When's the last time you did computer clean-up? Spyware beware!

[CCVFD952]

Well, not quite sure where to post this so I hope it's in the right place. If not, then I apologize and mod can move or delete it.

Just thought I'd give everyone a link that should be extremely useful. I was surprised to find the crap that was running on my computer that I didn't know was there.

Spyware seems to be everywhere, and it most likely is running on your computer. Certain programs I had installed on my computer had spyware and what it does it logs your internet surfing..sees where you go, and at times sends the info to the companies who use the info to send you junk mail and all that suits what you've been browsing. Something like that, anyhow.

Blah blah blah...(I talk a lot)

Here is a link to a spyware search and destroy. It's been rated extremely high by.....PC magazine, I believe.

http://www.safer-networking.org/

Just click on download...doesn't take too long at all, and see what's on your computer and take it off.

One warning: some programs won't work without the spyware active on your computer. So if you got something for free (nothing is ever free) somewhere and have been using it, could be that your "payment" has been information. Most notably, on my computer, was NetVampire which is a download tool I had installed some time ago. Deleted the spyware and lo and behold NetVampire doesn't work anymore and asks to be reinstalled because several 'elements' are missing...yeah, I'll bet!

Just a heads up!

[Adze39]

Yes, I use "Spybot - Search & Destroy" (available from the above link).

I like it, but make sure what you remove is really spyware and something that just doesn't match the description. This goes for all the different spyware-removing software.

And whichever program you chose to use, make sure you run regular updates of its definitions to make sure you are getting all the spyware.

[Adze39]

Oh, you can also set it up to automatically block certain spyware. Because I have it notify me each time, its kinda a pain in the rear when I am loading a webpage and a popup comes up to tell me it blocked certain cookies, but you can make it block silently.

[F52Westside]

A friend just told me about "Ad-Aware 6.0". It is a free program. It is on our computer at our Station 1 and it found alot of that kind of junk. I think I found it at Download.com