Nothing is more frustrating and annoying than your computer bombing out on you. One moment it’s fine and then all of a sudden it goes mental on you. SLOWWING DOWN and acting like your delusional aunt on valium. How does this happen?
If your computer is running really slow or if you are bombarded by pop ups or weird pop up messages, then chances are that you have adware and/or spyware on your computer. Adware and spyware is a huge problem and poses a serious threat to everyone who is online.
- I have an antivurus program running on my computer, how is it possible that i got adware or spyware?
Adware and spyware are completely different from viruses. Anti virus software is not designed to prevent adware and spyware from getting on to your computer. Adwre and spyware software can bypass even the best anti virus programs.
- How Did The Adware And Spyware Get On My Computer?
There are many sneaky tricks that these bastards use to put the stuff on our computers. The fact remains, that if you are online you are at risk. Here are some of the most common sources of adware and spyware:
- Music and video downloads (from non commercial sites)
- Freeware and Shareware Software
- P2P (peer to peer) download/file sharing sites and Torrent Sites
- Hanging out on “dodgy sites” with borderline content
- Opening “unknown” emails and email attachments
- How do I know if I have adware or spyware on my computer?
A slow computer is the first sign that something is up. Many people seem to think that it’s “normal” for their computers to get slower over time. Chances are that it’s just a bunch of junk installed somewhere on your hard drive. Some adware and spyware is really sophisticated and can hide itself really well on your computer. Many times you will not even know that its there – especially spyware as it’s designed to operate by stealth.
Here are some easy ways to tell if you have adware or spyware on your computer:
- Pop ups – and often “error messages” or messages prompting you to install stuff or buy stuff.
- Your internet browser’s home page keeps changing
- You default search engine changes to some weird search engine (not Google, Yahoo or MSN)
- New toolbars mysteriously added themselves to your internet browser
- Unknown bookmarks are added to your bookmarks
- New icons on your desktop and/or your task bar
- Your friend get strange emails from “you” (when spyware steals your email contact list)
- What does adware and spyware do to my computer?
The first tell tale sign is that you computer will start running slower. It also starts doing “funny things” that interferes with your computer running normally. Although adware is not dangerous to your personal safety it still invades your privacy.
Adware aims at using your computer as an advertising medium. Adware will install itself on your computer and allow someone else to send advertsing to your computer via pop ups. Adware can also install itself to monitor your behavior to help advertisers send more targeted ads to you.
While adware is most geared toward making money from you, spyware is designed to steal from you. In the worse case, they can steal your identity, by hacking into your entire life. Since most of us have our sensitive information stored on our computers these days, there’s a great bounty for these hackers to get access to our personal information.
Good Luck & Stay Safe!
The Adware Spyware Geek
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