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What is Adware?
Adware is a program that displays unwanted banner ads or popup windows with ads.
You might think that there is only one way to look at Adware. It must be bad because there are Adware detection and removal programs right?
The reality is not so simple. Adware is usually bundled with freeware or shareware programs downloaded off the internet. Did you consider
the reason that program was free when you downloaded it? It turns out that there are two ways to look at Adware and you should
consider both before you either slam or praise it.
The "Adware is bad" position
Adware is really annoying. You thought your popup blocker would stop all the dreaded popup ads and it might have if you hadn't unknowingly
installed adware on your computer. Adware is obviously something none of us would deliberately install on our computers so the companies that
create these programs have to resort to trickery and deception to get people to allow them onto their computers. What they do is bundle adware
with shareware and freeware such as KaZa, Limewire, WeatherBug or the Comet Cursor.
Adware programs are not always the best written software and they can lead to all sorts of unexpected difficulties like
logging into websites or accessing secure services or even just checking your email. Adware can also seriously affect your computer's
performance, too.
The "Adware pays for that free software" position
The other way to look at Adware is through the eyes of the person or company providing the free or inexpensive program you downloaded off the internet.
To them Adware is just a way to defray the program's development cost. They would call it advertiser supported software rather than Adware. Consumers
get a helpful piece of software for free and all they have to do is allow some information to go to advertisers. What's so wrong with this picture? Not
only that but consumers often have the option of registering their copy of the program which will turn the advertising off. So it's a decision each person
must make on their own if they've decided to use the software
How to get rid of Adware
Getting rid of these Adware programs should be as easy as going to Add/Remove Programs and simply removing the offending program. Sometimes
you do get lucky and this is all it takes but once in a while it takes something more to remove spyware. This is why Adware removal software exists.
There are many good options for Adware removal and we recommend that you check your computer regularly to keep it free of Adware. Some of the
best adware removers include Ad-Aware SE, Spybot S&D, AVG free Antispy, Superantispy and Microsoft Windows Defender.
The best way to protect your computer against spyware and adware is to avoid installing any file-sharing programs known to contain adware and spyware, such as:
- Applejuice
- Ares P2P
- Audiogalaxy
- BearShare
- BonziBUDDY
- CometCursor
- eDonkey2000
- Gnucleus
- Gnutella
- Go!Zilla
- Grokster
- iMesh
- KaZaA and KaZaA Lite
- KMD
- LimeWire
- Morpheus
- NeoModus (DirectConnect)
- Overnet
- Rapigator
- Shareaza
- SwapNut
- Warez P2P
- WinMX
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