Computer Brain Farts

Does your computer do a little funky dance every once in a while? ALL the time, you say? Does start up take freaking forever? Does your browser not load pages correctly or does it crash for no discernable reason? You may be infected with malware or spyware. Well, not you but your computer.

I am now getting a "spyware warning" every time Windows starts up and it's for a program or .exe file that's required for my internet telephone service. It really is on my computer for a valid reason and I guess I have to teach the Norton to automatically authorize it to have access to the internet.

But still, it's creepy to see those warning things pop up onscreen and they don't explain anything about the program. So I need to dig a little further and I found one website where they have a bunch of programs listed: STARTUP INSPECTOR.

More websites with handy information on computer stuff:

What is Malware? (Definition from Webopedia)

Malware FAQ from Microsoft

Free Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool scans your hard disk for and tries to remove certain variants of known worms and viruses

Adware, Spyware and other unwanted "malware" - and how to remove them

Online malware scan

Ad-Aware by Lavasoft

PCHell - How to Remove Spyware (and they have instructions for specific programs)

Spyware Center from CNet Download.com