Spyware and Free Adware Can Cost You
Spyware, Adware and Viruses are at the root of most home and small business computer repair problems.
When you take care of Spyware and Adware on your computer properly you will become less vulnerable to big computer repair bills.
Nearly half of the time…
Whenever a customer contacts me about a computer problem…
The problem is usually spyware, adware or viruses.
Spyware is an application that sometimes is installed on a computer when we download freeware or shareware programs.
Most shareware and freeware do not come bundled with spyware, but some do.
Once spyware is installed on your computer it begins to transfer all kinds of information about you that is stored on your computer.
Spyware is usually installed without your knowledge.
Adware which functions in a similar way usually requires you to agree to install it on your computer.
Adware transfers information about your Internet activities to marketing firms whereas spyware is usually attempting to steal passwords, bank account numbers and other sensitive information.
Spyware may result in Identity theft where adware is usually used for somewhat legitimate marketing purposes.
The problem with both is they run in the background on you computer robbing it of resources and slowing it down or preventing the computer from working altogether.
Adware is almost always installed by a computer user agreeing to allow it to be installed…
Unfortunately, many users don’t always realized the negative consequences.
Adware is usually the price you have to pay to get so called free screen savers or Instant messaging smiley buddies.
The problem is that it is not as free as it may appear…
A lot of the adware driven software like screen savers are difficult to uninstall and you end up having to take it into a computer shop to have it removed.
A great deal of spyware and adware is so poorly developed that it can’t be uninstalled.
This requires your data to be backed up and your operating system, such as Windows XP, to be reinstalled.
So…
Free software fueled by adware can end up costing you a few hundred dollars in service call fees.
I recommend never installing any type of free software that requires adware being installed on your computer in exchange for the use of the software.
Most of us know we have to have anti-virus software running on our computers, but we are not always doing anything about spyware and adware.
As for spyware, which is installed without your knowledge or your agreement, you will need some type of anti-spyware and adware alerting software.
I have been using Windows Defender on Windows Vista and XP machines and have been happy with its performance.
And, the good thing about Windows Defender it can be downloaded for free from Microsoft.