How to remove adware, spyware, dailers, keyloggers, trogens, and protect your usage tracks...

Adware
Also known as advertising-supported software is software that hi jacks your computer to play and display or even download advertisements to your computer once the software is installed on your hard drive.

Adware Examples
123 Messenger, 180SearchAssistant, 888bar, Adssite Toolbar, AOL Instant Messenger, Antivirus 200 Family, Bearshare, Bonzi Buddy, BlockChecker, Burn4Free, ClipGenie, Comet Cursor, Crazy Girls,Cydoor, Daemon Tools - (Software comes bundled with the "Daemon Tools WhenUSave Toolbar" but can be unchecked during installation), Direct Revenue, DivX, DollarRevenue, Ebates MoneyMaker, ErrorSafe, Evernote, Ezula, FaceGame.exe, FlashGet, Gamespy, Gamevance, Gator, Gool.exe, and soooo many more >_>

Spyware
spyware installs itself on your computer with out your consent and mainly monitors your web browsing behavior. It changes your computers settings, slows down your internet connection, change the homepage, and installs additional software. To put in simple terms it invades your privacy!

Dialers
Dialers are necessary to connect to the internet (at least for non-broadband connections), but some dialers are designed to connect to premium-rate numbers. The providers of such dialers often search for security holes that may be present in the operating system installed on the user's computer and use them to change the computer to dial up through their number, pocketing the additional money for themselves. Alternatively, some dialers inform the user what it is that they are doing, with the promise of special content, accessible only via the special number. Examples of this content include software for download, (usually illegal) MP3s, 'underground' hacking materials such as viruses,and in the case of at least one website, pornography.

The cost of setting up such a service is relatively low, amounting to a few thousand dollars for telecommunications equipment, whereupon the unscrupulous operator will typically take 90% of the cost of a premium rate call, with very few overheads of their own.

Users with DSLs (or similar broadband connections) are usually not affected. A dialer can be downloaded and installed, but dialing in is not possible as there are no regular phone numbers in the DSL network and users will not typically have their dial-up modem, if any, connected to a phone line. However, if an ISDN adapter or additional analog modem is installed, the dialer might still be able to get a connection.

Malicious dialers can be identified by the following characteristics:

• A download popup opens when opening a website.
• On the website there is only a small hint, if any, about the price.
• The download starts even if the cancel button has been clicked.
• The dialer installs as default connection without any notice.
• The dialer creates unwanted connections by itself and without user interaction.
• The dialer does not show any notice about the price (only few do) before dialing in.
• The high price of the connection is not being shown while connected
• The dialer cannot be uninstalled, or only with serious effort.

Keyloggers
A hardwardware or software based method of loggin the keys that are pressed on a keyboard for the purpose of monitoring.

Trojans
Is malware that helps gain unauthorized access to the victims computer system. Additionally, they require interaction with a hacker to fulfil their purpose. The hacker need not be the individual responsible for distributing the Trojan horse. It is possible for hackers to scan computers on a network using a port scanner in the hope of finding one with a Trojan horse. The term Trojan Horse comes from a story in Greek mythology.

Usage Tracks
Usage tracks are your fingerprints in your system. Whenever you visit a page with your browser, or just open any file, that information is stored deep inside windows. In most cases that is very useful – if you want to open that file again, you can select it from a list instead of typing the whole filename or browsing the whole directory structure again. But in some cases you may want to hide your activity, because spyware and internet attackers may use that information.

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