| June 28, 2002
The
internet today is flooded with advertisement. Although annoying and
always in the way, the companies who advertise on certain site pay for the
space. The websites then turn that money into free software, services,
or games for you to enjoy. That is not always how it works. Some
companies take advertising to the next level by adding in small programs into
their free software. These small programs are known as spyware or in
other cases adware. After a certain free software is installed onto your
computer, the spyware runs unnoticeable in the background.
So what exactly does spyware do? Spyware detects
when a certain website is opened which in return opens multiple banner ads
that reproduce into more ads. Not all popup banners are spyware created.
Websites also run specific HTML code that opens banner ads among arrival of
the site. A few known programs that a free for download that are loaded
with spyware are BonziBuddy, Gator, and Comet Cursor. The lists goes on
and on but the few just listed are the most common we see on customer's
machines serviced here at Green Apple.
There is a way to keep your computer free of spyware.
We recommend running the program
Ad-Aware by
Lavasoft. This program, which
acts like a virus scanner, scans your computers hard drive and registry for
the programs that are spyware. In many cases you don't have to
completely remove software containing the spyware.
Ad-aware will just
remove the specific files and keys that generate the ads, but in other cases
the items that are removed are required to run the program. To obtain
the Ad-aware, just
click on the link and select a download location. Once downloaded, execute the
downloaded installation file. Follow the on-screen instructions.
Just like virus software, Ad-aware needs to be kept up to date by downloading
the REF files from
Lavasoft's website.
If you have any questions or need assistance
using Ad-aware, Green
Apple customers can call our technical support at 740-653-9890 and we will be
glad to help you.
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