Spyware and Adware Problems
The suggestions on this pages are suggestions for your home computer and NOT for the network or workstation you use at work. If you believe you might have spyware/adware problems with the network or workstation, please call MicroNet at 920 262-9393 and we will have one of our techs come by to look at your network or workstation.
Do you have a problem with multiple pop-ups when you are using your home computer? Are you constantly interrupted with screens filled with explicit photos or links to gambling or adult sites when you are surfing the Web? If so, your computer could be infected with programs called Adware or Spyware. It is estimated that anywhere from 60 to 80% of all home computers connected to the Internet have some kind of spyware or adware installed and the majority of computer owners have no idea how the stuff got there in the first place.
When computer owners recognize they have this problem, they generally ask two questions "How do I get rid of it?" and "How do I prevent it from getting on my computer in the first place?" Hopefully these pages will offer some helpful hints on answering those two questions. But first, let's define a few things...
What is Spyware/Adware? Adware can be classified as any program on your computer that connects to the Internet and uses your computer to host advertisements and maybe even transmit advertisements to other computers. The adware program may cause endless pop-ups to occur on your computer every time you use it.
Spyware can be classified as any program that tracks your computer use in some manner, including the files you download or usernames and passwords for websites or programs, and is often installed without your knowledge or through deceptive means.
How is Spyware/Adware Different from Computer Viruses? Spyware and adware are often confused with viruses, because each changes the behavior of your computer. Spyware/adware is generally not destructive as a computer virus might be. While spyware/adware may keep track of your Internet usage or cause dozens of pop-up ads on your computer, generally they do not send endless emails to everyone you know or delete critical computer files. Some spyware/adware can greatly slow your computer down, cause significant performance problems and can be a constant nuisance by creating never-ending pop-up ads.
How did I get Spyware/Adware on my computer in the first place? There are many ways this can happen. Spyware/adware may install itself when you were installing another type of program from the Internet, or by clicking a dialogue box in your Internet browser that authorized it to install the spyware/adware. Adware/Spyware is commonly bundled with many free programs, including Kazaa, Morpheus, Gator, GAIN, BargainBuddy, BDE, and Bonzi Buddy. The spyware/adware may have been installed without your knowledge while you were installing another program you wanted on your home computer. Others exploit security holes, similar to viruses, to install themselves when you visit Internet site.
How Do I Remove Spyware/Adware? Because spyware/adware are not viruses, antivirus software like Panda, McAfee and Norton's will not detect or remove spyware/adware. Removing spyware/adware can be extremely tricky and time consuming. At this time there is not any one single program that can detect or delete all forms of spyware/adware so you generally have to have multiple programs to protect your computer from this fairly new, but expanding, threat.
Another
problem that is unique to this type of program is the fact that
there are some anti-spyware/adware programs that claim
to remove spyware/adware from your computer but in reality they
are programs that install their own type of spyware/adware
while removing their competitors spyware/adware programs. So
finding reliable software to remove spyware/adware is another
problem.
We will
make a few suggestions on how to combat spyware/adware programs
on your home computer
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I am sure that is just a partial list...there are undoubtedly many other types of programs that use spyware/adware as well...
---------- Question #1 ----------
I have Spyware/Adware on my computer! How do I get rid of it?
Remember that the suggestions on these pages are suggestions for your home computer and NOT for the work, network or workstation. If you believe you might have spyware/adware problems with the network or workstation, please call MicroNet at 920 262-9393 and we will have one of our techs come by to look at your network or workstation.
WARNING: Removing some spyware/adware programs may prevent a few programs like Kazaa or Morpheus from working properly. I cannot provide a complete list of programs that require certain spyware/adware programs, but many file-sharing programs use these adware/spyware programs to push ads onto your computer. Some individuals have problems with the most basic antivirus software (updates, definitions, is the program is working?) if this is you please understand this programs require a certain degree of computer knowledge it will be worth your money and time to leave it to a professional that can correct all of this areas for you.
Three programs can help you get rid of spyware/adware that is already installed on your computer...
SpyBot Search & Destroy is an outstanding adware/spyware removal program and it is currently still free.
Lavasoft Ad-Aware has been one of the most publicized and popular adware removal programs available. Currently Lavasoft offers a free version as well as versions you can purchase that offer a few more bells-and-whistles.
CWShredder is a tool needed to delete a particularly tough adware program called Coolwebsearch and it's many variants. When you run any of this programs, make sure to check for any updates by clicking on the "Check for updates" button.
---------- Question #2 ----------
Now, how do I prevent Spyware/Adware from getting on my computer?
This is the hard part since there are so many ways these
types of programs install themselves on your computer. Here are a
few recommendations that will help prevent many types of
spyware/adware programs from installing themselves on your computer.
Step #1) Update and patch your Windows Operating System -
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/ - It is critical to
always keep current with the latest security fixes from Microsoft
Step #2) Be careful of what you download - Many free programs, and P2P programs like Kazaa or Morpheus come with bundled spyware/adware that can slow down your system and may crash your browser or even Windows itself.
Step #3) Scan for Computer Viruses - I am assuming at this point you have some kind of anti-virus software on your home computer. If you do not have anti-virus software on your computer, forget about all of this spyware/adware because computer viruses should be your biggest concern.
Update your anti-virus software by downloading all the latest
virus definitions. Then do a complete scan of the hard drives on
your computer to make sure the problems you are experiencing are not
related to any computer viruses.
Step #4) Adjust your security settings for ActiveX - ActiveX
can be the biggest pain when dealing with spyware/adware. When your
browser runs ActiveX, your browser is running an executable program
that can install spyware/adware on your computer without your
knowledge. You might need to adjust your security settings in Internet
Explorer to help you be more aware when ActiveX programs are
running.
Step #5) Use IE-SPYAD - IE-SPYAD will install a list of over 5500 sites that are known or suspected problems for spyware/adware in your restricted Internet zone in your Internet Explorer browser. This will help reduce the number of spyware/adware programs that will even have a chance to install since this list will alert Internet Explorer that these websites might be dangerous.
Step #6) Don’t use Internet Explorer - new holes are found every few weeks, and may not be fixed by Windows Updates for months. Many other browser are available that offer less risks.
All of the steps listed above will not prevent ALL spyware/adware from getting on your computer, but it will help slow it down and restrict some of the more common spyware/adware programs from even getting on your computer.
The suggestions on these pages are suggestions for your home computer and NOT for the network or workstation you use at work. If you believe you might have spyware/adware problems with the network or workstation, please call MicroNet at 920 262-9393 and we will have one of our techs come by to look at your network or workstation.
We have made every reasonable attempt to insure that our information is educationally sound and do not contain links to any questionable material or anything that can be deemed in violation of the MicroNet Acceptable Guideline.
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