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Common
Signs You Have Spyware or Adware on Your Computer
While sometimes spy ware and
ad where can be running on your computer seemingly invisible to you, most
often you will know that your computer has been compromised. Often, the
symptoms are quite obvious that something is going on, but not everyone
will associate these symptoms with the fact a spyware program has been
installed on the computer.
So what are the common signs
you should look for if you think you may have spyware?
- You see many pop up ads
on your computer. Most often, these ads will be for adult oriented
web sites, and many of them feature graphics you do not want your kids
seeing. These ads can appear even when you are not actively surfing
on the Internet and they are often not even related to the site you
are viewing.
- You suddenly have a new
start homepage. When you start up Internet Explorer, or you hit
the home button in your browser, you'll suddenly see a the web page
as your homepage. And most of the time, even resetting your homepage
to the one you want to appear either will not work, or that new homepage
will appear when you start a new browser session.
- When you try to go to
your favorite search engine, you are suddenly rerouted to a completely
different search engine. So, when you type google.com or yahoo.com
into your browser's address bar, you could be redirected to spammysearchengine.com
instead.
- When you search your
favorite search engine, even though the results appear to be Google,
they appeared to be all advertising links. the spy ware will it
tempt to make it look like they are actual Google results, but they
are actually paid advertising links that the spy ware will get money
for every time you click.
- You suddenly find yourself
with a new toolbar on your Internet browser. If you haven't installed
this toolbar yourself, it is spyware. It will track all the web pages
you visit, and likely show ads based upon your surfing habits.
- Your computer is suddenly
much slower than normal. Spy ware often uses up huge amounts of
your computer's system resources, which can mean a tremendous slow down
when you try to perform your usual tasks on the computer.
If you notice any of the symptoms
on your computer, you should immediately scan your computer for spyware
and adware using one of the recommended
spyware removal tools and follow the instructions to remove whatever
has installed itself on your computer.
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