Sometimes the price of free is just too high

Remember the city of Troy and that cool wooden horse they got for free? Sometimes unwanted and unknown strings can be attached to supposed free services and software. You can fight back with a little knowledge and some free tools.

In the beginning, free Internet services and free software were made available by individuals because they wanted to share and they thought it was cool to give something away. Then some entrepreneurs figured out that they might be able to make money by bundling advertising with the free services and software. That looked like it was going to work pretty well for all involved until the ad market became much more difficult. Out of desperation to make free services and free software pay off, adware and spyware were born.

There are companies that do their best to get programs installed on your computer to help them make money.

These tips can make your Net experience safer

Following these tips can go a long way toward helping you steer clear of the nuisances and dangers of adware and spyware:

• Stay away from dangerous neighborhoods - You can avoid some of the most dangerous spyware by not downloading software from warez sites. People who distribute pirated software also often distribute spyware and Trojans.
  
  
• Just say no - If a box pops up on your screen and asks you to click yes, or OK, only do so if you are actually trying to install software. Some Web sites try to trick you into installing adware or spyware.
  
  
• Ask for some ID - You can use a small program called Spychecker to find out if the software you are about to download contains spyware. You can find a download link on the Free Computer Security page.
  
  
• Use protection - Run anti-virus software and keep it updated.

• A good anti-virus program will stop the most malicious spyware and Trojans. You can find some good free anti-virus software on the Free Computer Security page.
  
  
• Lock the door - A good personal firewall not only protects you from hackers, it will keep programs from contacting the Internet without your permission. Adware and spyware can not function without sending information from your computer to the Internet. You can also find some great free personal firewalls on the Free Computer Security page.
  
  
• Get a checkup - There a several programs which can scan your computer for adware and spyware and remove it for you. The one program I highly recommend is called Ad-aware. No matter how careful you are, chances are very good that some spyware and adware will slip through your defenses. Ad-aware is an easy, quick and free way to get rid of them. You can find a link to download Ad-aware on the Free Computer Security page.

Adware is a type of program that displays ads just like those on most commercial Web sites, but they are controlled by the program instead of by visiting a Web site. Some of these programs are not a problem, because they make it obvious that viewing the ads pays for a free piece of software. They only run when you are using that particular program. The nasty ones are those that are set to start whenever you start your computer and serve ads even when you are not running the ad supported software you chose to install. Most of the bad adware keeps running even when you uninstall the software it came with.

Spyware is program code that tries to gather information about you and relay it to the company that distributed it. The more benign of these watches what sites you visit and where you shop on the Internet in order to create a marketing profile. The most evil ones may attempt to capture credit card numbers and other sensitive information.

At the best, these programs are an annoyance. At worst, they are a severe security risk. Aside from their intended purposes, they can also have other effects. Since they run every time you boot your computer, they can cause slowdowns, and software conflicts which can make your computer less stable.

Fortunately, there are things you can do to make it less likely that adware or spyware gets installed on your computer. There are also ways to detect and remove the programs if they are already there.