Canisius College

Spyware
Has your homepage changed without your intervention? Have you tried to go to a specific website, but instead been directed to another site? Is your desktop or browser becoming a magnet for pop-up ads? These are just a few indications that your computer may be invaded by "Spyware" or "Adware". Initially, they start out as an occasional minor inconvenience. As time goes on, these processes change settings and in some cases, run in the background draining resources, and eventually affecting your system performance.

Recommended Removal Tools
It is recommended that spyware removal programs and full virus scans be run in Windows SAFE MODE. To boot your computer into SAFE MODE, press the F8 key immediately on powering up. Choose "Safe Mode" from the resulting menu.

Avoiding Spyware
Adware and Spyware often accompany "free" software that may be useful. These may include, but are not limited to, applications such as file sharing programs, weather monitoring applications, search tools, and tools offering to "store" information such as credit card information, addresses and phone numbers. When these applications are downloaded and installed, the invasive software is also installed. Here are a few programs which typically cause far more problems than they solve. We advise all computer users to avoid these programs.

1. Bonzi Buddy - Notorious for spyware and adware. It also causes numerous system problems as well. Installation should be avoided.

2. Gator - Masquerades as a helpful tool to help you easily fill in form details for websites, Gator also comes with a complete package of spyware to invade your system. This should be considered highly invasive and avoided.

3. Kazaa - The popular Peer to Peer file sharing service is also a popular source for spyware and virus infections. Using this software may be illegal.

Other invasive freeware applications include, but are not limited to:

• Weather Bug
• Date Manager
• Precision Time
• Smartsearch
• Hugesearch
• Fastsearch
• SurferBar
• LimeWire
• Comet Cursor