This is meant to be a primer on how to keep your computer running well while avoiding the pitfalls of the really bad software that is rampant on the Internet today. Most of you have heard of spyware, adware, and viruses. All of this software is bad, and stuff you definitely want to stay away from. We have known about viruses for a very long time and we pretty much know how we can get them, and how to prevent them from hurting our computers. This article will focus mostly on spyware, as this is still very mystifying to many of us, but with careful use of the Internet, can be avoided.

PLEASE NOTE: I am an independent certified computer technician, and do not work for, nor do I have any interest in, any of the companies that I will mention below.

What are the differences? 

Viruses are always meant to hurt your computer and are self-replicating: they can send themselves through your email to anyone in your address book, inbox, outbox, deleted items; anyone, depending on the programming of the virus. They even make themselves look like someone else other than you sent them! Not all of them go to work right away - some of them are like ticking time bombs - waiting for the right day to explode.

Spyware and adware is software written to either gather information from your computer and send it to a server computer somewhere on the Internet, without your knowledge (spyware); or provide pop-up ads on your computer without your consent (ad-ware); or make your Internet browser's home page different than the one that you want, without your consent (a hijacker). As you can see, there are several categories of this type of software, but one thing is common amongst all of them - this software is placed on your computer without your knowledge or consent.

Where does it come from? It can come from pop-ups that you purposely or accidentally click on, it can come as a hitchhiker on free software that you downloaded and installed on your computer, such as one of several 'party poker' games and 'casino' games that are readily available and advertising themselves quite boldly in ads on web pages. It can also come from the many file-sharing services available today from some of those downloaded files.

What is the harm of having this software on my computer? One of the main problems is that much of this software is just badly written - it can have memory leaks or take up a lot of CPU time, not leaving those resources available for the programs you want to use. When several of these programs are running on your computer, things can really slow down so much that your computer is rendered useless. Another huge problem is that this software can call home (send data to a server) with your personal information, including usernames and passwords. This type of software can also just be plain annoying - tons of pop-ups running rampant on  your computer, your browser not opening to the page you want, not being able to install SP2, etc. For example, if you do try to install SP2 with certain types of spyware running you can actually render your computer useless. You would then have to reformat your hard drive and reinstall Windows from scratch - and your data will be gone if you don't have it backed up.

(Updated 5/07) Another big problem with it is in the removal process: many of these companies don't want you to take the software off your computer, so they do really tricky things to stop you from removing it, least of which is not including uninstall programs, or including one that just doesn't do anything. Other really bad tricks are: 1) they hide the programs on your hard drive so you can't find them to take them off 2) they install the programs as services so Windows will not let you remove the files, no matter how hard you try, even in safe mode, and 3) they make the files hidden and inaccessible, even to administrators. The only way to get them off your computer is to use a special boot program that can see all the files, or to reformat and reinstall everything on your computer. Numbers 2 and 3 are typical of spyware/adware worms, which are much more difficult to remove. Bart's PE builder (do a google search) will build a bootable CD that allows you to see all of the content of your hard drive. However, knowing what to remove, and what not remove, will probably require a trained technician with a lot of experience in this area.

Speaking of removal, even when you can remove all the software, some of these bad programs leave a hole in the LSP (layered service protocol) so you can no longer access the Internet, and this requires another special fix or again, reformatting and reinstalling the whole computer.

Why do people make this bad software? There are many reasons - some large companies have put software on people's computers not thinking about the consequences of what it could do to their computers. A late example is Sony and their idea of how to keep people from copying cd's more than 3 times. The music cd actually placed software on your computer, which then left it vulnerable to attack from outside sources. Fortunately, Sony realized what they had done and recalled all the cd's with that software on them.

Another reason people make the software is for fun, notoriety, and of course, profit. That's right. As an example, remember the hijacker I spoke about earlier? When your browser opens up to that certain page, the people that own that page get money from their advertisers! That's right - crazy, but true. Same thing with those lovely pop-ups - every time you click, someone makes a buck.

(Updated 5/07) The latest problem centers around spyware removal programs that really don't do anything but take your money, or put their own spyware on your computer. Spy Sheriff is one of those programs that does just that, and it goes under the guise of several different names now such as SpyAxe, Brave Sentry, and Spyware No, as well as others. If you need some anti-spyware software, make sure you go to it, do not let it go to you (especially from pop-up ads) and be certain to research the program on the Internet (do a google search) before allowing it to download and install on your computer. 

