Wednesday, August 5, 2009

To Remove the Worse You Need the Best? But which software is the best?

Imagine yourself walking along a busy street, minding your own business. You stop by a men's clothing store. You look at the window display, point at a new pair of shoes. After a few minutes of staring at the window display you go on home.

As you enter your house, you noticed a flyer on your porch. The flyer is about the exact pair of shoes that you saw in the men's clothing store. How did they know? Was it a coincidence? If this all happened in the internet, then it's probably not a coincidence. Your computer has been watched and your activity in the Web has been recorded. This all happened because your computer has some spyware in it.
Spyware are computer programs that attach themselves to whatever things you download online. They are designed to track you wherever you go online. Spyware is a little different from adware. Adware are also referred to as freeware and are basically ads that pop-up when you open a website or webpage or open a program.

Spyware are similar in that they are also freeware, however, spyware programs have fixed tracking programs that report your activity in the internet to the spyware agent which in turn provides the information to advertisers and web developers. With this information, advertisers and web developers can feed your computers with any information they want without your consent and can be almost impossible to detect manually.

To prevent this you must employ some precautionary measures yourselves to stay free from spyware and adware infestations. First you need to disable auto installation of software programs in your internet browsers and you need to use pop-up blockers and firewall protection.

This is your first line of defense against such spyware programs. The next thing to do is to get decent anti-spyware programs. It shouldn't be too hard, there are a lot of them nowadays and most of them are free or at the very least have free trial accounts.

Among the most popular free anti-spyware and adware programs are Ad Aware and Active Shield. Ad Aware offers advanced protection against Data-mining, Parasites, aggressive advertising, Scumware and some traditional viruses and tracking systems like Trojans, Dialers, Malware and Browser hijackers. Active Shield on the other hand targets trojans and spyware.

Other popular anti-spyware software include Spy-Ad Exterminator Free which searches the computer's memory, hard drives, and registry for spyware, adware, worms, hijacks, keyloggers, among others; Spy Cleaner Lite which identifies and removes programs that has been covertly installed in your systems; Spyware Doctor is an advanced adware and spyware removal program; Free Spyware Scanner tells the user how their computer got infected and the best solution for spyware removal; Doctor Alex Antispyware; Spyware Begone; 1-2-3 Spyware Free; and Easy Spyware Scanner.

Most of the time, these anti-spyware scanners and removal utilities will locate spyware and adware in your computer and will delete, ignore, or quarantine each and every one of them. Some anti-spyware programs will remove spyware automatically while other provides a user interface option where you can customize specific actions the anti-spyware would perform.

Some other popular spyware removal software include Noadware, Anti-Hijacker, Spyware & Adware Removal, Max Secure Spyware Detector, and Deluxe Spy-Kill utilities. These are just some of the more popular spyware removal software. It's up to you which one you choose, but try to look for reputable ones. Look at reviews and ask for referrals from friends. Personally I recommend Noadware, for a package that has everything all in one.

Author: Scott Martin



Free adware and spyware programs

With adware and spyware programs becoming a constant threat in the online world, it would be wise to have your PC protected with the latest updates. There are literally hundreds and hundreds of spyware and adware programs lurking somewhere on the Internet, looking for a chance to gain access into your PC. Some of them may require that you click into one of their links in order for them to gain access into your system. But there are some other more malicious programs that will actually force their way into your system if you are not careful.

Once they have access to your computer, these malicious programs can do a lot of damage. Some adware programs will try to flood you with a significant amount of ads while you are browsing on your computer. No matter how many times that you try to get rid of them, they continue to annoy you.

They may suddenly pop up over the website that you are currently browsing, therefore distracting you to take notice of their ads.You won’t be bothered at all the first time. But sometimes these ads can get so persistent that they already become a hassle. They begin to disturb you and you may want to get rid of them but you can not do it manually, it would be impossible.

