Virus & Spyware Cleaning

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Spyware, What Is It?
By: Robert Dorrance

Spyware, what it is and what it does. Basically, spyware is a program put on your computer usually after you have downloaded some kind of program or went to a certain site. Once this program is on your computer, depending on what kind was put on, has the potential to monitor what you’re doing without you knowing it.

Besides having the ability to track your Internet surfing, it can also change the settings of your computer, and display unwanted advertising. Kinds of Spyware include, Adware, Malware, parasiteware, and other kinds of software.

A lot of these Spyware applications are bundled with other applications such as shareware and freeware, and as I said, you usually don’t know you have it. Some of these Internet pests have the ability to gather your e-mail address, passwords, and even private credit card numbers.

Many of these programs send the information it gathers to third parties who in turn send you a lot of advertisements, hence the word Adware. This is also why you can get a tremendous amount of pop-ups.

The only real solution is to get a very good Anti-Spyware program. There are many of them on the market, and is well worth getting one. Once you have some kind of Spyware program, you’ll always have it and can run it anytime you please. That’s basically what Spyware is all about.

About The Author
Robert Dorrance
Your guide to understanding Spyware, Adware, and other malicious computer parasites. Find out more at www.destroy-adware.com.

Virus Prevention and Removal
By: Ashish Jain

A virus is a piece of code that gets loaded onto your computer without your knowledge and runs against your wishes. The first known occurrence of viruses goes back to 1987 when the ARPANET was infected by one.

One common misnomer among people is that you can infect your computer just by opening an email and reading its text. That is not possible; it is usually the files attached to the email that contain the virus. The most common file types are ".SCR" ".VBS" ", ".PIF"

Prevention is better than a cure. Here are some tips to make sure that your computer does not get infected:

* Get good Antivirus software like Norton Anti-Virus, MacAfee, PC-Cillin, etc.

* Keep your antivirus software updated by downloading new virus definitions regularly. Most Anti-Virus software comes with the feature of updating virus definitions.

* Keep your Windows operating system updated by regularly downloading new updates from the Internet. Windows O/S's have a lot of security loopholes and bugs that can be easily exploited by worms and viruses.

* Make sure the antivirus program scans each file before it’s opened.

* Floppy disks and removable media are a good source of viruses; always scan them before accessing files on them.

* Never open email attachments from sources that are unknown or suspicious.

* Do not open emails that have questionable subject lines.

* When in doubt about a file, don't open it.

* Even with the best of precautions, bad things can still happen. Back up all your data and important files.

Even after taking all these precautions, if your computer does get infected, then here are a few things that you can do:

Online clearing tools - are a good source for trying to clean out the virus, there are many Antivirus websites that offer free online virus detection and removal services.

Removal tools - If you have an antivirus software program, then you can go to the website of that software and download removal tools designed specifically for the virus. However, you must find out the name of the virus that infects your PC beforehand.

If you have a backup of all your important files, you can also consider formatting your hard disk.

About The Author
Ashish Jain
M6.Net
http://www.m6.net
Ashish is an integral member of the M6.Net Web Helpers team.

Protect Yourself with a Porn Filter
By: Nick Smith

The harmful affects of pornography use and addiction are well documented by science. As with most things in life, prevention is the most effective way to avoid ever having a problem with pornography.

The internet is a wonderful place to access information, read updated news, and connect with people from all over the globe. Unfortunately, pornography on the internet is everywhere, and it isn’t always easy to avoid. Even people taking responsible measures to keep porn off of their computer screens can stumble across it sometimes. The tips found in this article will help you protect yourself and your family online from inappropriate pictures and text.

Take measures to filter spam. Spammers can make money if only one person of the thousands of people they send sexually explicit emails to clicks on their ad and pays for their service. Do everything you can to keep those emails from ever reaching your inbox. If you have allowed your children to have their own email accounts, filtering spam is the best way to ensure inappropriate images never become accessible to them through email. A quick list of things you can do to eliminate spam includes:

• Only give your email address out to people you know and trust. Do not put your personal email address down for every mailing list or website that asks for it. Many free email services exist now – set up a free account with one of them and use that to sign up for mailing lists.

• Never click on any links in spam and if at all possible, avoid ever opening the email. Both of these actions confirms to spammers that you actively use your email account and you will likely start to receive more spam.

• Purchase and use a spam filter. Many come packaged with a porn filter as well as other features that will help keep inappropriate content off of your computer screen.

Be careful what you download. This should be a universal precaution you take by now each and every time you download something off the internet. Viruses, spyware, and pornography can very easily be hidden in the files that you download – prevention in this case is much easier than fixing the problem after the files have already made their way onto your hard drive. Only download files from sources that you trust, and if you ever have a question as to whether something contains a virus or pornography, do NOT download it.

