September 5, 2018 • 5 mins
Is your computer showing pop-up ads, hijacked search results or just running slow? It could be malware. Here are some easy ways to get rid of unwanted programs on your computer and avoid them in the future.Links to the tools mentioned:https://ktla.com/2018/09/05/3-ways-to-avoid-malware-on-your-computer/Follow Rich on Social Media:Facebook: http://facebook.com/RichOnTechTwitter: http://twitter.com/richdemuroInstagram: http://instagram.com/richontech Easy ways to listen on your phone or smart speaker:"Hey Google, Play the Rich on Tech Podcast""Hey Siri, Play the Rich on Tech Podcast""Alexa, Enable the Rich on Tech Flash Briefing"
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Some easy ways to avoid malware on your computer. What's
going on on rich Demiro? This is rich on tech.
If your computer is acting kind of strange, it might
be infected with malware. This is software that shows you
pop up ads, It hijacks your searches, and it slows
your computer down to a crawl. So you often wonder, well,
how did it get there? Well, you probably installed it
(00:25):
on your computer by accident. Often it's included with free
downloads when you download one software program. A lot of times,
the way they pay for that is by having these
other programs kind of bundled in, and you don't even
realize because you just kind of click through all the menus.
Next thing you know, your browser is different, your browser
search is different. There's pop up ads in your computer
(00:46):
and stuff that you don't necessarily want or need. So
how do you avoid this stuff? I'll tell you about
four programs that can help, and if you're on a Mac,
I'll tell you about a program that can help you
as well. Let's start first off with the malware Bites
browser extension. This one comes from the same folks who
make the popular desktop app malware Bytes, but this is
an extension for Chrome and Firefox that actually protects you
(01:08):
as you browse the web. So this will block visits
to malicious websites, and it also makes it so scam
artists can't hijack your browser or lock it up with
a tech support scam. I'm getting so many emails and
texts and tweets about these tech support scams, So if
this can help protect you against it, that is a
good thing. Malware Bites browser extension also blocks third party
ad trackers to protect your privacy. This means that when
(01:30):
you search for something on one website, you won't see
ads for that same item following you around the entire Internet.
So again, this one is called the malware Bites browser extension.
All right. Next up you have Windows Defender browser protection.
So if you have Windows ten, you've got something built
in called Windows Defender. Well, this is a browser extension
that does a lot of the same things that that
(01:52):
program does, but it's mainly for your browser. Its main
purpose is to protect you from malicious links that try
to trick you into installing bad software on your computer.
So as you click links on the web, their check
for security in real time. So, for instance, if you
stumble upon a website that's wanting to steal your personal
information like your bank account info, your login, or your password.
You are going to see a big red warning screen
(02:13):
that says this website has been reported as unsafe and
the Windows Defender Browser protection will get you back to safety. Now,
if you're running Chrome as your web browser on your computer,
which I highly recommend you do, there's actually a little
built in tool that can help you remove malware on
your computer. But they don't ever tell you about this,
and it's really kind of tough to find. So to
find it, open up the Chrome web browser on your
(02:35):
PC and click the three little dots in the upper
right hand corner to bring up the menu. This is
to the right of your address bar. Once you're in there,
select settings and then scroll all the way down to
the bottom of the screen and click where it says Advanced.
Then you have to scroll all the way down one
more time and look for the section labeled reset and
clean Up. In here, you'll see an option called clean
(02:56):
up Computer. Click there and Chrome will automatic start checking
for quote harmful software and then present the results it finds.
You can also hit the fine button to look for
unwanted software. If it doesn't automatically start doing that process,
and this will find anything that hogs up your processor,
injects adds into your web browsing, and any other annoyances
that these little software programs generate. If Chrome finds any
(03:20):
of them, you can use a few more clicks to
clear out those programs. Just keep in mind that you'll
probably have to restart your computer once the Chrome Software
Removal tool is done doing its thing. But that's a
really simple and fast way to clean up your computer.
All right. One more thing that I really like. It's
this little app for Windows called Should I Remove It?
This is a great little free app you can use
to scan your computer for programs that you might not need.
(03:42):
What I love about this is it uses the wisdom
of the crowds to help you determine if you really
need that program on your computer. Because think about it,
if you're a software developer and you're trying to make malware,
what are you gonna do. You're gonna give your programs
some sort of weird name that the average person is
gonna think sounds really important, right, So when they see
it on their computer and they go to uninstalled, they're like, oh, shoot,
I don't know if I should really uninstall that. This
(04:04):
app Should I Remove It helps you cut through the
clutter by telling you what an app does and how
many people have safely removed it from their computer. It
also explains what these programs do so you can better
understand why they're on your computer and why you may
or may not need them on there. And I think
this is a great little app, so again, Should I
Remove It? Is a really good one for helping you
figure out what you need and what you don't need
(04:26):
on your Windows computer. So now you're saying, hey, Rich,
what about me, I'm on a Mac Well number one
Max don't have as much malware based on their architecture,
just the way the system is set up, so you
don't really have to worry about malware as much, but
it can still happen. So what I recommend for you
is an app called Should I Remove It? And they
just came out with a new version. I will have
much more on that in a future podcast, so be
(04:48):
on the lookout for that. All right until next time.
