I downloaded a free screensaver, now my computer is acting up!
Why did this happen?
The Internet is chock full of Free
Stuff! Many of us have been told that "Nothing is for Free!"
in life and the fact of the matter is this applies to the Internet
as well. I can't tell you how many times I have been asked by friends,
family, and associates to look at their computers because they were
"acting up" only to find out a free screensaver or some other tool had
been installed. What people must understand is the majority of free
items on the Internet are basically a foot in the door to get you to
purchase something. Or worse, to infect your system with everything
from Worms, Viruses, Ad-ware, Spyware, or Backdoors that allow people
on the Internet to access your computer!
Downloading Free Stuff
At our house we have a
pretty complex network of computers. This tends to happen when your entire
career is centered around computers and technology. Because of the number
of computers and the size of our home network we have a pretty complex
Anti-Virus system that is controlled by a single server that I manage.
One day I received a
notice via e-mail from my Anti-Virus server that my wife's computer seemed to be
downloading an abnormally large amount of Ad-ware and Spy-ware (or trying to at
least). I went to discuss this with her and asked her if she had
downloaded anything recently? She told me no, nothing out of the ordinary.
While I was standing there her free screensaver came on. It was a 3D animated
picture of a beautiful home where snow was falling and birds were playing.
The other thing it was doing was trying to install many types of ad-ware and
spy-ware.
Beware of downloading
anything FREE, even screensavers, on the Internet. Just as I am sure you
have heard many times that nothing in life is for FREE, the same applies to
downloads on the Internet. Whether it is a stripped down version of the
full program that puts up little annoying reminders to register or the latest
and greatest browser tool bar, it is most likely full of ad-ware, spy-ware or
maybe even virus like applications.
Ad-ware and Spy-ware and Viruses Affect System Performance
Just like your standard
virus, ad-ware, or spy-ware, many FREE downloads are full of problems.
They can include viruses, spy-ware, and ad-ware, or could just be written in a
very poor fashion. All of these issues can directly affect your computers
performance. They eat up resources, consume Internet or network bandwidth,
and can even crash your computer.
I know many people who run
a particular "buggy" weather tool. This program is FREE and is suppose to
give you local weather reports and other weather related information. It is my
opinion, and the opinion of many others in my line of work, that these (and
particularly this product), is chock full of problems that can affect your
computer. In fact, I can't tell you how many times I have been told the
moment someone tried to uninstall this and similar programs that they are
directed to a webpage that asks them all kinds of marketing question; only to
find out that in the end, the program does not uninstall. Or it partially
uninstalled and they are instructed to reinstall the program in order to try and
uninstall it again. It's a never ending circle of failure to uninstall and
results in you becoming frustrated and your computer not knowing which way is
up!
Computer Starts Crashing
In addition to the annoyances many FREE software downloads can cause,
much worse things can happen. Many of these programs are written quickly with
no concern of how the program may affect the computer it is installed on.
The main purpose of these FREE products is to entice you to purchase something,
not be a stable application.
FREE downloads that
are written poorly may cause your computer all kinds of problems including a
system crash. The fact that your system up and crashes, causing you to
turn it off and start it again is a pain to begin with. But did you know that an
abnormal system crash can;
-
Cause you to loose
data you may be working on;
-
Corrupt your systems
Registry or Hard Disk Drive;
-
Or, cause the crash on
purpose in order to install a memory resident program like spy-ware when you
reboot.
Be very particular about
what FREE stuff you download from the Internet. In many cases you can
perform a search on the product to see if there are know issues with it.
You may even find out it is considered ad-ware or spy-ware.
Lots of Viruses
Ok, this one is one of my
BIGGEST pet peeves! Downloading FREE stuff using peer-to-peer file-sharing
programs. This is about one of the worst things you can install on your
computer. If you or your kids have this installed on any of your computers
do yourself a favor and get rid of it right away!
Once again, the moment
someone comes up with a great idea it is exploited by those who could care less
about you and your computer. Many file-sharing programs like KaZaA,
EDonkey, Bearshare, Limewire, and Gnutella network are a breading ground for
malicious and dangers programs!
Here are some of the
things you can expect if you use these programs to download FREE software,
pornography, music, and others;
-
You can expect to
receive Worms, Viruses, and Trojans disguised as everyday files;
-
The potential for
others to compromise or access your computer and personal files;
-
You can expect to
download programs that when you run them they install a backdoor for a hacker to
connect to and potentially take control of your computer;
That is just a few of the
things you can expect and should know. Stay away from these programs and
you and your computer will be just that more safe and secure.
Conclusion
In order to keep you and
your computer safe on the Internet you need to be diligent. Be very
selective of what you download on the Internet, especially anything that is FREE. If
you do not have total control over what your children
download at least explain to them what the dangers are. Remember, if you
have several computers on a home or small business network all computers are at
risk even if only one is downloading these programs.
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