Every day we are peppered with the television advertisements stating that one click loads a software program that tests your slow computer for viruses and spyware.
It then speeds it up by removing them.
These tests are free, but the removal and speed up is not.
The true question is how effective is this virus removal? It is possible for a computer program downloaded from the Internet to detect viruses and spyware.
Internet downloads to detect and/or remove viruses have been provided by Trend Micro, Panda Software, and others for years.
These to me are 2nd Opinion Virus Scans.
If you primary virus/spyware scanning software Symantec, McAfee, AVG, Avast or others seems not to work, then using an Internet virus scanner that has the latest virus signatures is an effective way to check for and to catch virus and spyware escapees.
One definite fact illustrated to me every day is that no one virus detection and removal program detects and removes all viruses.
You can run one program, then another and several more, only to find that the last program still detects and removes some viruses or spyware.
Each program has its own plan of attack on how to do the best job.
However, some viruses and spyware are always missed.
So the $50 or $139 question is can one click PC repair programs catch enough viruses and spyware for your computer to be fully repaired.
It is likely that the computer is repaired for that day, but probably not for that year.
Viruses and spyware tend to party in your computer.
They invite all their virus and spyware friends into your computer for a giant beer keg party.
Over time the computer in-perceptively slows down until it needs to be repaired.
Once a virus and spyware has made its home in your computer it builds defenses against detection and removal.
The first virus that prevented removal I encountered was the log-in to Windows and then Windows immediately logs you out removal prevention virus.
It is like a log-in then log-out revolving door.
Since you cannot log-in to Windows, you are unable to remove the virus or spyware.
This trick is easy to repair.
The trick has now all but disappeared only to be replaced by others like the virus that blocks EXE files from running.
When EXE files are blocked, the error messages Windows displays are highly misleading lies.
They are like politicians lying to their constituents to get re-elected rather than telling them the hard truth.
Not only can you never trust a politician but you also can never trust a Windows error message.
How does one click Internet virus removal software protect you from or fix this? One click Internet virus removal software could run because they are mostly Java and ActiveX scripts and not EXE files.
Windows corruption can easily be caused by simple changes to the Windows Registry (the primary control mechanism in Windows for Windows and all other programs).
Such changes can cause severe dementia to Windows.
Other configuration changes can block Internet access or prevent your computer from going to specific sites.
Some viruses are root kits that load into a computer's memory at the start of the initial boot up process.
Some root kits install themselves in the Master Boot Record (MBR).
The MBR is the first information that is read from the disk drive when the computer is turned on.
Can a one click Internet computer repair program detect this? It is possible.
Can a one click Internet computer program repair this? Perhaps.
Also there are hardware errors cropping up with Windows computers.
Older computers have the Motherboard (Main Logic Board) fail.
If a computer is more than 5 years old it is a candidate for this failure.
A simple 30 second visual inspection can spot this problem.
One click software cannot check this.
However, one click software can check the hard disk for problems.
For example, the computer hard disk stores lists of instructions that are programs.
The computer faithfully follows these instructions.
It gets up, brushes its teeth, eats breakfast and goes to work.
When a hard drive fails, the list read from the hard drive becomes corrupted so that Windows gets up, brushes its teeth, and jumps out Window.
This is not good for you or Windows.
The test and temporary repair for hard disk errors is to run Windows CHKDSK /R.
This detects and corrects hard disk errors.
However, Windows requires that the computer be rebooted to run CHKDSK /R because it fears two programs using the hard disk at the same time and exacerbating or creating a problem.
Can a one click program test for and repair hard disk problems? Yes to some degree.
So a quick answer to our original question is that for the $50 or $139 a one click computer repair can remove some (but not all) viruses and make the computer run faster.
However, over time the computer slowly accumulates other viruses returning it to almost the same state as before the one click software was run.
Further, in their quest to protect themselves, viruses often corrupt Windows causing Windows to misbehave.
When one click software runs constantly in the computer it tends to slow the computer down because of the added processing load.
There have been many times that removing this background software which was supposed to improve performance actually made the computer run noticeably faster.
This means that the clean up and performance improvements made by one click software are often obviated by the added processor overhead of the one click software constantly running.
Reducing the software that runs in the background on any computer is a better way to improve the computer's performance.
However, adding more memory is best.
All the hundreds of virus and spyware exorcisms I have performed required several different virus removal programs to thoroughly remove the viruses and spyware.
One program would clean up a computer so it would run faster, but not all the malicious software was removed.
Because some virus files and configuration settings remained in the computer, the computer was more vulnerable to subsequent virus and spyware infestation.
Often times the disk contents needed to be examined manually to spot virus files using identical date identification, common folder identification, or weird name identification.
Viruses are always one step ahead of virus removal software because the virus is created first.
The virus must be detected and analyzed before virus removal software can know how to remove it.
The bottom line here is that for some virus and spyware problems a one click Internet program works (albeit for some period of time).
Is it worth $50? Probably, when the virus problem is moderately serious problem.
It it worth $139? Much less probably.
To totally remove viruses, you have to do it yourself or hire someone.
As a do it yourself project a virus and spyware removal process includes finding free software on the Internet, knowing what free software is effective and virus free, how to fix Windows corruption after viruses are removed and how to rebuild Windows (when needed), and more.
There is a step by step procedure that anyone can use to effectively remove viruses and spyware from most any computer.
The procedure is not rocket science or overly technical.
Most computer users are afraid to attack virus removal because they have never done that before so a one click solution seems like the best answer.
One click Internet virus removal software may be a solution if the virus and spyware problem is not severe.
Pete the Nerd "Your Friend on a Technically Challenged Planet (c)" (c) P D Moulton