Posted on 07/03/2004 9:40:02 AM PDT by Trueblackman
I went to pest control as you suggested and it found 98 tracking cookies. Yikes! I just dumped all cookies (and had to log back on to FR) and that took care of that. I was AMAZED at all the tracking cookies. Thanks for the tip. Are those tracking cookies really bad for the computer? Anyway, I've never dumped all my cookies before so it was probably about time. Thanks again.
Opera is an IE clone, go with firefox.
I've always used RH or Fedora, and feel like I would like to try something different for a while.
Start slowly . . . one problem at a time. There is nothing that your fellow FReepers cannot fix. If you don't know what the problem is, start with the symptoms.
the only thing I hate about Mozill are the browser "Looks" and styles...they are very very ugly in my opinion
Some cookies and Temp files can open the door for malicious trojans...porn dialers (even if you never look at porn), hijackers, viruses. Some just track you and then sell information: you might notice targeted popup for example. It can slow down your computer also and of course your privacy is violated. *If you only had 98, you were doing pretty well. I have seen some computers that had hundreds.
I've been wondering: Do I need to worry about spyware if I have a Mac? I searched for software to remove spyware on a Mac, but I couldn't find any.
Thanks in advance!
Ad Aware did a good job for me last week. Unfortunately, from what I can tell if you use a satellite for internet connections, as I do at home, there is no way to stop the popups consistently.
I'm at the point where I go months without booting up my expensive home machine because of the constant pop ups.
Bookmarked.
Pest Patrol finds and kills spyware that AdAware and Spybot don't. Yeah, it costs money, but . . .
All computer users should be concerned about security, but it's much easier to achieve on a Mac.
There are a few things on Mac that could be described as "spyware" - (e.g. AOL Instant Messenger) - but none of it is like the Windows stuff that hijacks web browsers, causes endless popups, etc.
Apple recently issued a security update that informs the users whenever a downloaded program is about to run for the first time, so that gives an extra layer of protection against unwanted software.
So far, there are no worms or viruses in the wild for Mac OS X. Third-party anti-virus software is available for Mac from Norton, Sophos, etc. Most Mac users don't use AV software, but it can help prevent a Mac user from accidentally forwarding an email virus to a Windows user. Also, Mac OS X has a built-in firewall that is easily activated in the System Preferences.
Thanks for all the info and advice. It is much appreciated.
bump for publicity
Yes, there is. Try Firefox. It's free and it stops all pop-ups so well that I cannot remember when I saw one.
I agree with use of these program, I also think the very best program to use after you have got rid of the spyware is ADSUBTRACT PRO...
http://www.intermute.com/adsubtract/
Believe you me, this program does it all. Not just pop-ups, please do yourself a favor and check it out ADSUBTRACT PRO
See post 137. Adsubtract Pro does it all, you keep what you want, when you want, how you want, allow on sites what you want. Spyware, cookies, pop-ups, Annoying ads, background stuff, java junk. Everything in one program. I love it.
I use pest patrol also. I finally got rid of search v using pest patrol to track down and delete the junk-I had to delete some of it manually. Search V(CWS variant) is the pits! My kids were reasearching a term paper and went to one of their fake websites looking for information. It took me three weeks and I was serioiusly considering reformatting the hard drive. I love Pest patrol.
Also, the paid version of Zone Alarm comes with a pop up stopper and it works great. I have a satalite connection and I rarely get pop ups.
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