Almost every laptop and computer has at least one form of adware, malware or virus present. These can come from multiple infection vectors (methods of infection). Mostly they come included with a download in the form of ‘free’ software (it's normally free because the owners are making money selling information about you from your browsing habits to what you buy online). You can also pick up a nasty infection from specially crafted websites or by accidentally going to a web address by misspelling the address (such as goggle rather than google).

Another popular vector is the tried and tested file sent by email! The list of infection vectors and types of malware is almost endless.

A few types are:
Adware – Popups, adverts, special offers. All unwanted and intrusive.
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Malware – The generic group term for malicious software.

Viruses – These are quite rare now but can be incredibly harmful. Much like their biological counterparts they spread and cause havoc. Recent examples have taken down educational facilities and the NHS.

Ransomware – These nasty things encrypt your files and demand money for you to get them back. In this case prevention is definitely easier than the cure! Once again, the NHS recently fell foul to this type of malware.

Scamware – Normally a phone call from someone pretending to be either Microsoft or your Broadband provider. Needless to say, Microsoft will never call you to say that you have errors or infections on your computer. The perpetrators of these scams are normally after your bank or credit card details.

PuPs – Potentially Unwanted Programs. This is the most common pest. Normally a ‘driver helper’, ‘error fixer’ or a ‘speed up your computer’ program that does very little apart from install more adware and other PuPs.
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All these malware types steal information about you, what you look at, how much time you spend looking, what you search for and in the nasty cases, your financial data.

We have seen computers with several thousand infected objects and it's not as rare as you might think! Even if your laptop or computer seems to be running ok it’s a good idea to get a proper check done regularly by a qualified expert. Most available software will not remove everything completely.

Greenlight are Certified Malware Removal Specialists and have trained with one of America’s leading malware specialists, Ken Dwight AKA The Virus Doctor.

Below are some of the laptop problems that we can repair.