Use a search engine to find websites. Pornographers use domain names that are similar to popular websites or brands in hopes that people will type in the address incorrectly and end up at their pornography site. I knew a child that wanted to look up codes for his favorite video game, so he typed in the name of the game and “.com.” He had the presence of mind to close the browser and tell his parents, but was still exposed to the material. One of the best ways to avoid this is searching for the address in Google. Then you can preview the results in a text-only format before clicking on the link to go to the page. Many of the popular search engines have a built-in porn filter that you can adjust to control the type of content you don’t want to appear in the search results. Others even offer “for kids” versions of their search engines that only return pages deemed appropriate for children.

Use filtering software that includes a porn filter. No matter how careful you are about the sites you visit, chances are good that someday you will accidentally come across a porn site. A porn filter will help ensure that inappropriate material is blocked when you or someone in your family stumbles across a pornographic website. The parents of the boy who stumbled across pornography while looking for his favorite Nintendo game quickly installed a porn filter to make sure their son was protected in the future.

Avoid pornography offline. Porn was around long before the internet. Carry around your own internal porn filter and avoid places that you know will have inappropriate images, movies, or books displayed. If your children are with you, be extra cautious of where they are in the store. If you think there is a chance that they may be able to access inappropriate material while you are shopping, let the store manager know of your concerns. Likely, you are not the only one who is worried about the issue, and real changes can come about from one person simply speaking up.

Take the appropriate precautions now to avoid pornography. If you or someone you know has a problem with pornography use or addiction, seek professional help. Pornography problems not only affect the individual viewing the picture but everyone who interacts with that person.

About The Author
Nick Smith is a client account specialist with http://www.10xMarketing.com. – More Visitors. More Buyers. More Revenue. For a porn filter and more information about protecting your family online, visit http://www.contentwatch.com/features/porn-filter.php.
nick10x@yahoo.com

Remove Rogue Desktop Icons Created By Spyware
By: Andrew Malek

If you have used a Windows machine for a while, whether it's Windows XP, Windows 2000, or Windows 98, you're sure to have noticed desktop icons appearing from out of nowhere. How can icons mysteriously emerge on your Windows desktop?

1. When you buy a computer, many vendors place icons to selected products and services on your desktop, such as links to high-speed Internet Service Providers (ISPs) or add-on services vendors think you may need.

2. As you install software on your Windows machine, icons may appear, either to start the application or link to the manufacturer's website. Installing just one program could add three or more icons to your desktop!

3. It's easy to accidentally drag a Favorite, bookmark, text file, or other icon to your desktop, creating an icon.

Normally, it's easy to delete Windows desktop icons. Just place your mouse pointer on the offending icon, then right-click it and choose "Delete", clicking "Yes" to confirm if prompted.
However, what if the rogue icons are for adult websites, unfamiliar search engines, or other websites you don't recall visiting? You may try removing these icons but get an error, or after removal they still reappear again and again and again!

If so, then more than likely spyware, adware, or other malware has infected your machine. It may have been through file trading software, an inadvertent "yes" click when a popup window asked you to install software, 'freeware' that included adware, or other means. To remove the rogue icons, you need to remove the malware creating these icons.

Removing spyware and adware can be a time-consuming process, fraught with potential disaster as it is possible to accidentally remove files that render your operating system unusable. However, the following software products can help with this process as long as you read the instructions carefully, make backups, and get expert advice if you're not completely sure about removing what they ask you to do:
* Ad-Aware
* Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware
* Pest Patrol
* Spybot Search and Destroy
* Spy Sweeper
So, how can you prevent these icons from appearing in the first place? Practice safe computing.
* Backup your machine. If it does get infected to the point of being unusable, at least you won't lose all your important files.
* Install security-related operating system updates so spyware and adware cannot enter your system through well-known exploits.
* Download or buy a virus scanner, and keep it updated! Virus scanners cannot detect all spyware, but it doesn't hurt to have one. Check online or visit your local computer software store.
* Purchase a hardware or software firewall, and keep it updated! Firewalls help protect your computer from common exploits that spyware or adware can use to infect your machine.
* Consider using a different web browser. Though it is not perfect, Mozilla Firefox is currently less susceptible to spyware than Internet Explorer, mainly because it lacks certain technology (such as ActiveX) that is often exploited by malware writers. Note that depending on your web use, certain websites may not work correctly with other web browsers.

By practicing safe computing and using spyware-removal software, you can help remove rogue desktop icons from your desktop and keep others from appearing.

About The Author
Andrew Malek is the owner of the MalekTips computer and technology help site. Visit his anti-spyware page for more advice on removing adware, spyware, and other malware.