How do I get rid of spyware on my computer?
Advertiser supported software, otherwise known as spyware, is becoming a huge problem on the internet. A couple of obvious signs that you have spyware on your computer are ads popping up at random even when you're not connected to the internet, and search bars that you didn't want attaching to your Internet Explorer browser.
You can get spyware bundled with software programs that you purchase. You can also get it in automatic downloads from some Web sites that you visit, or programs that you download online. The seemingly innocent Comet Cursors will download spyware to your computer when you download the program. When you download Kazaa you will most certainly get spyware bundled with it. Also, a lot of the stuff you download from Kazaa will contain spyware programs along with the original program or music that you download. Be aware that search tools that attach to Internet Explorer such as Yahoo, Alexa, and AOL are also spyware and are used to track your internet movement.
The main purpose of spyware is to track your movements on the internet without you knowing so that people can see what you're interested in and send more advertising your way.
Getting rid of it can be pretty easy if you have the right program.
My favorite programs to remove spyware are Ad-aware and Spybot. You can download regular updates and get rid of all of the spyware on your computer. The programs also protect your computer against future spyware attacks. Best of all, they're absolutely free. If you use Spybot and like it, I'm sure the author would appreciate a donation ;)You should also have a firewall installed on your computer. A firewall protects your computer against unwanted, unauthorized visitors. I like Sygate Personal Firewall. It's free, and very easy to use.
Good luck!
A small list of common spyware/malware programs:
Comet Cursors
SaveNow
Gator / Claria
Bonzai Buddy
Alexa Toolbar
Yahoo Companion
Deal Helper
Stopzilla
RealDownload
Kazaa
My Search Bar
180 Solutions
Cool-downloads.com
Savenow
Morpheus
Xupiter
Search Assistant
and lots, lots more...
