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SpywareBlaster
This is one of the nicest
offerings of the Freeware community! The beauty of it is that you do
not have to launch it in order for it to do its work! If you have SpywareBlaster
on your computer, it's working!
How does it do it?
It "tells" the Windows registry what to stay away from.
Nevertheless, you'll
need to launch and update it once every couple of weeks, in order to
make sure it's protecting you against the latest threats that circulate
on the Internet.
SpywareBlaster is already
installed on your machine (if you don't have a shortcut, go to start\allprograms\spywareblaster
and you will see it.) But if you're reading this at home and would like
to download it for home use, please go to
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html
Launch SpywareBlaster, and
note the right side: You want to see "0 items disabled." If
by chance you do not see that, make sure and click the "enable
all protection" link!
Now go ahead and click the
word "Updates":
This will take you to the
Update pane. Go ahead and click the "check for updates" button.
If there are updates available,
SpywareBlaster will download them now.
Once the update is done,
go ahead and click the "Enable Protection for All Unprotected Items"
option.
This will take you to the
main screen again, and all protection should be enabled! That's it,
close it, SpywareBlaster will protect you from "behind the scenes."
once again, if you have any
questions, please don't hesitate to e-mail
me!
main
menu
Post
Script:
What are you trying to defend against?
From http://shplink.com/misc/paranoia.htm:
Many things appear to be free on the web, and clicking away on
your browser is a lot of fun! However, sometimes you are paying
with information and with your computer's resources, in many cases
without your consent or knowledge. Some of those clicks may well
allow "third parties" to download a number of things
that can compromise your privacy and the safety of your information.You
might get hidden programs or scripts on your machine which report
your surfing habits, monitor your keystrokes, or hijack your computer
entirely.
Or, you might realize one day that your computer does not seem
to be as fast as it used to.
Or, you may find your browser's home page hijacked.
Or, you may notice an unexplained increase in spam e-mail and
pop-up advertising.
Or...
Some of the milder
"infections" are actually a result of commercial interests.
Company A is doing marketing research by asking company B to help
track your browsing when you pass their site. Most of the companies
that engage in such practices do not make their "services"
obvious to the consumer.
Naturally, there are
other, more destructive things that can happen if you're not careful,
such as the hijacks described above. A great deal of casual Internet
users don't realize that their browser is a wide-open gateway
for various snoops, who particularly target Microsoft Windows
users.
Those and more privacy risks are generally called "Spyware."
Here's a more detailed guide that will introduce
you to some additional applications and ways to protect yourself.
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