Hi, I started offering my services as a computer tune-up guy in my home town in order to further promote my dialup services.
Every since I started doing this it has proven to be a very profitable avenue of marketing but something else has made itself known to me in the process. Nearly every customer's computer that I work on has NO Virus Protector on it or the one they have is out of date by several months, NO spyware tools, and they have NO firewall of any kind and as a result the computers have so many viruses and spyware on them I can't get the computer to work properly until they are removed.
I have removed as many as 2000+ viruses & Trojans from one computer alone (a laptop). It took me several days of work to find them all and get them all off. Then when I got through with that I installed and ran a spyware tool and it found almost 500 pieces of spyware operating on the computer. WOW!
Most of the computers that I try to install internet access on are comparable to this. Although I haven't had any more with as many viruses as this one had the average computer, I have found, has as many as nearly 500 viruses as well as nearly 500 spyware on them, & sometimes more.
This is not because the people who own these computers are stupid rather it's because they are naive about how to maintain their computer in an appropriate manner.
The fact is no one is telling them in a manner that will convince them and thus compel them to learn this all important information.
Most people who have been on the internet for any length of time have been bombarded with scare ads telling them that their computer is infected and that they will fix it for them FOR A PRICE!
With this kind of fear sales tactics, people have become immune to them. They have seen so many of these fly by night companies try to scare them into buying their "Fix-All" software that they think that it's all just a joke and nothing that they have to worry about.
The fact is that ALL of the software that you need to both clean the viruses & spyware off of your computer and keep them off are available on the internet for free! YES! FREE!
Below I have listed a selection of software that I use to protect my computer and recommend for you to get and use to protect your computer from those who want to do your computer harm. I am only listing the ones which I use, therefore, I know that they work. If they work for me then they will work for you too.
Take note to the fact that these are not your only choices, do a Google search for these tools and you can find a whole slew of providers of these type tools, both free and pay for versions.
My favorite anti virus,anti spyware & firewall defense software list and where to get them.
AVGFree
http://free.grisoft.com/doc/1 (I believe it is the best virus scanner) Free and paid for versions avail.
Spybot S&D
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html (Awesome) Donations accepted if you like it
SpywareBlaster
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/index.html (Use with Spybot S&D) Donations accepted
Kerio Personal Firewall
http://www.kerio.com/kpf_home.html (Free 30 day trial and then it reverts to a basic firewall without all of the extras which you can have if you buy it.)
These tools have been in operation on my computer for years and when I bought my new XP I implemented them on it too.
They have saved my computers & files from damaging attacks more times than I can count. Just the other day AVGFree found 10 viruses trying to get on my computer and stopped them all in one day of working on the internet.
Today, it seems, more viruses than ever before are being unleashed on the users of the internet! Don't let them get into your computer! Set up a good line of defense and by all means KEEP THEM UPDATED!
Note: If you decide to buy any of these products I do not reap any financial rewards for any of these pieces of software. The afore mentioned list is provided for you entirely because I believe that they are the best tools out there.
Now I will speak to the Internet Marketers among us.
It seems to me that every legitimate internet marketer on the internet should be telling every customer that they have about these tools and helping people keep their computers clean because if you think about it:
1) You use the internet to market your wares and services to the public, right?
2) You need people to be able to get on the internet to buy from you, right?
3) If people's computers are full of viruses and spyware then they may be having trouble getting on the internet to buy from you,.....right?
Just think of how many more customers that you might have if all of the people in the world that have access to the internet, but can't make the best use of it because they are spending all of their time just trying to get on the internet so that they can see your ads & come to your web site to buy your goods & services, could finally see what you have to offer after they clean their computers of viruses and spyware.
It's only good business to try to help your potential customers fix this problem they have.
Think about it...If your potential customer is trying to open your web page so they can buy your goods and/or services and they have viruses and/or spyware bogging down their computers thus making your web pages download slow if they download at all... how many of them just give up on you and go somewhere else to buy what they want. You lose a sale and they leave your site, that won't load up on their computers, blaming you because you can't build a descent web site never thinking or knowing that it wasn't your fault and that the problem was living in their computer all the while.
If you were so mind to you could just put this report on your web site and/or in your newsletter and just let them know how to deal with this virus & spyware plague once and for all.
G*d Bless Y'all from Texas,
Frank Shrum
You can use this report in your newsletter or website as long as the following sig lines are included!
Frank Shrum is an Internet Service Provider with Local Dialup numbers in most towns across the US & some in Southern Canada. Are you paying more than $9.99/mo. for internet access? Then you're paying too much! Go to: http://999LocalDialup.com Affiliates needed! Does your ISP pay you money back for being their customer? Mine Does, EVERY Month! It's free to sign up. You don't have to live in the US to be an ISP in the US. Sign up HERE! Go To: http://999LocalDialup.com/affiliate1.html