Good picks for antivirus, spyware

I should have ended my last column with a caveat: Unfortunately, not all antivirus and spyware solutions will work for every computer.

Though a program will work brilliantly for one person, it will turn another person's computer into a brick.

I don't know why. I just know it's true.

I was reminded of this as numerous readers wrote in, complaining about the three free spyware/antivirus programs my geek recommended.

Yet each of these programs is extremely popular and well-regarded.

CCleaner is one of the most respected programs, with nearly 4,000 people giving it an average rating of 4.5 stars (out of 5) on download.com . MalwareBytes is just as well-rated and even more popular, and Ad-Aware gets very good reviews and has hundreds of thousands of downloads.

Yet for some of you, these programs aren't helpful.

My husband experienced this. A couple of years ago, he downloaded Kaspersky, which was then the highest-rated antivirus program; people raved about it. But Kaspersky made his computer so slow he could barely uninstall the program. So as with many things, finding a malware program that works is a matter of trial and error.

Our favorite is the free Microsoft Security Essentials. It identified a Trojan worm that came off my husband's thumb drive the other day, quickly quarantined it and got rid of it. The scans are quick, and it doesn't slow down computer startup.

You can find it at microsoft.com/security_essentials . It'll ask you to uninstall other antivirus software; go ahead and do so - you should never run more than one antivirus program at a time.

Other readers had a bone to pick with me regarding programs I said were free, but didn't seem to be. CCleaner is free; you can make a donation to the development of the software, but there's no charge required.

It appears that the readers who were told they must pay to use CCleaner were tricked into downloading rogue software masquerading as that program. This problem showed up on the CCleaner user forum over the winter, and geeks tracked the problem to a banner ad with a large "download" button right next to the legitimate download on a third-party download page.

If you want to try again, you can safely download it from the developer at piriform.com/ccleaner.

The same problem popped up (pun intended) for readers who thought they had downloaded Ad-Aware Free but received a notice after the initial scan that they had to pay up for the program to remove all of the threats identified.

Also good: Lavasoft

Like CCleaner, Lavasoft's Ad-Aware Free program is 100 percent free for home, noncommercial use - no strings attached. The program has a great reputation, spawning copycats trying to capitalize on its success. Lavasoft maintains a "Rogue Gallery" of malware masquerading as legitimate security software at lavasoft.com/mylavasoft/rogues/latest.

"If users are not aware of, or cautious of, these rogue programs, it can be quite easy to fall for a fake," company spokeswoman Erin Earley says.

The download.com page for Ad-Aware Free features a large ad for a different security product, she points out, so pay attention to what you're clicking on.

To download the legitimate software, Earley instructs users to go to lavasoft.com and click on the green "Download FREE" button. Click on the gray "Download" button on the left, which will take you to download.com. Finally, click on the "Download now" button on the left featuring a square green graphic. Legitimate downloads on this site feature that green graphic.

Two final notes: Some readers fell victim to an ill-placed line break that added a hyphen to MalwareBytes' URL. The download is at malwarebytes.org.

And my apologies for not providing a better link to Startup Optimizer. You can try this URL to find the program I was referencing: tinyurl.com/geekstartupoptimizer.