Malware, also known as Malicious Software, is software designed to infiltrate or damage a computer system without the owner’s informed consent. The term is a portmanteau of the words malicious and software. The expression is a general term used by computer professionals to mean a variety of forms of hostile, intrusive, or annoying software or program code.

Many normal computer users are however still unfamiliar with the term, and instead, “computer virus” is incorrectly used even in the media to describe all kinds of malware, though not all malware are viruses.

Software is considered malware based on the intent of the creator rather than any particular features. Malware includes computer viruses, worms, trojan horses, most rootkits, spyware, dishonest adware, and other unwanted software.

If your computer all of a sudden begins slowing down and it starts being unstable , you could have picked up a malicious infection in cyberspace.

The menace of viral infections to your computer is always present and whenever you browse the internet without an updated antivirus program, you’ll surely get infected eventually.

My personal opinion on antivirus programs is that just about all of them are resource intensive and whilst they were installed on my computer, the computer seemed slower. I have tried out several antivirus programs and the one we use at present is AVG Anti-Virus Free. It installs easily, the settings are easily manageable and it’s only when it scans, that you detect a little slower reaction on the computer. Besides, it’s freeware.

Nevertheless, an antivirus application can’t eliminate all malware infections and in reality you require a couple of different utility programs to take care of different infections. One program removes trojan horses, another adware, yet another worms or spyware.

Getting rid of malware infections lies in several essential steps that are required to be taken in succession. Subsequently, you have to carry out prevention measures to properly uphold a protected system:

It is essential that you create a new restore point with System Restore. This will prevent your system becoming reinfected by restoring it with corrupt files. If you’re not certain how to create a restore point, visit for a step by step tutorial, including pictures and diagrams.

You must backup your Documents folder as well as your crucial data files on a regular basis. For a step by step tutorial, including pictures and diagrams, on how to use Window’s Backup feature, visit .

Here are a few additional safeguards to protect your computer from infections:

- Make certain your computer is set to update Windows, your web browser and the malware prevention programs automatically.
- Always browse with an activated internet firewall.
- Use only tested and reviewed Malware applications.
- Never click on any random solicitations to “Scan your system for spyware”.
- Do not download any attachments from unsolicited email or even unexpected attachments from known contacts.
- Never provide sensitive personal data in answer to an email request.
- Never enter any sensitive personal data into a public computer.
- Never click on a link within an email; right-click & copy the link, paste it into your browser address bar and watch where it takes you as it loads.
- Never click on popup ads or download any unidentified software. Research it first.
- Download all software from the vendor/developer web site whenever you are able to. Third party sites might pass on bundled malware. On the vendor’s site however, you’ll always find the most recent edition of the product.

However, I have found that getting rid of infections only does not have the desired effect to make your computer faster. You cannot completely speed up a slow computer by fixing only one of the problems on it

Computers become slower for several reasons:
- as we said, malware can damage your data and slow down your computer.
- too many programs are installed but not used anymore which consume resources,
- files on the hard drive become fragmented and disorganized,
- the Windows registry has too many unused entries,
- unused network connections slow startup,
- too many programs automatically run at startup

In my ebook, How to Fix Your Slow Computer, I have dedicated a whole chapter on Virus and Malware removal and prevention, Therefore, if you think you have any infection which makes for a slow computer, you should read and make use of the easy step by step guide on getting rid as well as preventing re-infection. More information can be found at http://slowcomputerfix.tmmarketing.co.za.