Can't stand Pop-Up Ads - A lesson in Adware and Spyware

Have you said this lately?

"My computer is slow."
"The internet is slow."
"I have tons of Pop-Ups! What can I do??"

Adware and Spyware (also called Malware) are small programs that infest your computer and cause ads and other pop-ups to interrupt your surfing; they are also used to track your history and record the sites you visit. They are often the cause of slowdowns; they clog your computer, reset your home page, and add useless search bars and other items that interfere with your web browser. They are often sloppily written, so they can cause problems with your system and change your network settings.

Any person who goes to a website can get spyware, simply by being on the internet!

AdAware and Spybot are the two programs we currently use to eliminate popups, spyware, and adware from computers. They are well-written, and do not add popups or ads themselves. You should UPDATE (important!) and run both Ad-aware and Spybot once a week to clear out spyware and adware problems.

Click the links below to download and learn how to use Spyware removers.
How to use AdAware
How to use Spybot

Of the two, AdAware seems to find more problems, but only SpyBot "immunizes" or blocks against threats in the first place. Having the two work together should help your computer problems.

NOTE: "KAZAA" AND ANY OTHER PEER-TO-PEER NETWORKS ARE A MAJOR SOURCE OF THESE PROBLEMS. MOST OF THE COMPUTERS WE SEE IN THE TECH OFFICE WITH LOTS OF PROBLEMS ALL HAVE KAZAA INSTALLED. NOTE THAT IF YOU USE THINGS LIKE KAZAA, YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE TROUBLE DOWN THE ROAD.

Important note: if any advertisements to "Get rid of Spyware" do pop up…

• Make sure you DO NOT click on them, as you are often agreeing to download all sorts of junk to your computer.
• Make sure you click on the red close "X" in the top right corner of the window and not anything that says "Yes" or even "No", as sometimes spyware will be downloaded anyway.
• Things like E-anthology, Stop-Sign and most "Pop-Up-Blockers"... they are all spyware themselves and part of the problem. Stick with SpyBot and AdAware.