Ad-Aware And Spybot - Free Software Downloads To Eliminate Spyware

Spyware. Malware. Viruses. Cookies.

There seems to be a whole lot of supposedly undesirable material plaguing our computer systems and few of us really know what any of the foreboding terminology used to describe it all means. After doing extensive research though, in attempt to provide readers a comprehensive answer to such questions, I found that many of the explanations were vague and nondescript.

Essentially, though, I have determined after researching many credible sources, that spyware, malware and cookies, though all three differ in the ways they manifest themselves, pretty much serve the same purpose. That is, they are tools used by the major companies who wish to take full marketing advantage of the World Wide Web's possibilities and record information about your personal web browsing experience to use for their own future benefits and ultimately, their profits. It was nearly impossible to find a user-friendly explanation as to how one's activity is tracked, in a less technically and ultra-scientific sense, but it is quite clear that we are in fact really being monitored.

Most of the three advertising data collection tools these companies are utilizing are cookies, malware or spyware. Depending on how you look at these tactics as well as how you view your internet usage privacy, these three tricky predators can be seen as either annoying yet harmless files that simply help your hard drive gather clutter or they can be considered a mass violation of privacy. In fact, most people are of the second notion, that this spyware and such, which tracks our activity down to every click we perform sometimes and the specific duration of page views, is invading our personal rights to keep our internet searching secure and anonymous.

The spyware, malware and cookies, to sum it up, briefly are pretty much responsible for observing your activity and then dictating electronically back to the advertising company the trends of your behavior and our viewing preferences so that they can better target you as a potential buyer or whatever their intended goal for you is by catering to the interest their tracking tools picked up about your desires and tendencies. These malignant, as some might put it, tools, are the reasons why you may get a series of pop up advertising about cars all day long after studying a sight about various vehicular parts and accessories. It is not just a coincidence that many of these ads you see while browsing the web tease you with themes that if you didn't know any better you'd probably click away on nonstop because the topics genuinely interest you. The word spyware says it all. The companies pretty much put out these tools, or whatever the proper name for them may be, to spy on your interests and therefore they can tailor their marketing right into your hands.

Unfortunately or fortunately, these spyware tactics usually work. They can sure be a pain when the banner ads or pop ups continuously block the content you are viewing in the middle of your screen, but I am sure that I am not the only one who has been too tempted to let one of those enticing ads go by without checking it out just once. Why is this? Because, well, it fits my interest. This could be good in that it may help you find what you are looking for a little faster at times. However, these malware, spyware and cookie tools can be detrimental because they often put unrequested, unnecessary and format altering programs onto your machine as well. Ever noticed how your browser suddenly has a few new slots in the toolbar that you know you would never in your right mind have put there? This is what this stuff does. It also can slow your overall computer startup time because of programs added to run in the background while you carry on with your other work. You may not even notice these extraneous programs exist without a thorough investigation but they are sure to make your computer lag, while again, serving the purpose of tracking your activity.

I'm sure you've heard the names of many different spyware protection and removal programs during the past several years of your web surfing experience. Spy this, spy that, Counterspy, Spy doctor, and then of courses the many Antivirus programs that claim to also remove all the other spy related junk as well as the nasty viruses. So how do you know which program works, which ones to trust? There are many options out there in terms of spyware control; some of them are completely free of charge and others, quite hefty in price. Obviously, most people want to avoid spending unnecessary money, but are they sacrificing the long-term health and performance of their computers by taking the cheap way out?

After doing extensive research, from reading copious software program manuals and from being that typical sucker that everyone's familiar with (you know, the one who jumps the gun and purchases or at the very least tries out the evaluation versions of every spyware removal program on the market that someone somewhere gives praise to) as well as consulting a few acquaintances who I consider to be expert sources in the field, I have come to a few conclusions of my own. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not pulling the following brand names out of nowhere, I do have several friends and colleagues who deal with the whole information technology realm of business on a daily basis and I have collaborated their opinions with mine. But together, with my friends' extensive trade magazine quality informed opinions and word of mouth advertising expertise, combined with my own trial and error experience with the software itself, I feel confident referring a few crucial programs to you loyal readers.

Please note that some seem to hold the popular opinion that adding spyware/adware removal programs to your computer actually does the opposite. The people insinuate that they in fact put the tracking devices on your machine. However, I personally was unable to find proof of this through my research so for the sake of educating the vast majority of people who actually do wish to take a chance on one of these programs, I will proceed to outline briefly the ones I've found to be the best. And for the record, it seems to be quite interesting that the folks I know who refuse to use spyware removal and detection tools seem to always have something mysteriously wrong with their computers. So it is your call which way to proceed but I thin it is pretty clear that the better alternative is to succumb to the possibly equally as corrupt anti-spyware programs until some new miraculous and newly fool proof new strategy comes up to prevent this type of invasive computer clutter more efficiently.

Out of all of the anti-spyware software programs available for free downloads today, it has been thus far concluded that two of them remain the most effective and most popular among those who would be considered "in the know". The two programs are known as Ad-Aware and Spybot.

Ad-Aware is made by a company called Lavasoft. The official website shows a few different Ad-Aware versions available, but the free download one seems to be sufficient. You can either download directly from the Lavasoft site at http://www.lavasoft.com or you can search for the software on a reliable shareware/freeware site such as http://www.download.com . Ad-Aware scans your entire hard drive, or whichever areas of your computer you tell it to, for harmful materials and gives you the option to eliminate them or put the items into quarantine where they may be restored at a later time, in the case of hasty mistakes.

Spybot Search and Destroy is similar to Ad-Aware, and both proclaim to do pretty much the same tasks, but the word among techies seems to be that using both of these programs is ideal, as apparently Spybot finds adware that Ad-Aware does not and vice versa. Used together, though, one is said to have most of their adware and malware problems taken care of. Spybot can be obtained as well from a universal shareware site such as http://www.download.com or directly from its direct website, at http://www.safer-networking.org .

Unfortunately the software manufacturers sites as well as the free download/shareware sites they can be obtained from do not explain in much detail how the programs really go about fixing the harmful extensions put onto your computer; what I have described above is a fairly extensive summary of the information available. However, you might feel secure to know that the preference of these two products, regardless of extensive information available on how and what they can do, seems to be almost unanimous among computer gurus and technical/trade publications and websites. I am not one to suggest people simply hop on the bandwagon because everyone else is telling them to, but sometimes, especially in the complicated world of computers and technology when certain matters can be way over the average user's heads, having some level of faith in the majority opinion is a necessary chance to take.