Mimi...hi, want to ask something please....

J

joanie

Well-known member
I have just done a silly thing and no know that I must be on top of it....I did not upgrade the anti-virus I had...infact I missed the notification to do so...anyway I rushed my computor into a super fix-it place where they got everything to rights again but they told me that I had a lot of "adware" tucked away and slowing everything down.

They are Spanish speaking and I had a bit of a time following them but understood them saying it comes from sites on the internet, they didn't say which sites.

Is this something that comes from every site...this site....the links that we follow.... I am very much a dummy at all this.

They did install a stopper for 'adware' and said the popup stopper I had was still fine. Presumably the popups and the adware are then different....

They also told me that we don't always see the adware but it sticks in somewhere and that it is not actually a virus...so what is an adware anyway?

I'm confused.

 
Joanie, while I'm not Mimi, I pulled this off Google:

Adware

1) Generically, adware (spelled all lower case) is any software application in which advertising banners are displayed while the program is running. The authors of these applications include additional code that delivers the ads, which can be viewed through pop-up windows or through a bar that appears on a computer screen. The justification for adware is that it helps recover programming development cost and helps to hold down the cost for the user.
Adware has been criticized because it usually includes code that tracks a user's personal information and passes it on to third parties, without the user's authorization or knowledge. This practice has been dubbed spyware and has prompted an outcry from computer security and privacy advocates, including the Electronic Privacy Information Center.

Noted privacy software expert Steve Gibson of Gibson Research explains: "Spyware is any software (that) employs a user's Internet connection in the background (the so-called 'backchannel') without their knowledge or explicit permission. Silent background use of an Internet 'backchannel' connection must be preceded by a complete and truthful disclosure of proposed backchannel usage, followed by the receipt of explicit, informed consent for such use. Any software communicating across the Internet absent of these elements is guilty of information theft and is properly and rightfully termed: Spyware."

A number of software applications, including Ad-Aware and OptOut (by Gibson's company), are available as freeware to help computer users search for and remove suspected spyware programs.

2) AdWare is also a registered trademark that belongs to AdWare Systems, Inc. AdWare Systems builds accounting and media buying systems for the advertising industry and has no connection to pop-up advertising, spyware, or other invasive forms of online advertising.

 
ohhhh!....thanx Steve2.......

'nother thing....I get 100's of e-mails that don't make sense from who knows who, advertising stuff that doesn't even make sense. My server says they just can't stop it and that it is outlawed in the States and that it isn't a virus, just a hassle...do you know of anyway to stop this cluttering up of the inbox?

 
Joanie, the best way is to change your email address, barring that > > >

there are spam filters which are generally available on your email program. Many people use MS Outlook which has some spam filters. These filters either choose for themselves or allow you to identify spam mail. Ultimately, if you use only one email address, spam will find you.

Personally, I have 4 email addresses. One for people only (which I rarely give out), two for on-line purchases (hotmail, gmail, etc.)and a 4th is a transitory address, good only for receiving (mailinator.com)as in when you register for a site and need a one-time-only password.

Keeping up with this sort of thing is not easy but if the spam makes you crazy, it's definitely a way to go.

If you're getting as much spam as you say, you've most likely gone to sites with adware that have glommed onto your email address and computer. This won't stop until you do some significant clean-up, stop using the one email address and keep updated spyware active on your computer.

Finally, the short term fix to much of this is to abandon your old email address and start again with a new, clean version. Good luck!

 
NFRC: Hi Joanie, in addition to Steve's info...

I can say that FinerKitchens and most reputable companies do not stoop to putting adware on your computer. Often adware gets installed on your computer when you install something else -- like if you download a free program or toolbar. Generally reputable companies like Google, Yahoo! etc. won't install anything bad on your computer, it's the companies you never heard of that are doing this. I HIGHLY recommend a product called Ad-Aware that searches for and removes adware and spyware from your computer. It can be obtained at the link below:

http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/

 
I agree with Mimi. Ad-Aware is excellent. I also use Microsoft's...

Antispyware that you can d/l from it's site and it stops some but when I run Ad-Aware, it still finds a few more. Also, with your popup blocker, you'll find it blocks all popups which mean's you'll have to click on it every time you click on a link here at this site. But you can tell it to allow popups from this site so it will open the links when you click on them. And, there are NO popups, such as advertising, from FinerKitches. smileys/bigsmile.gif

 
Mmm Mimi, I didn't think that there were......

ads-adware or whatever from this site that are intentional but from my weak understanding of Spanish I understood that adwares were tacked on by some boogie out there onto unsuspecting sites...I know I'm all confused.....
Also I noticed that my popup hammer head never works when I am open on this site...
If the fixit man installed something to stop adwares then I wouldn't still need another product like Ad-ware, would I?
Did I tell you how much I appreciate this site and you?

 
that means (I know now but didn't earlier) that there are no pop-ups from this site...so nice....

so very, very soooopah!

 
Actually Joanie I'm probably not aware of all the ways that adware can propagate...

In theory a hacker could get into the systems of another site and put something nasty on it, but as for us, we can tell if the site's been hacked and what they've done. So if they did it to us, we'd notice quick. And we have lots of safeguards in place to stop hackers. I would say that for something like that to happen is possible, but rare for decent companies who employ good security practices.

So glad you enjoy our ad-free site. :eek:) There is one pop-up though, it's when you click on the "Print Message" link; a new page with a printable version of the message pops up. A good pop-up stopper will distinguish between intentional pop-ups like this one, and ad-type pop-ups you don't want, but some pop-up stoppers will also stop our Print Message pop-up.

 
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