Resources

Lady Bane's Guide To Spyware

Print This Page

What is Spyware? - Spyware (also known as Adware) are programs that are on your computer that you didn't necessarily ask for. They do strange things to your computer, like dial the Internet when no one is near it, and pop up ads when you're not even doing anything. They can track what websites you visit and your shopping habits.

Why is Spyware bad? - Well aside from the obvious privacy issues, it will slow down your computer. So many times I've had people ask me to fix their computer only to find out that there is nothing wrong with it other than tons of spy ware slowing it down so much that can barely do anything!

How can I get rid of Spyware? - There are two things that I always recommend doing. There are two great free programs out there that are lifesavers, one is called Ad-aware and the other is called SpyBot.

Ad-aware - You can download Ad-aware for free from the Lavasoft website (http://www.lavasoft.de)

SpyBot Search & Destroy - You can download SpyBot for free from (http://www.safer-networking.org)

• I strongly recommend downloading and running both of these programs, not just one or the other. Many times they search for different types of bad stuff and the results will be different.
• Run both of these programs on a regular basis, I'd say about once a month.
• Both programs have an option in the software to check for updates. Be sure to check for updates each time you run them.