Are "Free" Programs spying on you?
Written: Dec 20 '01
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Easy to Use, Updated Frequently, Good Tech Support
Cons: None
The Bottom Line: I would recommend ad-aware to anyone who is considered about security and their privacy on the Internet. I would also recommend it to anyone who frequently downloads programs.
|
|
|
| xmetalfanx's Full Review: AD-Aware |
Do you want personal information like what websites you visit to be sent to marketing companies? If you are like many people on the web, your answer is no. A many “Freeware” programs on the Internet have ads in them, which I do not have problems with. They also (most of them) contain small “programs” that collect information such as web-browsing stats. Another type of information collected is the name and location of what you download (in the case of many download management programs). Do to this type of information being collected, many people call these Freewares, “Spyware” do to them spying on what one does on their computer
How do you know if you have these spyware programs on your computer, on better yet, how do you remove them? Ad-aware is the answer to this. Formerly people would get a program like OptOut from http:///www.grc.com. Soon after the number of spyware program increased, another program called Ad-aware came about. Unlike OptOut (at last check), which only scanned and removed 2 types of spyware, Ad-aware removes many more. The ability to get constant updates, and a separate program to automatically update the data files (files telling Ad-aware what is spyware…etc) has also been added. I have found that adaware is updated at least once a month.
You can scan your memory, registry, and your separate partitions (or drives) for spyware, and remove it with ease. In case you’re not sure about a particular program, you can backup those files or registry entries. If a spyware file is in use, Ad-aware will notify you and suggest rebooting your machine. After rebooting, Ad-aware will remove that file or entry when it is ran again. You can also add particular files to an ignorelist if you choose too, and ad-aware will ignore these files when it scans your computer. Ad-aware is Freeware, but it also has pay version that also has the ability to scan your computer automatically for these programs.
I always usually avoid these programs, by not downloading them, but I have found some spyware has “snuck on” to my computer. Some programs also do not function properly after the spyware is removed. Other programs such as Cheetachat (http://www.cheetachat.com) or Webshots (http://www.webshots.com) will function without any problems even after the spyware is removed. Most of the time, you can find a “true” freeware alternative for any program. If you search around, you many even find the freewares better then the programs that have spyware. Ad-aware works with Windows 95, 98, 2000, and I have it installed on Windows XP without any problems.
This program is a must for anyone who frequently downloads programs from the net. Some people do not mind this information being sent to companies about what YOU do. I personally have nothing to hide, but it is more “the point” of it for me. After all, if I don’t have to let these companies collect information about what I do, why should I?
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
xmetalfanx
|
|
Member: Mike
Reviews written: 32
Trusted by: 12 members
About Me:
http://xmetalfanx.hollosite.com
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.