There are also other programs that may bother you in a different way. These are spyware programs that can get as nasty as can be. These programs can get downloaded into your system undetected. And just like what the name implies, spyware programs try to spy up on you in a multiple ways. They can monitor your browsing habits and send it to someone from the outside who might find a use for it.

Some spyware programs can log all your keystrokes. This can be very invasive and compromise your way of life. Such programs may be able to get hold of your secret personal information without you knowing it.

Through a spyware program that records all the letters and number that you punch in your keyboard, email addresses and passwords can also be obtained. If you make purchases with your credit card online, this type of spyware program may be able to get your credit card number and other important credit information that may compromise everything.

There are also spyware programs that can force itself into your computer and do its damage. It can scan into your computer hard drives and may make changes in your system. It may change your security settings and allow other malicious programs to come in. this type of spyware program can also prevent you from using certain legitimate programs and instead force you to use another type of software instead.

All these malicious programs can really become a serious problem if left unattended for a long time. What you may need is special software that may be able to scan your computer and search for unwanted programs and remove them effectively. Such programs may also be able to block such malicious programs from ever getting into your PC in the first place.

There are some software programs available online that offer you free scanning and removal of spyware from your PC. You can choose from a variety of legitimate programs that will be able to effectively do the job for you and for free. But most of the times, these free online spyware scanning and removal tools may not be able to provide you with the full protection that you need. You may need to purchase a spyware and adware removal software that may be able to provide you with the most comprehensive spyware protection that you need for your computer to run efficiently. I recommend Noadware, for a package that has everything all in one.

Author: Scott Martin



Secret Online Spies

The Internet is a powerful tool that provides everyone online a way to be connected to each other, gather a lot of information and enjoy convenient services like online shopping and banking. However, many of us Internet users are at constant risk of adware and spyware downloads that make us extremely vulnerable to malicious acts.


We often unknowingly fall prey to adware and spyware downloads as we innocently use the Internet. These adware and spyware downloads can come bundled with some freeware programs we use and sometimes, simply browsing a site puts us at risk. The business of being infected with unwanted adware and spyware downloads can be very serious. Some adware and spyware or malware proliferate the Web to infect our computer systems which gives us no control over unsolicited pop ups as part of targeted market tactics.


On extreme criminal cases however, spyware called malware, is used to take note of keystrokes, scan our computer's hard drive and steal important passwords and financial information. The information gathered covertly is used for identity theft, which can cause us major problems and at least thousands of dollars to clear our names.


These adware and spyware are unknowingly infecting our computers and most of the time, we don't even know that they there. However, you can start becoming suspicious of adware and spyware downloaded into your system when you begin to have uncontrolled pop-ups from unsolicited sources. Sometimes, even without the telltale pop up ads you may notice a suspicious slow down in your computer's processing without any apparent reason. Your system slows down because these adware and spyware use up your system's resources which is restricting their ability to complete tasks.


The only way you can be sure if your computer system is infected with adware and spyware downloads is by installing an anti spyware program that will detect and flush out the unwanted programs. The proper anti spyware can also prevent future adware and spyware downloads. You need to choose an anti spyware program that does both.


One more thing you can do to protect yourself from unwittingly downloading adware and spyware programs is to read the fine print. When installing a new program into your computer, you are asked to tick off an option of whether you agree or disagree with the programs end user license agreement (EULA). Do yourself a favor and read what is written in the agreement before agreeing to proceed in the installation. Many shareware and freeware programs come bundled with spyware and adware programs and in some cases you can learn about them by reading the agreement carefully.


Because adware and spyware come bundled with your download, these programs will not run independently to the spyware it comes with. This means that if you have a good anti-spyware system installed in your computer, you won't be able to install the infected program.


Consequently, if an existing program infected with spyware is in your system, your anti spyware system will attempt to remove the infection. Since most spyware are closely bundled into certain programs, the removal of the spyware may cause the legitimate program it comes with to stop functioning as well. For full protection I recommend Noadware, for a package that has everything all in one.

Author: Scott Martin