Mr MicroTech is your On-Site Virus and Malware Removal Experts in the Clearwater, Largo and St Petersburg, FL area. We have been successfully performing virus removal since the Michelangelo virus in 1992. Since then, viruses and malware (malicious software) have evolved from erasing your data to holding your data hostage for ransom.
Viruses and malware can cause damage to your computer or make it run slow. They can also do malicious things like capture your email passwords, harvest email addresses from your computer, and obtain your bank account information. The worst that viruses and malware can do is erase your data or hold your data hostage for a ransom. The CryptoLocker ransomware virus is one of the worst yet. It encrypts (scrambles) all of your data and holds it hostage for a ransom. Once infected with CryptoLocker, virus removal won’t work. There is no known way of getting your data back without paying the ransom. Even then you’re not guaranteed to get your files unencrypted. Regular computer backups can help recover from such a disaster.
Do not be ashamed or embarrassed if your computer has been infected and needs virus removal or malware removal. You don’t have to surf to “adult” or “warez” websites to get infected these days. Malware can “piggyback” in along with legitimate downloads. If you are still running Windows XP, it is best to upgrade to Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8. This will help prevent drive-by downloads — a common method of virus infection. If you must run Windows XP, we have methods to make it more secure.
Beware of television commercials and web sites advertising services claiming to “Speed Up My PC” or “My Clean PC”. We have found most of those do more harm than good. Claims of “My PC runs 100% faster” are quite laughable, as 100% faster equals the same speed as before. Their “free diagnosis” may lure you in, but they charge you a fee to fix the so-called alerts. Some alerts are known to be false or created by the service itself.
Also beware of other fake applications. We have seen fake antivirus, fake defrag, and fake Windows diagnostics & registry cleaners just to name a few. Generic names like “Antivirus 2014” and “WindowsDiagnostic” can look & act quite legitimate, but they are indeed malicious software.
Problems arise when popular apps like Adobe Flash Player and Java Update get counterfeited. Some web sites have pop-ups claiming “You need to update Adobe Flash to view this video” which can be a Trojan Horse method of infection. You may always close the pesky pop-up window that says “You need to update Java.” Since it’s difficult to tell the difference between the real deal and a fake one, we suggest the following. It is always best to open a new browser window and surf directly to www.Adobe.com/downloads and www.Java.com when updating those key apps. It is always best to remove all old versions of Java. It is the only app that doesn’t uninstall old versions when updating. To remove old versions of Java, simply Surf to www.Java.com and click on “Do I Have Java”. Run the Java app, and upon completion you will be given the option to remove old versions.