My Brush With Spyware
“The ancestor of every action is a thought.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
Last week, my computer came to a complete standstill. It was brutal. I watched as the life was slowly sucked out of it with no explanation whatsoever. Then little by little, within a few hours I couldn’t even open a single program. It was kaput. I panicked and put in a 911 call to Mr. Red Hot Copy, my husband, John. Now John isn’t about to let me get away lecture -free. He explains to me that I need to get rid of all the spyware from my system. Spyware?! I didn’t ask for any spyware. How could I have such a thing? Well, it turned out my system was loaded with it. We hired a computer geek (I mean this affectionately) to come out and operate. Boy did I get a lesson about computer maintenance. Here’s what I found out.
Spyware is third-party software installed on your PC that pushes ads targeted to you. It is often downloaded when you install free programs (you already knew there wasn’t such a thing as a free lunch, didn’t you). Or when you close pop up boxes! Pop up blockers are available with most search engines like Google and Alexa. (Of course that doesn’t mean they aren’t capable of attaching spyware themselves). Instead of clicking on the “x” to close a pop up, hit the keys “Alternate” and “F4″ at the same time for same closure. Just like running a regular anti-virus program, you should also check for spyware everyday. I recommend Ad Aware. It’s a free download or you can purchase the upgraded model for only $30 like I did. It’s one less thing to remember to do every day. Don’t get too paranoid on me. Just be safe out there.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
World class copywriter, Lorrie Morgan-Ferrero is the author of the highly acclaimed home study course, Red Hot Copy to Woo Your Target Market and founder of the online copywriting school Red Hot Copywriting Bootcamp, (www.red-hot-copy.com/rhcbootcamp.htm). Learn insider secrets to great copywriting from a pro who’s been in the trenches with Lorrie’s free ezine, Copywriting TNT. Sign up at www.red-hot-copy.com.
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