Antivirus Software – Get The Bugs Before They Get You!
You turn on your computer, and it doesn’t look quite right. Maybe your icons have changed, or the background picture is wrong. Some options are disabled. Even worse, you may not be able to boot your computer up at all. Guess what – it’s probably got...
Cable vs. DSL - Which is Better?
As broadband Internet becomes more mainstream, one of the most common questions we get is: which is better, cable or dsl?
The answer to that question is not so definite. Many factors come into play when deciding which high-speed connection to...
Crash Course In Getting A #1 Google Ranking
First, here’s the rundown of some of the terminology I’m going to use in this article – Inbound Links – Links coming into your site Outbound Links – Links leaving your site Cross Links – Links that you have “traded” with another site (ie, they’ve...
If You Had Problems in the Past with a Computer Virus, Then You'll Want to Know How Easy it is to Setup Firewall Protection
“If You Had Problems in the Past with a Computer Virus, Then You'll Want to Know How Easy it is to Setup Firewall Protection” By Steven Presar You know the basics of computer virus protection -- don't open email attachments' from senders that you...
Understanding Spyware
Spyware is a "malware" or malicious software that is placed on your computer without your knowledge. This can happen when you visit online web sites offering free downloads of games, when you download videos or music, or any share files, such as...
Protecting Your Computer from Adware and Spyware
Recently, while checking our company web site statistics, we noticed a number of referrals from gambling and pornography sites. Since we are certain these types of sites would not house links to us, we investigated further and determined that some of our faithful visitors may be the victims of adware or spyware.
What is adware?
Adware, in it's most sinister incarnation, is a program that runs on your computer (like a virus) and occassionally pops up ads or redirects your browser to websites you had not chosen to visit.
What is spyware?
Spyware is software that collects personal information from you without your knowledge or permission. The information spyware collects can range from all the web sites you visit to sensitive information including user names and passwords.
How can I make sure I don't get these on my computer?
* Never download programs or files from a website you don't know and trust. * Never open email
attachments unless you know what they are. If you receive an email from a friend, but the text is strange and you don't know what the attachment is do not open it. Write to your friend and make sure they sent the email. * Keep an antivirus program running on your computer at all times. You may also want to download Microsoft's Spyware program which can be found free here: http://www.microsoft.com/ More comprehensive articles on adware and spyware may be found here:
An authority on integrated web databases, Amanda Huber is co-owner of Vulcan Creative Labs, LLC (www.vulcancreative.com) and DeadFred.com, an online genealogy photo archive. She occasionally contributes articles for Dead Fred's e-newsletter Relatively Speaking which help genealogy researchers with more technical aspects of their online tasks.