Over the course of
time, you will eventually be tempted to install freeware
available on the internet. Seems like we all fall for the
temptation eventually. This free software appears to
offer something desireable to you. Additional capability
that would be nice. And the price is right. But the true
price is not to be measured in dollar terms.
Some freeware is exactly what you expect it to be. But
installing other freeware may cause the secret
installation of other "features" that you are
not aware of. These little tidbits are often referred to
as "adware" or "spyware". Many of
these little items run in the background on your Windows
computer. They may generate advertising by causing popups
to occur as you surf the net. Others may collect
information about you or your computer and secretly
transmit that data to others without your knowledge. And
worst of all, each of these little activities require
some of your computer's precious resources to operate.
Taken individually, a spyware program may only use a tiny
percentage of your system's resources. But over time, you
may collect 10 or more of these little monsters on your
system. And 10 little resource consuming nasties can
begin to be a big deal. Imagine what goes on if you have
50 such items installed. Or 100. Even some well-known
commercial applications are now beginning to install
spyware for you. We won't name names, but a famous Tax
program is doing this now.
What is a poor computer-user to do?
Fortunately, there are people in this world that have
come to the rescue. We suggest that you visit the
following websites:
- LAVASOFT
- This is the home of Ad-Aware, a totally
free utility that will clean your system of
presently installed junk. Everyone should
consider installing Ad-Aware. Just be sure to
keep up to date by frequently updating the
reference file. The latest reference file is
available at Lavasoft and needs to be placed
in the Lavasoft directory after Ad-Aware is
installed. If you fail to update this file,
new and different adware and spyware cannot
be detected.
- SPYBOT
SEARCH & DESTROY - Another
even more thorough detector and cleaner. This
one will destroy C-Dilla, which is installed
by that Tax program we mentioned. Consider
this one the industrial strength approach.
Much larger in size, but stronger in
effectiveness.
- SPYCHECKER
- How about a preventative measure? At the
Spychecker site, you can enter the name of
the freeware and get a reading on whether or
not it will install spyware on your system.
There is also available a small desktop tool
to allow quick access to the Spychecker
database from your tray. Very convenient.
|