If you want links to everything I talk about here,
just go to my website rich on tech dot tv
or check the show notes for all these apps that
can help you avoid and remove malware. Yer Old, thanks
so much for listening. I'll talk to you real soon mhm.
Some easy ways to avoid malware on your computer. What's
going on on rich Demiro? This is rich on tech.
If your computer is acting kind of strange, it might
be infected with malware. This is software that shows you
pop up ads, It hijacks your searches, and it slows
your computer down to a crawl. So you often wonder, well,
how did it get there? Well, you probably installed it
(00:25):
on your computer by accident. Often it's included with free
downloads when you download one software program. A lot of times,
the way they pay for that is by having these
other programs kind of bundled in, and you don't even
realize because you just kind of click through all the menus.
Next thing you know, your browser is different, your browser
search is different. There's pop up ads in your computer
(00:46):
and stuff that you don't necessarily want or need. So
how do you avoid this stuff? I'll tell you about
four programs that can help, and if you're on a Mac,
I'll tell you about a program that can help you
as well. Let's start first off with the malware Bites
browser extension. This one comes from the same folks who
make the popular desktop app malware Bytes, but this is
an extension for Chrome and Firefox that actually protects you
(01:08):
as you browse the web. So this will block visits
to malicious websites, and it also makes it so scam
artists can't hijack your browser or lock it up with
a tech support scam. I'm getting so many emails and
texts and tweets about these tech support scams, So if
this can help protect you against it, that is a
good thing. Malware Bites browser extension also blocks third party
ad trackers to protect your privacy. This means that when
(01:30):
you search for something on one website, you won't see
ads for that same item following you around the entire Internet.
So again, this one is called the malware Bites browser extension.
All right. Next up you have Windows Defender browser protection.
So if you have Windows ten, you've got something built
in called Windows Defender. Well, this is a browser extension
that does a lot of the same things that that
(01:52):
program does, but it's mainly for your browser. Its main
purpose is to protect you from malicious links that try
to trick you into installing bad software on your computer.
So as you click links on the web, their check
for security in real time. So, for instance, if you
stumble upon a website that's wanting to steal your personal
information like your bank account info, your login, or your password.
You are going to see a big red warning screen
(02:13):
that says this website has been reported as unsafe and
the Windows Defender Browser protection will get you back to safety. Now,
if you're running Chrome as your web browser on your computer,
which I highly recommend you do, there's actually a little
built in tool that can help you remove malware on
your computer. But they don't ever tell you about this,
and it's really kind of tough to find. So to
find it, open up the Chrome web browser on your
(02:35):
PC and click the three little dots in the upper
right hand corner to bring up the menu. This is
to the right of your address bar. Once you're in there,
select settings and then scroll all the way down to
the bottom of the screen and click where it says Advanced.
Then you have to scroll all the way down one
more time and look for the section labeled reset and
clean Up. In here, you'll see an option called clean
(02:56):
up Computer. Click there and Chrome will automatic start checking
for quote harmful software and then present the results it finds.
You can also hit the fine button to look for
unwanted software. If it doesn't automatically start doing that process,
and this will find anything that hogs up your processor,
injects adds into your web browsing, and any other annoyances
that these little software programs generate. If Chrome finds any
(03:20):
of them, you can use a few more clicks to
clear out those programs. Just keep in mind that you'll
probably have to restart your computer once the Chrome Software
Removal tool is done doing its thing. But that's a
really simple and fast way to clean up your computer.
All right. One more thing that I really like. It's
this little app for Windows called Should I Remove It?
This is a great little free app you can use
to scan your computer for programs that you might not need.
(03:42):
What I love about this is it uses the wisdom
of the crowds to help you determine if you really
need that program on your computer. Because think about it,
if you're a software developer and you're trying to make malware,
what are you gonna do. You're gonna give your programs
some sort of weird name that the average person is
gonna think sounds really important, right, So when they see
it on their computer and they go to uninstalled, they're like, oh, shoot,
I don't know if I should really uninstall that. This
(04:04):
app Should I Remove It helps you cut through the
clutter by telling you what an app does and how
many people have safely removed it from their computer. It
also explains what these programs do so you can better
understand why they're on your computer and why you may
or may not need them on there. And I think
this is a great little app, so again, Should I
Remove It? Is a really good one for helping you
figure out what you need and what you don't need
(04:26):
on your Windows computer. So now you're saying, hey, Rich,
what about me, I'm on a Mac Well number one
Max don't have as much malware based on their architecture,
just the way the system is set up, so you
don't really have to worry about malware as much, but
it can still happen. So what I recommend for you
is an app called Should I Remove It? And they
just came out with a new version. I will have
much more on that in a future podcast, so be
(04:48):
on the lookout for that. All right until next time.
If you want links to everything I talk about here,
just go to my website rich on tech dot tv
or check the show notes for all these apps that
can help you avoid and remove malware. Yer Old, thanks
so much for listening. I'll talk to you real soon mhm.
Host
Rich DeMuro
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