GASlight

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As a windows "purist", I cringe at the thought of third party toolbars, desktop searches, weather beacons, instant message programs, animated cursors, email smileys, browser helpers, and the whole plethera of free apps and plugins that leave your computer resources anything but free. However, a lot of people eat that stuff up. If you are one of those people, AT LEAST educate yourself about the potential threats associated with what I fondly term as "crapware", and learn to protect yourself.

Crapware comes in many forms. It usually disguises itself as some sort of useful application and quite often comes bundled with some applications that are, indeed, useful and blatantly mainstream. When installing the latter, be sure to look for check boxes that will allow you to install the useful utility without the crapware. The more reputable companies will at least give you that option even though it may be well hidden.

It is MOST IMPORTANT that you obtain Microsoft’s critical updates regularly. Please make sure Automatic Update is enabled. If you run Microsoft Office or other Microsoft products, you should use Microsoft Update instead of Windows Update in order to ensure that all of your Microsoft products receive critical updates automatically.

Next, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE purchase, install, and familiarize yourself with an anti-virus program, and keep your subscription and virus definitions CURRENT. An expired anti-virus program only protects you from YESTERDAY’s viruses, if at all. If you can't afford one, companies like AntiVir and Grisoft (AVG) are offering protection free of charge. The Grisoft AVG seems to have issues with the Windows 9x platform, but it's great for 2000/XP. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Even if your anti-virus program includes anti-spyware, it’s a good practice to occasionally scan your system with freeware like Spybot Search and Destroy and/or AdAware Personal just to help reduce the threat.

If you're connected directly to the internet (not behind a router or hardware firewall), you should run a software firewall. If you have Windows XP or Vista, you should enable the built-in firewall on your internet connection or run a more elaborate third-party firewall program like McAfee or Norton. I haven't found any free firewall programs that don't contain adware or worse, (If you know of one contact me and I'll post a link to it), so buy retail. If you have one of the earlier versions of Windows, you should definitely obtain up-to-date third-party firewall protection. It’s annoying to have to set permissions for your programs, but it’s far beter to be safe than sorry.

If you suspect a Trojan horse, you can download a 30-day free trial of Trojan Remover.

For more serious problems, there is a program for advanced users called Hijack This. I warn you, it’s not for the casual computer user. The information provided by the scan should only be interpreted by very knowledgeable individuals. You could do serious damage to your system by canceling the wrong processes. The Spyware Warrior Forum is available for you to submit your scan results, and a pro will advise you on how to proceed.

Stay away from potential threats. There are countless programs distributed by companies with names you might recognize and trust that will wreak havoc on your system. Be careful what you download. READ those license agreements and privacy policies. Try not to be lured into downloading things you don’t really NEED.

In most cases, the end user agreement you said "yes" to when you first installed crapware, makes it illegal for you to "reverse engineer" the software for effective removal. Even when you think you've found all the registry entries and eliminated all the hidden files related to the offending program, quite often there is a script hiding out, just waiting to run after so many restarts or on a certain date or on the third tuesday of the next month that has an R in it. These "time bombs" get their payload by reinstalling the crapware you worked so hard to get rid of. In those cases, a hard disk format and reinstallation of your operating system and all programs is your fastest, least expensive option. I hope you have a recent backup of your documents and critical data and know all your passwords and email server names. Of course you do.

Drivers and Utilities for GASlight Custom Computers:

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ECS Elitegroup

Gigabyte

PCchips

ATI

nVidia

AMD

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Legacy Drivers