The bane of many an IT repair bod, as well as millions of Windows computer users all over the world, is malware. Software specifically written to trick people into parting with their cash and/or spying on what they browse on the internet. That's just the tip of the iceberg; there are programs in the wild that exist solely to get your credit card number or passwords in order to facilitate fraud. So, what can we do about it?

The best first step is to ensure you have up to date, functioning antivirus software. That subsription to some antivirus package or other you had when you bought your computer? The one that expired a month ago (or more)? Yeah, even though the icon is there next to the clock, it is doing NOTHING. Many times people think they are protected when they are not due to the bundled rubbish you are given with a new PC. Do yourself a favour and uninstall all bundled prodcuts immediately. They are the equivalent of wearing a raincoat to protect yourself from a nuclear blast. What should you install instead? With no hesitation at all, I'd recommend Avast Antivirus. Their free option is amazingly capable and only requires your email address (which is just for their records, expect no spam) to be activated. With that you have a better performing antivirus solution for nothing than most paid-for options.

With that done and the initial boot time scan completed, if you are still experiencing a slow PC (slower than usual for no good reason), the next step has to be installing Malwarebytes. Again, there is a very able free version, so download that, install it, update it and do a quick scan. Leave it to do this as it might take some time. At the end of the scan, have a look at the results and press 'Remove Selected' to get rid of any nastiness it may have found. Reboot. Occasionally there are things that can only be eliminated after a full restart.

The next step is to install either Firefox or Google's own Chrome browser. Both are more secure than Internet Explorer, more compliant with web standards, faster, more crash-proof and free. Take a look at both and see which you like best. It is important that you do choose then use one of them as using the default Internet Explorer is just courting trouble as far as your PC is concerned.

So, after doing both those simple steps, your PC should be a few malware programs lighter and consquently a little bit faster too. You have less chance of getting a nasty in future now you're not using IE too. There are occasions when even the combo of Avast and Malwarebytes isn't enough, especially after infection has occurred. In these cases, well, that's what Resolve IT is for!