slow internet connection?

[All About Winston]

Whenever I hear about a computer Internet connection suddenly slowing to a crawl, the first thing that comes to mind is that the computer has been infected with a virus, spyware and/ or Trojan Horse. Have you ever heard of the term "zombie pc?" It describes a computer which has been infected with some form of malware which allows a hacker(s) to have remote control over your computer. Hackers use them to launch denial of service (DoS) attacks and/ or send out spam. The most common sign is a sudden loss of bandwidth. If you have any security software installed, it is time to scan your computer. If you don't have any then it is time you download and install some. At the very least have a antivirus, anti-spyware and firewall application installed. There are plenty of free security software so there is no need to spend money. I recommend using the free Spybot Search & Destroy and Lavasoft's Adware. Both are excellent free anti-spyware software programs. You can download both at: (http://www.filehippo.com/software/antispyware/). Once you have installed them, update them and then run a scan. Be sure to quarantine any suspicious files. As for testing your connection speed, someone already mentioned Speakeasy, which is the service I use. It is great because it not only records your download speed but your upload speed as well.

If you have any questions on how to install and/or use any of the security software, just drop me an e-mail.