Call James for your Computer Problems - at least that's what they say here in Dallas!
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Call James for your Computer Problems - at least that's what they say here in Dallas! |
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| Adware | Spyware | Virus | Trojans | Worms | ||||
SPYWARE
Definition:
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Noun: |
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Any software that covertly gathers information about a user while he/she navigates the Internet and transmits the information to an individual or company that uses it for marketing or other purposes. |
Information is sent via the Internet to a server somewhere,
normally as a hidden side effect of using a program. Gathering this information
may benefit the user indirectly,
e.g. by helping to improve the software he is using. It may be collected for
advertising purposes or, worst of all, to steal security information such as
passwords to online
accounts or credit card details.
Spyware may be installed along with other software or as the result of a virus
infection. There are many tools available to locate and remove various forms of
Spyware from a computer.
Some HTTP cookies could be considered as Spyware as their use is generally not
made explicit to users. It is however possible to disallow them, either totally
or individually, and some are actually useful, e.g. recording the fact that a
user has logged in.
(Source: The Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Spyware)
Removal:
The following are MY recommendations based on years of experience and what has worked best for me. I am sure that there are other great programs out there, but these are the ones that I use and would recommend. To many programs trying to do the same things will only give you headaches.
Rated the best of its class, and it's FREE! Download, install and do the updates. Then boot into Safe Mode and run it. If it finds something in memory you will have to reboot and let it try to remove it at boot up. With Windows ME and any flavor of XP it is best to turn off System Restore before running this program or any program similar to this one.
After you run it chose Fix, and after all items are fixed make sure that you choose Immunize this system. After doing that look for the Immunize symbol at the top and click that one to immunize again.
Keep it up to date by doing the updates once a week and run it it least once a week.
By keeping this program on your Must Do schedule you will stay ahead of Spyware infections and your computer will run much better.
Downside, it won't run on a schedule or by itself. You have to remember to run it manually.
Step by step instructions and screen shots are available on the Adobe download page.
Microsoft AntiSpyware, now Windows Defender:
A good tool developed by Microsoft that handles Spyware, URL redirection or Hijacking and many other types of attempts to harm or slow down your computer. Download it, install it, check for updates and run a full scan. Defender has a new interface as compared to the Beta 1 Anti Spyware. Beta1 ran in your system tray and took quite a bit of time to load up. I have also seen problems with Beta 1 in reference to Quick Books and other programs. Defender does not load in the system tray but does have auto protect and the other features that Beta1 had. Too new to comment more on just yet but I like the cleaner interface and options. If you are running Windows 2000 Professional you will need Service Pack 4 installed along with the GDI+ patch.
Only works on Windows 2000 and all flavors of Windows XP.
Scheduled to be included in Windows Vista.
Downside, too new to comment on.
Step by step instructions and screen shots are available on the Adobe download page.
Trend Micro Antivirus with Spyware protection:
This product falls into several categories; Spyware, Antivirus, Spam, Adware, Security and others. Or you can purchase only the Spyware application: Trend Micro Anti-Spyware.
Go to the System button, choose Scan Settings, then Spyware tab and check all of the boxes on that page.
I used Norton for years, but got frustrated with their declining phone support, the headache of trying to re-install a bad installation, and their automatic update being done only once a week.
I read an article that Microsoft used Trend Micro on their Hotmail servers, so I thought that I would try it. I haven't looked back since!
Spam protection is good, along with other items that it checks for and it updates itself daily.
Downside, there are some minor quirks that I run into during installation, but once you learn them, they are very minor.
Step by step instructions and screen shots are available on the Adobe download page.