Viruses and spyware?

2599>1)which is more dangerous








2) do they both dramtically slow your pc down... a friend of mine said her computer decreased speed by 46%





thanks!








P.S. ANSWER BOTH QUESTIONS PLEASE
Reply:1) i would say viruses are more dangerous








2) yes they both dramatically slow your pc down
Reply:1)which is more dangerous


Although both are harmful for your machines, viruses are more lethal as their soul reason for being so to maliciously destroy data and infect files and render them useless when spyware is more of advertising ads, pop ups and annoyingness.





2) do they both dramtically slow your pc down... a friend of mine said her computer decreased speed by 46%


yes they both slow the pc down, while spyware slows it down, viruses could destroy or even not allow for the mahcine to function. spyware just generates more pc usage and makes it difficult to navigate and use.
Reply:A virus is a computer program that replicates itself.





Spyware is a class of computer program that sends data about you to a third party.





A virus might do nothing except replicate itself, or it might delete files randomly, or it might be spyware, or something else.





You can't say that either is more dangerous than the other, you can only compare specific examples of viruses or spyware applications. A piece of spyware that sends your bank details to a thief is probably more dangerous to you then a virus which deletes your address book, but that is probably more dangerous then a piece of spyware that sends a list of websites you visit to a third party.





They can slow your machine down, but again, it depends on the specific instance.
Reply:They are equally dangerous.


They can slow your PC down, but many other things can as well.
Reply:advance windows care V2..its free.
Reply:Viruses and trojans are by far more danger to your computer, Spyware plants cookies on you to study your surfing habits and then send ads that target your surfing habits,


you also may have adware which can change your browsers to something else other than what you have, and then malware can create problems by flashing false advetisments in the form of voice or insist that you buy a bogus program;





I suggest the following tools to clean it up.





Download and update the avg antivirus and download the spyware doctor below the shut your computer down and restart it and tap the F-8 key repeatedly while the system starts up and select safe mode and run the avg and the spyware doctor while in safe mode, This will catch it so you can remove it,





The free edition of spyware doctor, The best for removing spyware and malware and its free,





http://www.download.com/Spyware-Doctor-S...





Here is a free and very good antivirus tool called avg free,


Note; You should never use more than one antivirus on your computer at a time,





http://free.grisoft.com/doc/downloads-pr...





SG
Reply:Think of a biological virus 鈥?the kind that makes you sick. It鈥檚 persistently nasty, keeps you from functioning normally and often requires something powerful to get rid of it. A computer virus is very similar. Designed to relentlessly replicate. Viruses infect your computer programs and files, alter the way your computer operates or stop it from working altogether. It鈥檚 estimated that the Mydoom worm virus infected a quarter-million computers in a single day in 2004. Tens of thousands of viruses now operate over the Internet, and new ones are discovered every day.





I have been in the field for 30 years and can give you a lot of examples we no linger need to worry about today. But the space here is limited.





IE In the early days, a virus could write to the BIOS of not only the system board but also the harddrive. This effectly destroyed the hardware. I am glad those days are over.





Spyware is any program that monitors your online activities or installs programs - without your consent - for profit or to steal personal information. Even though spyware detection is becoming more difficult, you can stay ahead of the threats with a good Anti spyware detector.





And you will find the paid versions always protect better than the free one.





You will also find some of the better known programs (Norton, Macfee) really fall down in this area.





Tested time and time again a program by PCTools called Spyware Doctor beats the competition.





http://www.pctools.com





Note: the Spyware Doctor listed above for free is a starter edition and does not do everything the full blown one does.





But I would not recommend it for a low power PC.





-tcw
Reply:1. Both are equally as dangerous.





2. Usually spyware remains hidden. Most spyware you can't detect unless you run a scan. But it might. Viruses-Definitely