How do I prevent this bad software from getting on my computer??

(Updated 5.07) 1) By only going to places on the Internet that you can trust. Ebay and known big companies (Sears, Walmart, Costco, Best Buy, etc etc) generally are pretty safe. Yes it is true that some big companies have done some things in the past with adware etc, but they are coming clean and things are improving. Stay away from party poker, gambling, and pornographic web sites. Bank sites are always ok, but make certain that you typed the address or clicked on a known secure favorite - do not click on a link from an email for example (which could be a spoofed web page just wanting your personal information).

2) Only download and install software from trustworthy places that you have read, say in PC Magazine or Computer Shopper for example, that say it is ok. Cnet is a great place to download shareware and freeware that is certified safe.

3) Do not click on those nasty little pop-ups. They will typically install more bad software on  your computer, and that means more trouble. Some of them are VERY tricky - they make it sound like your computer is already infected - don't buy into it!! That is bad software itself! Other software makes itself sound like your computer will do all kinds of fun tricks and life will be heaven after you install their software - again - don't buy into it!

4) Windows XP machines: make sure you are running Service Pack 2, but as I stated earlier, DO NOT install SP2 if you have spyware or adware on your machine now - it could crash your machine and then things are made worse!! Keep your computer up to date with the automatic updates feature in Windows.

5) Windows 9x, 2000, and Me machines: Use Mozilla Firefox as your browser - it is safer and displays less pop-ups than Internet Explorer. In the rare case that Firefox will not display a web page correctly, copy and paste the link into Internet Explorer for that page only!

New Information 5/07:

6) Know that even with the BEST anti-virus and anti-spyware programs running on your computer, telling your computer to install a program that carries a trojan with it WILL install the trojan, no matter what. It is only AFTER the fact that your protective software can do anything about it, and sometimes it just can't. Here is one reason: new bad stuff comes out all the time, and there is a lag time between the time the bad stuff comes out, and the good guys can update their definitions to help protect you. Another reason is because the bad guys keep finding new ways to make sure their software can't be removed easily. Again, it takes the good guys time to figure out how to remove it, and they still are trying to figure out some of it (look up 'rootkit' on Google). Common sense is the best protection.

7) Do NOT click on links from MySpace unless you KNOW they are safe - this is one of the newest sources of spyware, and things may get much worse before they get better.

8) Do NOT click on links from cautionary or alert emails supposedly bringing you to a bank site, ebay, or paypal. Even though they probably aren't spyware, they are typically spoof emails (fake - they don't go where you think they will go), and once they have your personal information, you can lose your identity. Please report those emails to the proper authority.

What about those spyware removal tools?

None of the spyware tools out there removes all spyware and adware. It typically takes at least two, if not three or four, programs to remove 99% of the bad software. Some people swear by Ad-aware and Spybot, which are both free at this time. As a technician, I personally do not like them because people rely on them too much and too often the bad software remains on the system. Some people like Spysweeper by Webroot. I used to like it, but that software does not seem to do the trick anymore as the worm software takes more hold onto systems. Norton Antivirus 2006 and 2007 will remove spyware as well as viruses, and if you are looking for a one-stop solution, this is probably the one that I would recommend, but only for newer computers made in the last 2 or 3 years. Norton will make older computers and computers with little physical memory run really slow because it does so many things now. For the older systems and low-memory systems, I recommend AVG anti-malware edition, which is very reasonably priced (note the free AVG does NOT include spyware protection) and can be used along with the other spyware solutions I mentioned earlier. 

However, if after trying to use any or all of these tools your computer is still: displaying pop-up ads, your browser is hijacked, or your computer is just plain slow, your best possible solution would be to take it to a qualified computer technician, after you back up the data that you want from your computer.

(New Additional Information) Lastly, a computer can't run more than one anti-virus program such as Norton or Mcafee or AVG or Trend. If you try to install more than one, the programs will fight amongst themselves and the computer will run very slowly, or not at all. However a computer can run more than one anti-spyware program such as Spybot and Ad-aware, and Ewido (now AVG anti-spyware).

Good luck, stay away from the bad stuff as prevention is the best medicine, and happy computing!