Make sure your pc isn't infected with DNSChanger before Monday 9 July.

It takes just a few seconds to use the free McAfee tool to check that your pc isn't infected with a nasty bit of malware that affects the way it locates internet addresses. This is from PC Advisor magazine:

The FBI estimates that as many as 275,000 PCs are still at risk of losing access to the Web on Monday when it pulls the plug on the DNS servers it has maintained to redirect PCs compromised with the DNSChanger malware to legitimate websites.

Read more: http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/security/3368412/there-is-no-excuse-for-still-being-infected-with-dnschanger/?cmpid=HTML-DN060712&olo=daily+news#ixzz1zx6tF8Jz

Chances are you're fine and if you have a decent and regularly updated protection system running then it should be keeping you safe but that sentence starts chances are... Make certain this weekend. Click this link or others available in their article and get the satisfaction of knowing that you have nothing to worry about. Remarkably, McAfee aren't even using this to try and sell us anything and I was pleasantly surprised at just how quick and ad-free the check was. So do it now. And relax.

anti-virus software

Sometime ago I wrote elsewhere about the internet go-slow experienced after installing McAfee Security Centre. Things did improve but I still find that when it's scanning everything slows still and that seems to take an age to complete. I guess I could schedule that for another time but I'm not inclined to leave the computer running all night so, when it's on it's on because I want to use it. I have also got fed up with being greeted every day with the Big Brother messages that I am not protected just because I don't use their spamkiller or privacy tools. I finally decided to get rid of it completely and have installed the free Avast! software which doesn't seem to interfere with my activity anything like as much. SpamButcher continues to do a good job with spam which has risen to several hundred a day and Thunderbird spots what it does let through.

On the very first scan Avast! found Win32:small-AMI, a trojan, lurking in some music software I'd had for a year. That was very satisfying (and might explain the hefty spam). Windows own firewall seems to do its job so thanks for the ride McAfee but, for now, it's farewell and here's to decent speed surfing again.