Stemming The Tide of Unwanted Advertising
Spam, spyware and popups. Three of the most frustrating issues facing internet users today. Stopping them can be difficult. Sometimes even the software we download to stop the ads opens our computers up to more ads. Companies haven even devised virus-like programs called spyware which install unwanted programs to pop up more advertising. Recently some spyware I found on my girlfriend's computer would even manipulate Google search results.
Through constant trial and error I have found three products, two totally free and one free for the time being. One searches your computer for spyware and eliminates it, one blocks pop-ups as you surf the internet and the last blocks spam in your email.
Ad-Aware
Ad-Aware is a product created by Lavasoft, Inc. Much like an anti-virus program, it will scan your computer for spy-ware and either delete it or quarantine it. I have run it several times on a number of different machines and operating systems and have had no problems with it. It has often found hundreds of files, folders and registry entries from spyware. Every time I chose to delete everything it found and never once has it caused a problem. More often then not a speed increase, both overall and specifically when on the internet, has been obvious.
The Google Toolbar
This one is quick, easy and very effective. It downloads and installs in minutes. It will place a small toolbar under your address bar on your internet browser. The toolbar will allow you to search for news, images and of course, webpages from any page on the internet. The biggest value of this program, however, is its pop-up blocker. I have had it running for over a month and never once have I seen a pop-up get through it. Between my home and office computers the toolbar has blocked well over 1,000 pop-ups during that time. The pop-up blocking in addition to the other tools offered make this one a must-have.
Cloudmark SpamNet
This program is free for Outlook Express, for now. For Outlook users, you can get a 30-day free trial before a $3.99/month fee kicks in. I am currently using the free Express version. It is the most effective spam fighting software I've ever used, and I've used a lot of them. The best thing about the program is just how easy it is to use.
When it installs it will put a toolbar just under the buttons on the top of your Outlook window. It will also add a "Spam" and "Work Folder" to your folder list. As your email comes in, it will place spam in the spam folder while keeping other messages in your normal inbox. I did not notice a delay when getting my email at work through a DSL connection, but at home it was a little slower than normal due to my dialup connection. The spam-free inbox is more than worth the wait, however.
It runs on the same technology used by peer-to-peer networks to trade music files, but instead of songs you trade the email addresses of spammers with the other users on the network. It is very effective. I have been using it for 12 days now on both my office and home computers. During that time it has blocked 820 emails on my office computer and 647 at home. That's a total of 1467 messages, or 122.25 per day. That's a lot of spam.
I still get about 10 or 15 spam messages that sneak through during the course of a day, but getting rid of them is easy. You simply highlight them as you're reading your other email and hit the block button. On the pay version, you can even track statistics of the number of spammers you've turned in and the amount of email you're responsible for blocking.
If there is spam software on the market, I'm not aware of it.
These three tools have restored my internet experience to the ready source of information I had become accustomed to before the tidal wave of advertising took over in recent years. Everybody, from so-called power users to internet newbies, can benefit from this software.
Through constant trial and error I have found three products, two totally free and one free for the time being. One searches your computer for spyware and eliminates it, one blocks pop-ups as you surf the internet and the last blocks spam in your email.
Ad-Aware
Ad-Aware is a product created by Lavasoft, Inc. Much like an anti-virus program, it will scan your computer for spy-ware and either delete it or quarantine it. I have run it several times on a number of different machines and operating systems and have had no problems with it. It has often found hundreds of files, folders and registry entries from spyware. Every time I chose to delete everything it found and never once has it caused a problem. More often then not a speed increase, both overall and specifically when on the internet, has been obvious.
The Google Toolbar
This one is quick, easy and very effective. It downloads and installs in minutes. It will place a small toolbar under your address bar on your internet browser. The toolbar will allow you to search for news, images and of course, webpages from any page on the internet. The biggest value of this program, however, is its pop-up blocker. I have had it running for over a month and never once have I seen a pop-up get through it. Between my home and office computers the toolbar has blocked well over 1,000 pop-ups during that time. The pop-up blocking in addition to the other tools offered make this one a must-have.
Cloudmark SpamNet
This program is free for Outlook Express, for now. For Outlook users, you can get a 30-day free trial before a $3.99/month fee kicks in. I am currently using the free Express version. It is the most effective spam fighting software I've ever used, and I've used a lot of them. The best thing about the program is just how easy it is to use.
When it installs it will put a toolbar just under the buttons on the top of your Outlook window. It will also add a "Spam" and "Work Folder" to your folder list. As your email comes in, it will place spam in the spam folder while keeping other messages in your normal inbox. I did not notice a delay when getting my email at work through a DSL connection, but at home it was a little slower than normal due to my dialup connection. The spam-free inbox is more than worth the wait, however.
It runs on the same technology used by peer-to-peer networks to trade music files, but instead of songs you trade the email addresses of spammers with the other users on the network. It is very effective. I have been using it for 12 days now on both my office and home computers. During that time it has blocked 820 emails on my office computer and 647 at home. That's a total of 1467 messages, or 122.25 per day. That's a lot of spam.
I still get about 10 or 15 spam messages that sneak through during the course of a day, but getting rid of them is easy. You simply highlight them as you're reading your other email and hit the block button. On the pay version, you can even track statistics of the number of spammers you've turned in and the amount of email you're responsible for blocking.
If there is spam software on the market, I'm not aware of it.
These three tools have restored my internet experience to the ready source of information I had become accustomed to before the tidal wave of advertising took over in recent years. Everybody, from so-called power users to internet newbies, can benefit from this software.
Blue Eagle Six
FlyOnTheWall
Sparkie Arbuckle
Lestat
pparets
