As we surf around the internet, we collect "spyware" (tracking cookies, etc.). Most of it is relatively harmless, but you don't always get a say in the matter - so it is a good idea to clean out all this junk periodically (depending on your surfing habits, and what sites you visit, you may want to do it daily!). This has become a part of "life on the interent" - cleaning out of spyware, scanning of viruses ... yikes!
Step 1) There are several spyware cleaners out there ... my personal favorite is Ad-Aware, and they have a free version for personal use.
Here is the web site and an image of the links you could use to download it (just download one copy).
Also, I would just download the program file itself .. once you install it, it will give you the option of downloading the most recent reference file - do that! (That's easier that trying to download the new reference file, and put it in the right folder for ad-aware to find it ... let ad-aware download it itself!)
Step 2)After you install it (should find an icon on the desktop), click on the CHECK FOR UPDATES NOW. I would recommend doing that for each time you start up the program (to make sure you have the most recent listing of that nasty spyware).
Step 3) When running it, you can just leave it on the default SMART SCAN.
Step 4)Here is an example of Ad-Aware finding some things (the first time you run it, I'd be amazed if you didn't have some objects found!). Click the NEXT button.
Step 5) Usually you have to select each object (mouse click in the checkbox) - if you double click on the object, you'll get information about the spyware. [Personally, I've always just selected everything - the information on each didn't help me out much - and I've never had any problems with my other programs after just cleaning out everything. {In the next step, you'll see that you can "recover" something if necessary.}]
Step 6) Ad-Aware will quarantine the spyware objects (take them away from the system, but they could be recovered if it took away something you might need - I've never had to recover anything myself). If you want to completely delete the things, open the quarantine list and you see other options. (Personally, I just leave them in the quarantine-list for now ... later I'll go back and delete the really old ones.)
So, go forth and scan for those pesky spyware objects!
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Last Updated = Friday, 03-Feb-2006 22:34:56 EST Of the 47 people that have visited this site, you are the most recent.