Friday, 6 August 2004 16:54 EST

Spies, Bugs and Viruses: New Software Eases the Job of Keeping Your Computer Healthy and Hacker-Free

Now more than ever home computers are on all of the time, the kids are doing research for school or playing games while parents are checking out the latest digital pictures or loading their favorite songs on the IPOD. Moving around music and image files can really slow a machine down, but did you also know that the more you are online the more you need to protect yourself from hackers and computer viruses? Thanks to email, spam and peer to peer music sites many of these viruses are on the rise.

Panda Software recently announced new variants for the well-known Mydoom worm virus, Mydoom.N, O and P showing again that computer threats are on the rise. To show you the damage that can be caused by these, Mydoom.N spreads via e-mail, so the number of PCs affected are increasing exponentially and even slowing down e-mail services. What many people don’t know is that Mydoom.N installs a file that gives hackers remote access to a computer, compromising user confidentiality and impeding computer operations. Mydoom.N is difficult to recognize, as it does not display any messages or warnings that indicate it has reached the computer.

With the right tools, you can make sure your computer keeps on running efficiently, and is protected from the latest computer viruses. First, make sure your computer is scanned and safe from viruses. System Mechanic 4 Professional is an Editor’s Choice and 5-Star award-winning solution that includes Panda Antivirus Platinum 7.0, providing PC service and security in one package.

System Mechanic protects against viruses, hackers, e-mail worms, and Internet threats; eliminates dangerous spyware parasites; ensures internet security; and recovers lost or deleted files, photos, music, and email. Once you know that you computer is scanned and safe from viruses, System Mechanic also solves stubborn computer problems.

According to Iolo’s Chief Information Officer Scott Yenor, System Mechanic includes a tool called SpyHunter™. “It protects PCs from dangerous and annoying spyware by hunting down and removing these parasites. Defragmenting, and optimizing a PC's memory helps prevent crashes, speed up the hard drive and increase overall performance.”

Often, people don’t realize how much “stuff” collects in their computers. That’s why it’s important to look for software products that will help speed-up, fix, optimize, and maintain PCs. Make sure you tune up your PCs on a regular basis – meaning clean-up the registry, and defragment the hard drive and memory. This will speed up Windows and the Internet, and eliminate the most stubborn computer problems, preventing them from happening again. For more information go to http://www.iolo.com//links.