will and won't get past it. The best free product I've tried is Comodo Internet Security. It's well rated and has stayed that way for awhile. It also will not overwhelm most PCs like the bigger bloatier "name" security packages -- the Norton's, Symantec's and McAfee's. The downside I have seen is that every new program or internet related activity Comodo encounters requires a human to allow or block the activity.

What I have now been using most often is Kaspersky Internet Security (now at version 2011). It is well rated by Matousec, is not bloaticious, that is, it uses only minimal PC resources, and Kaspersky relies on user decisions much less often. The software isn't free. Kaspersky Internet Security 2011 retails for about $80 when purchased through Kaspersky.com online. If you search for a coupon code online the $80 price can be reduced to $60. If you look on Ebay you can find new boxed versions for $25. You should receive an unopened box with a sealed cd inside. And these can be used for 3 PCs. I've got a copy of Kaspersky Internet Security 2011 this way myself.

Along with a full weekly scan with Kaspersky, I suggest people run full scans weekly with Malwarebytes Anti-malware and Superantispyware. If the computer isn't too bogged down by the load, I also recommend purchasing Malwarebytes and which allows you to set it to block malware realtime. Both SuperAntiSpyware Free Edition and MalwareBytes AntiMalware can be found at download.com, where you can find them by searching for them under Windows Software and using the names I just provided. You can also find Comodo Internet Security there as well.

Good riddence to bad baggage, you malevolant meal mites. Or as the Queen of Hearts said in Alice and Wonderland, "Off with their heads!" Stay safe, and happy computing.