Adware
From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Adware is an advertising computer program that can be installed by other people on someone's computer, sometimes without thier permission. It is a controversial topic because sometimes business companies put the program there so they can see what people are doing or what web pages they are browsing. They then put an advertisement that is of the same subject as the web-page the person is looking at. This can be good if the person is trying to buy something, but many people do not want advertisment pop ups or banners. Many people also do not want other people to find out what they are doing or what web pages they are looking at. An example is in the popular peer to peer file sharing program, Kazaa. When someone downloads the official release, it installs adware on their computer that then sends advertisments to the computer. Some people do not like this so they use an illegally modified version of this program called Kazaa Lite.
[edit] Removal tools
Removal tools have been developed to assist users in clearing out these unwanted programs. Like many programs that people use for security, the program must updated often. Updating allows the removal tool to recognize new types of adware. This can be done by downloading files over the internet using the 'update' option in the program.
[edit] Popular brands
- Lavasoft Ad-Aware (SE, Plus, Professional)
- Ad-Aware SE (Special Edition) is a computer program for that will scan for and remove adware, spyware, trojans and dialers from your computer. It is made by a company called Lavasoft, based in Sweden. This SE version can be downloaded for free. There are other versions that can be bought which may be better. This program is closed source. The user must agree with the licence in order to use the program. The licence says that it is free only for domestic non-commercial users (people using the computer at home, who do not use the computer for business). If the product is used in other ways, for example a school or university, the user must register the program or use Ad-Aware Plus or Ad-Aware Professional instead. These are commercial programs.
