Avoid Spyware
by Stephen on Feb.23, 2005, under Tech Tips
This sounds a bit like my don’t get viruses, and it is really.
There are a few ways to avoid getting infected with spyware or adware, here area few.
- Don’t use the internet or install software, this is the only certain way of keeping your machine uninfected, but that’s like saying don’t go out side it might rain.
- You can always disable all activex and only download and run software you know you can trust, upgrading to windows xp sp2 helps there by adding extra security and not letting you run anything you download without confirmation. Alternatively you can use an alternate browser that doesn’t allow activex, my suggestion is Firefox, its what I use and I’ve found some of its features to be really useful, like tabbed browsing to keep all your internet windows in one window.
- Install some anti-spyware software, this will sit on your computer and allow you to scan your drive and remove anything that’s got on that shouldn’t have. Adaware is one that detects most, but not all problems, if you’re willing to pay you can add a resident scanner which will watch for things trying to sneak onto your system. However the latest tool is Microsoft Antispyware (still in beta), this is completely free and contains a resident scanner too, and with it being Microsoft it should in theory fully integrate into windows to give a good level of protection. No tool can catch all problems, so having more than one system installed should keep you protected.
