Liar, Liar…watch Out For Rogue Software Posing As Anti-spyware
By Chris Kaminski
Ever been conned by one of those pop-up windows that says your system is infected and you should download this 'cure' right now? I have, and I should know better. However I was in the middle of many jobs at once, I looked over and saw this alert window. Now this window looked similar to a window I have seen many times.

Without thinking I clicked the 'OK' button thinking this was a message from the security system. I knew when I clicked it I had made a mistake. My eye caught the web address the page was going to, and it was not what it said in the link. Now fortunately our'Pest Patrol' got it and I was ok. But the point is that one rogue program got by me.

the bigger portion of issues causing connectivity or performance Problems revolve around spyware or the products to remove them. And almost all of the spyware we get is actually legal. The user agrees to install it when they agree to install another product like a search bar or e-mail links.

The large spreaders here are Yahoo, Google, MSN, AOL but there are numerous others. These come in the guise of weather, stories, RSS feeds, stock tickers you say it. They gather info on the sites you visit and send the user data back to the companies. Always be aware of what you permit to download. Always watch what you install. Look for checked boxes, read the license. Ensure you only get what you originally wanted. These components compete for the online connection and the result's, naturally, connection issues.

The spyware that got me above was fed to me by the web site I just went to. The browser window was re-directed to another window that looked like a warning screen. This is another fave methodology to get spyware on your system. Pretend to be a product that removes it ; wolf in sheepskin sometimes called Rogue/Suspect Anti-Spyware Software.

check out the web site adware warrior that lists many suspect internet sites and programs. They've a long list of names : Adware Agent, SafeWebSurfer, Spy-Block for example. Many of the names are engineered to confuse them with bonafide software like Ad-Aware. The only real protection here is to use common-sense and some healthy fear. If you did not order it or are undecided of it, then do not use it!

The last performance killer is the spyware apartments themselves. The more recent

ones are so large they kill performance on older machines or machines with modest resources. Also if one spyware scanner is good then 2 are better ... Right? Inaccurate. If they are both running in the background and using system resources they can slow the system to a crawl.

The best thing to do is find one good program to scan automatically and use another one to scan by hand. The one we use and advocate to run in the background is known as Pest Patrol. Then we scan manually with the Ad-Aware scanner, which offers a great free program for personal use. Just make sure you update your anti-spyware programs and scan continually.

eventually, always watch what you download and install and always beware and look closely when something pops up on your screen ... It might not be what it seems.

Chris Kaminski has been working in computer repair and web development for the last 20 years. Kaminski is CEO and head technician for Computerguyslive.com, an online computer repair company based in Asheville, NC. Visit Computer Guys Live online for computer repair and check out the invaluable Wireless Connection Guide for detailed instructions on fixing wireless problems.