aznp1noy

I've been wondering this for a while now, what's the real harm of spyware being in your computer? I know that those ads are a ***** it's obvious why they're a ***** but I'm not really sure about spyware.

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PsYcHoLoGiCaL

Well for one they report your computing habits back to the company and then usually sells the data, which I really don't care for. But the real reason why spyware is so bad is because each piece of spy ware is also running in the background, now maybe if you have one or two pieces of spy ware on your system it won't cause that much of a problem, but it adds up after a while if you don't get rid of it. Its not uncommon for people who have never done a spyware scan to find hundreds of pieces of spyware, think of how many background processes that works out to. I've seen system choke because their was so much spyware so you can probably understand why its a big problem.

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aznp1noy

I see, (: I'm one of those people. I always thought it was caused by that damm trojan I always end up getting but after the spyware scan the computer ran much much faster.

IGemini

The biggest mistake for anyone to have with an internet connection is to not have a firewall on a broadband connection. I needed a firewall but didn't get one until a month after I first got my broadband connection. When I finally got it my firewall, I had stopped about 1000 "attacks" within two hours and found over 150 pieces of spyware on my computer. The bandwidth on broadband is so huge that you don't notice when you download something.

Oh, and I'm not a porn surfer. It gets much worse when you download porn.

imported_Rugbee

I always used Spybot search and destroy, great product. However, my computer crashed and I found something better, Pest Patrol.
Pest Patrol is pretty much like SpyBot; both of them do a good job of keeping spy ware from harming your computer but pest patrol has a few extra features that make it excessively hard for hackers and snoops to gain access to your computer, such as a cookie patrol, mem cheek, and many other features.
What I like about Pest Patrol is that, unlike spybot. You can enable Pest patrol to start at boot and detect tracing cookies before they enter your computer.
The only downside about Pest Patrol is that unlike Spybot, Pest Patrol cost money. But IMO it is well worth it
BTW if you do a free scan it will only detect the spy ware on the system, it will not remove it if you want it removed you have to purchase the product.

for more info hit up www.pestpatrol dot com

PsYcHoLoGiCaL

A better solution too keeping cookies in line is to set your options in your browser to prompt you before accepting cookies. Really, there is no reason why I want blah.com to put a cookie on my computer. The only reason I want a cookie is if I'm visiting a Ecommerce site or a site where I have to login.

The Stoned Philosopher

A even better solution is to not to use IE period, instead use a browser like Firefox or Opera.

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Higher Logic

Download Ad-Aware, by far the best program for removing malware/spyware/tracking cookies, etc.

http://www.spyassassin.com/download....ompt=y&refid=1

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PsYcHoLoGiCaL

Firefox and Opera by default don't block or prompt for cookies either, you still have to change that in the options, but yeah use firefox its the best . Also, there is no doubt in my mind that SpyBot S&D is better than Adaware.

theDeBaucher(Y)

Me and my professor had a discussion about different browsers. i build webpages, im a graphics designer. over 80% of the world relys on IE, (mainly because windows is primary operating system). when you build a webpage, it should WORK 100% in IE for maximum viewers. you cant build a webpage that works 100% on every browser.

when you start to use another browser, your not going to get the full effect of any webpage, unless they built it speciffically for that.

ive never used firefox or opera but i assume they do what browsers do. and they arent IE just like netscape isn't, and netscape has loads of problems viewing webpages.

there is really nothing we can do to divert the population to use something other than windows........ and it works. whats so bad with it?

its more user problems then the computer itself. people need to be more responsible when downloading ****. use virus scans. use fire wall.

i just ran spy bot S&D a couple days ago. only 5 or so detected. i download like a mad man. i just keep myself aware of what im downloading.