Beware of Spyware!

Posted on February 14, 2004 10:40 PM by Joel Comm

I have been into computers since the TRS-80 Model I came out in the late seventies. I am not a programmer, but I can put a PC together from scratch, install an operating system and just about any software. I can tweak a machine under the hood and have been able to solve just about any problem I have encountered. To my family, friends and associates, I am the local computer guru.

But even I was dumbfounded to find out how much spyware had infiltrated my pc and made a home for itself on my hard drive.

Here's the long and short of it. The odds are, if you spend any time online, you have SOME sort of spyware or adware residing on your computer. Ask yourself these questions:

  • Are you receiving pop up ads regularly?
  • If a web page isn't found, does a Microsoft 404 error page appear, or are you redirected to another site?
  • Are there strange icons lurking in your taskbar?
  • Is your computer running slower than usual?

    All these are symptoms of a violation of your computer. Thankfully, there is a solution.

    This is NOT a paid advertisement and I don't make a dime off this endorsement.

    With that said, RUN, don't walk, to Lavasoft, and get a FREE copy of their Ad-Aware Spyware/Adware detection software. Install it. Run a scan on your computer and be astounded at just how much trash is on your hard drive (apart from that budget game that you know you shouldn't have bought).

    Ad-Aware will show you your vulnerable spots and clean up your machine. It worked great on my pc and I am a much happier camper now. I will probably be running Ad-Aware on a weekly basis.

    • See Also

    Spore - Mar 19, 2006
    Spyware is EVIL - Nov 10, 2004
    Day 32: Home, Sweet Home - Nov 05, 2003

    3 Comments For This Post

    1. Capt. Poopdeck Says:
      February 15, 2004 01:56 AM

      Unfortunatly Adaware only catches about half of the bad stuff. I also use Spy Sweeper to catch the rest.

    2. Rich Says:
      September 7, 2004 09:50 PM

      A review of Spy Sweeper can be found here: http://www.adwarereport.com/mt/archives/000006.html

    3. Gekko Says:
      December 13, 2005 07:02 PM


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    INFORMATION

    Joel Comm is an Internet entrepreneur who has been online for over 20 years. In 1995, Joel launched WorldVillage.com, a family-friendly portal to the web which enjoys thousands of visitors each day. Joel is the co-creator of ClassicGames.com, which was acquired by Yahoo! in 1997, and now goes by the name Yahoo! Games. Since then, Joel's company, InfoMedia, Inc., has launched dozens of web sites which offer online shopping, free stuff, website reviews and more. Joel is the author of many popular books, including the NY Times Best-Seller, The AdSense Code. He regularly makes appearances at Internet marketing conferences and seminars.

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