Computer FAQ

for June 23, 2004

Hi, All;

This Week: My PC is running slow what is wrong?

I have had a couple of people ask me in the last week why, suddenly, their PC is running slow. They have done the usual speed up things--Scandisk, and Defrag--but they do not help. I suggested that the PC is probably infected with "SPYWARE." These are programs that companies put on your "personal" computer to track what you are doing and where you are going on the Internet. I feel these programs are just one step below a virus and unethical, as you do not know this "SPYWARE" will be added to your PC unless you read their privacy statement. They use the fact that their intent to add SPYWARE to your PC, stated in their privacy statement, gives them implicit permission to load up your "personal" computer with their junk. So what can you do? First read every privacy statement for every web site you go into. (Yeah, right who has that kind of time?!) Next, get a SPYWARE cleaning program. Here are some:

One thing I noticed when I run "SPYWARE, programs is that they will delete cookies; many times your saved logon id's and passwords are stored in cookies, and if you delete your cookies, you may delete your automatic logons. I did unknowingly. You can also tell if you have "SPYWARE" on your PC by watching the modem lights in your "Systray." If they are blinking when the PC is just sitting idle, you probably have a "SPYWARE" infection.

'Til next week, (ComputerFAQ#195)


Robert

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Index to Past ComputerFAQ Columns:

June 23, 2004 Spyware and How to Remove It
June 16, 2004 Suggestions for the iMac writer of June 9
June 9, 2004 MacIntosh User Finds Trick to Display Emailed Photos
June 2, 2004 Internet Options "Cookies" Configuration
May 26, 2004 Internet Options Box #2
May 12&19, 2004 Worm_Sasser.B and Clearing Old URL Addresses from IE
May 5, 2004 The F5 Refresh key and other Function keys
Apr. 28, 2004 First Purchase on Ebay and More on Recycling Computer Eqpt.
Apr. 21, 2004 Repairing a Laser Printer and More about Disposing Used Computer Equipment
Apr. 14, 2004 How to get rid of an old PC
Apr. 7, 2004 Another Virus Alert
Mar. 31, 2004 Keeping Both Home and Ebay Pages Open At the Same Time
Mar. 24, 2004 A Complex Alert about a Very Complex Virus
Mar. 17, 2004 A Hoax Virus Can Cause You To Damage Your Computer
Mar. 10, 2004 Should I Reload Windows?
Mar. 3, 2004 HTML Email Viruses: Disable Preview and Receive Only Text Email
Feb. 25, 2004 Spoofing and Zombies
Feb. 18, 2004 Using Spyware
Feb. 11, 2004 Spyware
Feb. 4, 2004 Phishing and the MyDoom virus
Jan. 28, 2004 Microsoft Extends Support for Windows '98 and ME
Jan. 21, 2004 More Keyboard Shortcuts
Jan. 14, 2004 The Lifesaver "Undo" and Other Keyboard Shortcuts
Jan. 7, 2004 Microsoft quitting support for Windows 95 & 98 plus minimum computer requirements for Windows XP
Dec. 24, 2003 The Trouble with Mice
Dec. 17, 2003 System Restore & Windows Safe Mode
Dec. 10, 2003 Backing Up using an external USB Hard Drive
Dec. 3, 2003 SpamSubtract, a good way to reduce spam, also other ways
Nov. 26, 2003 Disgusted about Spam
Nov. 19, 2003 How Vulnerable is Your Computer to Data Theft?
Nov. 12, 2003 Safely Deleting Thousands of tmp Files
Nov. 5, 2003 Finding the Windows Search Button & Misc Program Problems
Oct. 29, 2003 How to Print a List of Files
Oct. 22, 2003 Fall Cleanup Part 3
Oct. 15, 2003 Fall Cleanup Part 2
Oct. 8, 2003 Fall Cleaning of Your PC
Oct. 1, 2003 Explanation of DSL
Sept. 24, 2003 Installing DSL at the Shopper
Sept. 17, 2003 What New Computer Should I Buy? Part 2
Sept. 10, 2003 What New Computer Should I Buy?
Sept. 3, 2003 Protecting from Viruses and Worms
Aug. 27, 2003 Current Viruses "Bast Worm" and "Sobig"
Aug. 20, 2003 Does Microsoft Password Make Changing Passwords Easier?
Aug. 13, 2003 Passwords and Passport Part 2
Aug. 6, 2003 More About PassPort and Passwords
July 23 & 30, 2003 Where Are Microsoft Passport Passwords Stored? and More About Passport and Passwords
July 16, 2003 Internet Explorer Helpful Hint Part 2
July 9, 2003 Internet Explorer Helpful Hint Part 1
July 2, 2003 Some More Icons Explained
June 25, 2003 Online Ordering
June 18, 2003 Followup on Refilled Ink Cartridges
 
July 05, 2000 Introduction to ComputerFAQ
July 12, 2000 Computer Definitions
July 26, 2000 More Computer Definitions
August 02, 2000 Defining Bits, Bytes and Hex
August 09, 2000 Internet Service Providers (ISP)
August 16, 2000 Backup up your PC
August 23, 2000 Backup Devices.
August 30, 2000 What is the slowest PC for Internet Access
September 06, 2000 PC Nomenclature
September 13, 2000What to do with Mail Attachements.
September 20, 2000What Happens at boot up
October 04, 2000Desktop Areas
October 18, 2000Start Button
October 25, 2000Display Made Bigger
November 01, 2000 More Monitor Controls
November 15, 2000 Right Click Display Menu
November 22, 2000 More on Desktop Menus
November 29, 2000 More on Desktop Menus
December 06, 2000 Desktop Properties Menu - part 1
December 13, 2000 Desktop Properties Menu - part 2
December 20, 2000 Desktop Properties Menu - part 3