If you computer is running on the slow side and testing your patience, it may be infected with spyware or adware. This is definitely the case if you feel that some gremlins are doing funny things with your preferences and other personalised set up, i.e. your homepage changing, inappropriate popups, unfamiliar icons…
Spyware or adware are just bits of code designed to break into your computer and make it perform certain tasks. They are downloaded onto your computer without your knowledge, while you are browsing the internet. Theay are not very harmful and in most cases are just a major annoyance. However, in some cases these may act as ‘vulnerabilities’ that allow access to you computer system to hackers and other unscrupulous operators.
Fortunately, there are ways to remove these spyware and adware nasties from your machine.
The two leading adware/spyware removal programs that are simple enough to use and available at no cost are: Ad-Aware and Spybot . Just type one or the other name into Google and you will be taken to the website. All you need to do now is fins the Spyware scan, run it and click OK when it offered to remove your bugs.
Happy hunting
Over and out
Mobile Geekette