Adware and how to tell if you're infected

Adware and how to tell if you're infected by Brad Edwards

When it comes to malicious programs, one of the most annoying is so called adware. Adware is software that, once installed on your machine, will begin to serve advertisements mostly in the form of pop-ups. Companies who make adware make money off advertisers who pay them each time their ad is served on an infected machine.

Here's some of the things you can do to tell if you have adware:

1)You keep getting pop-up advertisements.

Pop-up ads come in two forms. Either the website you're visiting is serving them, or you have adware on your machine that spawns pop-ups each time you surf the internet. If you go to a website like Google or Microsoft, and you see a pop-up ad, then this is an almost sure sign that you're infected with adware. Pop-up ads can also be served when you just start up your computer, or when you run an application.

2)Your computer is running slowly

Adware will often take up your computers processing power in order to serve pop-up advertisements. Therefore, if you're computer seems to take a long time to do simple tasks or it just seems to be running slow in general, then the odds are pretty good that you have some form of spyware or adware. Many people see their computer running extremely fast when it has nothing on it or when they reinstall windows. The reason is because their machine is no longer infected with spyware.

3)Your settings are being tinkered with

One thing adware often does is change personal settings, in order to display even more ads. Symptoms include changing your homepage to something else, adding websites into your favorites menu, installing new toolbars or adding icons to your desktop. The technology exists now to do this just from someone visiting your website, but quite often, adware companies will install new toolbars and change your homepage once your computer is infected.

Once you suspect you have adware on your machine, it is very important to do something about it before it gets any worse (adware companies will often install more adware on infected machines). To do this, you need to get a spyware or adware removal software. What this does is scan your machine for known adware, and then take measures to delete it. In some cases, your computer may be infected so badly that the only solution is to reinstall windows.

The best protection against adware, of course, is to not download it in the first place. Remember to never click on a link in an email from a sender you are unfamiliar with (adware often infects people who download it from spam emails) and always take caution when downloading .exe files. Don't run a .exe file unless you trust the source or you downloaded it from a trusted software directory. By following these simple guidelines,

Want a free software program that scans your PC for over 42,000 traces of spyware? Download it here at Disable Spyware. Brad Edwards is a programmer for DisableSpyware.com. He has over 10 years experience with computers and spyware.

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