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Spyware
and Pop-ups |
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If you see an
unexpected popup on your computer that suggests your computer is vulnerable
to viruses or spyware is installed on your
computer, do not click on yes or no to install the antivirus or spyware removal tool.
Clicking anywhere in the popup can actually install the offending
program. Always, always, always
dismiss a popup by only clicking on the red X to close the window. Spyware and Pop-ups are a common problem on
computer systems at work and home today.
Several Freeware programs are available for download from the internet
that will help keep your computer clean from these unwanted annoyances. **After your
initial download and installation of these programs, it is important to
update them frequently to stay current with new threats. |
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Spybot - Search & Destroy can detect and remove spyware of different kinds from your computer. Spyware is a relatively new kind of threat that common
anti-virus applications do not yet cover. If you see new toolbars in your
Internet Explorer that you didn't intentionally install, if your browser
crashes, or if you browser start page has changed without your knowing, you
most probably have spyware. But even if you don't
see anything, you may be infected, because more and more spyware
is emerging that is silently tracking your surfing behaviour
to create a marketing profile of you that will be sold to advertisement
companies. Spybot-S&D is free, so there's no
harm in trying to see if something snooped into your computer, too :) |
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AdAware is a privacy tool,
that scans your memory, registry, hard, removable and optical drives
for known data-mining, aggressive advertising, and tracking components. It
then lists the results and offers to remove or quarantine the components. The
program detects a wide range of adware/spyware
related issues and can be updated with the latest signatures via the built-in
update utility. Please be advised that removing certain components may impact
the functionality of effected software applications. You should fully read
the included Ad-aware documentation before removing any files! |