Spyware
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Avoiding
advertising I became a serious Spybot convert recently, and now I recommend it to everyone who wants to get rid of adware. Beyond its core function of removing adware, it has a host of other features that make it a great all-around system tool.
One example, the Hosts file tool, lets you block all traffic from advertising and spyware servers. Your Hosts file lives somewhere in your Windows system directory. Whenever your computer looks for an Internet address, it consults the file before trying to find the address online. Spybot's Hosts file tool adds a bunch of entries, mapping known ad server names to your own machine. That means your machine will look at itself instead of the Internet whenever it's trying to find one of these servers, preventing ad banners, pop-ups, and other potentially dangerous stuff. When a site tries to load a banner from one of the ad servers on Spybot's list, it shows a broken link icon in your browser. Blocking banners is a double-edged sword. While few people want to be subjected to advertising, your favorite sites may rely on revenue from ads. Unlike television, where no one knows if you go to the kitchen during commercials, a blocked banner reduces the quantity of banners delivered by a site, lowering the revenue to the site. I'm all for blocking ads from irresponsible advertisers, but full-time Internet content providers need ad revenue to exist. What software do you use to block advertising? Let me know at newsletters@download.com. Wayne Cunningham
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 Ban Pop-up Spam! |
Did you know that spammers can now send pop-up advertisements right to your Windows desktop, even when no browser is open? For the first time ever, Windows PCs are open to spammers, just by being connected to the Internet. Stop pop-up spam now with MessageSubtract! www.messagesubtract.com/ | ||||||||||||||||||
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http://www.spywareinfo.com/ | ||||||||||||||||||
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http://www.spychecker.com | ||||||||||||||||||
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http://www.lavasoftusa.com/ | ||||||||||||||||||
| Ad-aware Eliminate spyware with ease using tonight's free file. By Megan Morrone |
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But how do you know if a program you use contains spyware? If you've been watching "The Screen Savers" for even a short while, you know that we recommend a program called Ad-aware. I store the program in my Start menu and whenever I install something I run the program to see if I've been infected by spies. The program scans my system and shows me a report. Then I can easily go through and delete everything I don't want. It even includes a backup-and-restore utility and an intuitive interface. Back in May, Ad-aware introduced an add-on called RefUpdate, an update tool that keeps you current. With last month's release of Ad-aware 5.83, the program includes a feature that lets you back up your software, just in case you delete something you shouldn't have. The program is compatible with Windows 98, 2000, NT, XP, and Me. The basic version is still free, but for $15 you can register for Ad-aware Plus, which includes an update service called Ad-Watch and free lifetime product support. http://www.techtv.com/screensavers/downloadoftheday/story/0,24330,3327636,00.html Originally posted July 31, 2002 |