Dear Friends,
Have you noticed the growing number of pop up ads you have to suffer through when surfing? It’s annoying at best. But now, these ads are going well beyond annoying. The culprit of some of the ads can actually be software that has been installed on your computer possibly without your knowledge. Many of these programs also track your online surfing to sell the information. Not only are you bombarded with pop up/under ads and have your privacy invaded, but these programs running in the background of your computer can cause your surfing to slow, crash your computer and/or browser, change your browser settings, and cause other computer problems. More and more computer repair shops are reporting these programs (called parasiteware, spyware, scumware, and adware on the Net) are the cause of service calls.
These programs are typically installed on your computer two ways. They may come bundled with other other software that requires you to install the parasiteware also in order to use the free software you want. Some good examples are with free games, P2P programs, screensavers and wall paper, skins for your browser, stationary for your email, search helpers, and programs in the disguise of offering your discounts when shopping. The second, more malicious way, these programs can be installed on your computer is by drive-by downloads when visiting web sites. An automatic download is performed from, you guessed it, usually a pop up/under ad! You may not even realize the download and install of the software has happened! Or worse yet, they may install a special program which slowly installs the software over several days so you don’t realize it is happening. What’s even worse is if you don’t uninstall these programs correctly, some of them will continue to reinstall themselves on your computer.
I know people who were experiencing problems with their computer and found up to 10 of these programs installed that they knew nothing about. You can have your computer scanned for free by visiting www.parasiteware.com to see if your computer is infected. You will also find more information about this growing problem on the Internet and what to do if your computer is infected.
There are quite a few programs you can buy now that block ads. These programs aren’t necessarily bad, but the problem is the software that is causing the ads is still on your computer and running. Also ad blocking software is fairly new. Many of these programs are “intelligent” about what they block. They frequently do not block some ads, while blocking other things which are not ads. They can effect your ability to see things on the Internet you really want to or block the way you surf on the Internet (for example not allowing you to open a new browser window). The first line of defense is to detect and remove the software causing the problem from your computer.
Take a moment to visit www.parasiteware.com to make sure your computer is ‘clean’ of this unwanted software. You can also help spread the word about this growing menace on the Internet by forwarding this email to your friends and family. But please, don’t spam anyone! That’s just as bad as unwanted ads while you’re surfing.
Regards,
EPS Hosting