Better Information Retention

 

 Adware / Spyware

ADWARE / SPYWARE

After being installed, most adware will display banner ads or other intrusive advertising on the internet and in your email inbox. These ads are used to offer you products and services from the malware creator. In addition, this type of malware can collect personal information about you and where you surf online, such as your web browsing history or what emails you have clicked on (also known as clickthrough data). You’ll be surprised at how much people know about us by just looking at our Internet footprints: whether it is a list of websites we've visited in the past 30 minutes or our social media posts.

The information can be sold to third parties and in some cases the information is used to target and scam you using fake popup alerts, such as fake security alerts or other scare tactics.

If your computer is infected with adware, you will see unwanted advertisements on web pages that you visit. These advertisements will be aimed at promoting the installation of additional questionable content including web browser toolbars, optimization utilities and other products, all so the adware publisher can generate pay-per-click revenue.

Adware programs are commonly bundled with free programs that you download from the Internet. Unfortunately, some free downloads do not adequately disclose that other software will also be installed and you may find that you have installed adware without your knowledge. Other adware programs are promoted as 'removers' and 'cleaners' but they often make further changes to your computer's configuration or install additional third-party applications that you may not want.

If you are affected by this type of threat, Ad Aware will help protect you from most attacks. You should update your programs as soon as possible to keep them protected from this type of threat.

In total, more than 48 million people have downloaded Ad Aware since the program was launched in 1995. However, because the malware authors continually come up with new methods to avoid detection, it is difficult to determine how much adware is currently affecting people's computers. The difference between Ad Aware 6.0 and Ad Aware SE is that Ad Aware SE will also remove adware.

Adware is installed by itself and without your knowledge when you click on a malicious link, open an email attachment, visit an infected web site, or accept a download from the Internet that has been bundled with adware (also known as a Trojan). The computer adware essentially imitates the functionality of a web browser so that when you surf the Internet, the adware can track your surfing habits and collect information about where you are surfing online. You will often see this type of threat when visiting sites such as Facebook, YouTube or eBay because their site owners are making an advertising revenue from running ads on their site.

Adware program is added to your computer and software through the installation of another free piece of software that was bundled with the malware. This is why it is extremely important to pay attention when installing software, that you do not install additional programs unless you are sure that they are secure.

Adware tracking cookies are one way for companies to collect information about your browsing habits. It is also done in order to track other information about your computer and what you have installed on it. The adware program tracks your activity and then delivers the collected data to its author so they can build a profile on what products and services you use most often. This information can then be sold to other companies, who use the information to show you advertising based on what they know about your interests.

Adware programs can be installed by programs that you download off the Internet, but they may also come bundled with shareware, videos or games you've downloaded as well. Just because a website is reputable does not mean that there are no hidden downloads including adware.

The most common symptoms of having an adware program are:

Your web browser settings have been modified and your homepage, search page and new tab page have been changed without your permission; Your browser has suddenly stopped working normally; Your computer is infected with multiple viruses; You see popups or get notifications to upgrade various programs on your computer.

How To Remove Adware:

When you are infected with adware, you may see a message that says: " You have new features available for your download !" Clicking this will take you to a page where the malware creator will offer to install the latest version of their program. Be very careful when choosing which downloads you install on your computer because some programs are dangerous, even if they claim that they are safe.

Adaware SE is designed to detect and remove any adware infection that has taken place in your computer. Over time, the software gets smarter about what adware it detects and is able to remove. Follow these steps and you will be able to clean and protect your computer from this type of threat:

Download Ad Aware SE and save it to your Desktop (click the Download button below).

Run the downloaded file "AdAwareInstaller.exe" by double clicking on it. You may see a User Account Control pop-up asking if you want to allow Ad Aware to make changes to your computer. If this happens, you should click "Yes" to continue with the installation.

When Ad Aware starts, click " Next ".

Click " Yes " at the User Account Control prompt (if prompted), then click " Next ".

At the Welcome screen, click " Next ".

At the License Agreement screen, read over the agreement and check off " I accept the terms of this license agreement ", then click " Next ".

At the Custom Setup screen, check off all options listed under Ad Aware Security to install those options. Then check off " Scan for potentially unwanted applications and enable anti-spyware protection ". Then finally click " Install ", and then click " Finish ".

A dialog box will appear stating that Ad Aware has been installed, click on Ok .

Ad Aware should automatically start scanning your computer. If it doesn't, go to your task bar and find Ad Aware , then double-click on it to start a scan. If you have any questions, please ask in the Ad Aware Forum.

If your computer has already been infected with adware and the above steps do not remove the adware, we recommend that you follow these steps:

Download and run a full system scan with MalwareBytes Anti-Malware .

Run a full system scan with Hitman Pro .

If you are still having trouble after using Ad Aware, alternatively use Adguard to clean your computer from adware.

If your computer has been infected with malicious software then you should perform a system restore as this will remove all registry entries for the malware program and other things left behind by the malware program.

Conclusion

As you can see from the above steps, Ad Aware 6.0 is a powerful anti-spyware program that is easy to use. However, if you are still having problems with malware or your computer isn't responding properly, we recommend you download MalwareBytes Anti-Malware and run a full scan on your computer to get rid of all spyware from your system.

The MalwareBytes Anti-Malware scanner will run alongside your current security program without any issues.