Addware & Spyware -- Signs Of Infection

 

Now that we have looked at how spyware gets on your machine, it’s important to have a system of knowing whether you are infected.

Obviously, the first thing you need to do is get a good anti-spyware program. You can use our software Disable Spyware, or else check out the "other software" link to the right of this article. All these programs offer a free scan and this will give you the best indication of whether or not you have a serious problem with spyware.

Getting a good piece of software to remove spyware is crucial. However, there are other signs you can look out for to see if you are infected. For a start, if you keep getting pestered by pop-up ads, then there is a good chance you are infected with adware.

When you get infected with adware, pop-up ads may come up with a whole range of offers. These are from companies who advertise with the people making the adware infecting your computer, where they pay a set fee each time their advertisement is shown on an infected machine.

The second thing to look out for (other than pop-up ads) is if your computer is running slow. Malicious programs will often hide in the registry and take up your computers RAM and processing power in order to display pop-up ads, record your information, and generally tinker with your settings.

If your computer takes a long time to start up and is slow when you first get into windows, for example, then it is possible spyware or adware is running in the background. Similarly, if it takes a long time to start up software on your machine, then there is a good chance spyware in the background is chewing up your computers RAM.

There are also a number of more obvious things to look out for. If your homepage has mysteriously changed to a site you know nothing about, or you are spammed with Viagra ads whenever you search Google, then you definitely have adware or some other kind of infection.

In summary, make sure you first of all get a good program to delete spyware; second, watch out for pop-up ads; third, see if your computer is running slowly; and finally look out to see if any of your settings have been changed. By doing all of the above you will definitely be able to find out whether your computer has been infected.