Learn About Spyware

arketing online, where would be a good placestart?” Well, before I answered , I would like you know life of online marketers are filled with ups and downs. Some le seemhave it all, and others have nothing and get burnt badly.Ok, now backmy answer – before you even startthink about marketing online, you’ll needmake sure your pcas user-friendly as possible for you, which are probably best placeget things started. Go backmonth ago,pc was seriously got infected by some very bad worms, I havecalled technician overhelp me format computer and get it totally clean up, it took him almost a dayget things fixed, not men frustra I have behrough, just tthat spent on those things, I will never get it back. Thus I would likefocus on spyware issues in this week’s newsletter.So first thing you havedo before start your marketing online careerthat you needmake sund keep your pc up and running, have anti-virus protec software installedhelp you avoid viruses, worms and spyware; basically your computer needbe clean and hassle-free all time.Spyware, also known as adware or malware,become mond more of a probleminternet users. Spywareusually a program or applica that installedo your pc,en without your knowledge or permission. It may display ads, monitor your Web surfing patterns, andal your passwords or become responsible for a whole range of bad stuff.Where does spyware come from? What does it do?These programs/applicas can come from Web sites that download music or offer free software, or even from certain popup ads if you click anywhere inside ad instof hitting X buttonget rid of it.Cookies almost inevitable (most websites use them, and some won’t even work without them), itrarely a problem as they are very easyclean up, you can choose not accept it, but threat posed by key loggers, diallers and Trojansmuch greater.A key logger can record anything you type, including your passwords, e-mail messages, credit card numbers, and even your online chats. Diallers will secretly hang up your Internet connec and redial premium services that can run up your long-distance bill. Trojans can embed programs which will open “backdoors”o your computerallow hackerssteal data or make your pc unusable.These types of spyware can prove very costlyle unaware of them. Scare, huh!How do you know if your pcinfected with spyware?Well, for definite, if you’ve never checked before, you can bet your bottom dollar that you WILL have some spyware on your computer. are some common traits: 1. Changed IE favorites.
2. Homepage changes without you changing it.
3. Popup ads popping up even when you’re offline.
4. New desktop icons appear for programs you did not knowingly install.
5. Some Trojans will cause changesicons of your normal programs.
6. Prolonged System start-up after a reboot (s a long tto load user settings).
7. You haverefresh a webpage multiple times before you can see content.
8. Your pc may seem uncommonly slow or sluggish.
9. A program may not operate correctly. Some examples of this are Windows Media Player will not work. Notepad will not work, Task Manager, MSConfig or Regedit may close immediately after opening.
10. Unexplained loss ofernet access (worst case scenario).Howeliminate spyware? If you think you should keep it from being installed on your computer in first place, or you could always just never install anything and never visit websites, then you might as well throw away yourernet connec altogether, answer’NO’. A better opdo it might beturn OFF install on demand op in windows. This can be done by following theseps: 1. Open a new browser window.
2. Click on tools.
3. Click onernet ops.
4. Click on advanced.
5. Scroll down through list of advanced ops and UNCHECK “Enable install on demand”.
6. Click OK.You can also make sure you can still download things that you WANTdownload by following theseps:1. Open a new browser window.
2. Click on tools.
3. Click onernet ops.
4. Click on security
5. Click on custom
6. Scroll down until you find “Installa of desktop items” and set”prompt”
7. Click OKRemember, if your Internet security controls aren’t properly set, you can just visit a web site or click on a web adinstall an applica. Please note that if any of your programs are setauto-update, you will needenable install on demand op.How do you get rid of spyware?Before running spyware removal tools, clean up your pc a little by hand first, scan process won’t that long.1. Open a browser window.
2. Click on tools.
3. Click onernet ops.
4. Choose delete cookies –> ok
5. Choose delete files –> delete all offline content –> ok There two most commonly recommended spyware removers are Spybot Search & Destroy, available here: www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html and Ad-Aware SE Personal, whichavailable here: www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adawareBoth of these are free, and they don’t pressure youo paying for a full version, spybot also immunizes your computer from known spyware without ask youpurchase a “paid version”, whichunlike adaware.’s a great littlep-by-step tutorial about howuse Ad Aware:
http://spyware.pcrelief.orgA great forum for getting answers about spywand other related problems can be found here: http://forums.spywareinfo.com/index.php?b=1Another really good placefind help with computer problemshttp://forums.techguy.orgIn addi, Hijack Thisa general homepage of hijackers detector and remover. It does not target specific programs/URLs, it just methods that used by hijackersforce you onto their sites. As a result, false positives are imminent and unless you subout what you’re doing, you should always consult with knowledgeable folks before deleting anything. The above mened forums are good placesask for help with this. You can get HijackThis for free here www.spychecker.com/program/hijackthis.htmlNow you learn about spyware, I suggest youmake it a part of your regular maintenance routinescan your system for spyware, and also remember that NO spyware blockers will be fully effective unless you keep them update, so check for updatesen.Till next week – Happy sharing Cheers!
Ann