David Bearrow wrote: > At 09:08 AM 8/12/04, you wrote: > >How does adware get on your computer? I have Norton installed, and it has > >never poped up saying that it found a virus or worm trying to get on my > >system. I have a spam blocker on my server which gets rid of a lot of > >them, and use Netscape for my mail, and never open any attachments. I use > >Netscape as my browser, and any time I do have to use IE, I do not have > >Vbasic installed on my system. > > > >I also have Zone alarm on my system. Am I missing something? > > Adware gets installed by you when you download and install any of the > hundred of thousands of free programs out there such as Bonzai buddy, > waterfall screensavers, Kazaa, Webshots, etc. They bundle adware in with > those programs and install them in the background without your knowledge.
Oh, OK, I rarely install any executables on my computer. I guess my Eudora is adware, since it displays an ad in the left hand corner when I run it. > > You give them permission when you accept the licence agreement. Nobody ever > reads the licence agreement. Actually I do. > They just hit the accept button and install. > These programs run quietly in the background and many don't even show up in > the task list when you hit cntrl-alt-del! When you uninstall the program > that put the adware in, it leaves the adware running and does not remove > it. If you read the Kazaa licence you would find that you actually give > them permission to install whatever software they please on your computer > by remote control! Weather bug is another one with a similar licence to Kazaa. > > Some websites push active-x controls onto your internet explorer browser. > They then install what is known as a BHO, a browser helper object. This is > a program that loads and runs whenever you run internet explorer. There is > no easy way to see these BHO's without using a program like Spybot or > Hijackthis. These BHO's are the source of many peoples popup problems. They > belong to the class of malware called browser hijackers. They can reset > your home page and force you into certain search engines, send you popups > based on your browsing habits, track your internet usage, and even collect > your passwords! > > My advice is to not install any of the free programs. There are some free > programs that don't install adware but they are in the minority. Better to > google a program before installing it to see if there are any known adware > associated with it. ALWAYS install Microsoft critical updates as soon as > they are available. And run Spybot and Adaware regularly. Thanks for those reverences. I have never run those because I was afraid they themselves would put spybot on my system. Marshall -- The Silver List is a moderated forum for discussing Colloidal Silver. Instructions for unsubscribing are posted at: http://silverlist.org To post, address your message to: silver-list@eskimo.com Silver List archive: http://escribe.com/health/thesilverlist/index.html Address Off-Topic messages to: silver-off-topic-l...@eskimo.com OT Archive: http://escribe.com/health/silverofftopiclist/index.html List maintainer: Mike Devour <mdev...@eskimo.com>
