Anti-adware

Sunbelt VIPRE Review | VIPRE Antivirus + Antispyware Review

August 23, 2008 By Terry Stockdale

When I began my evaluation period of Sunbelt Software’s new VIPRE Antivirus + Antispyware program, I was promptly shocked.

I had read several reviews about VIPRE and had read phrases like “high performance” and “low resources.” I had even read comments that where the writer said that VIPRE was virtually unnoticeable on their computer and that their computer suddenly had more speed that it had in a long time.

Naturally, I discounted those comments and claims, thinking that they were advertising exaggeration and hyperbole. They usually compare the computer’s performance to when it had been running one of the big-name suites, so that wasn’t too surprising any way.

I was shocked when I installed VIPRE on my notebook computer. I saw for myself that VIPRE didn’t interfere with my activities. My computer really was faster with VIPRE, even faster than the speedy combination of CounterSpy and NOD32.

Get more information on VIPRE

Continue reading my Sunbelt VIPRE Antivirus + Antispyware Review

Try the free, fully-functional trial of VIPRE for 15 days – click here

Filed Under: Anti-adware, Anti-spyware, Anti-virus, Software, Terry's Computer Tips, Vista, Windows XP Tagged With: Antimalware, Antispyware, Antivirus, Firewall, GFI, GFI Sunbelt, Sunbelt GFI, Sunbelt Software, Sunbelt VIPRE Review, VIPRE, VIPRE Antivirus Premium

Adware Ties into Internet Explorer

March 28, 2008 By Terry Stockdale

This week, I received a query from a reader about a warning message he was receiving:

Hi Terry , I was wondering if perhaps you can help me , I have this very annoying adware that occurs EVERYTIME at startup …. not-a-virus:Adware.Win32.BHO.cr Now althugh this doesn’t appeato be causing any problem on my PC and I get delete it , it is still annoying to do this everytime . Is there anything you can suggest to REMOVE this adware from startup . Pls note : I am not computer savvy and my experience is limited , so I would need exact steps If you could help me , it would be greatly appreciated Regards

I’m not familiar with this particular message, but a little quick searching via Google showed that a number of people had posted similar questions on forums — and they all seemed to use

Continue reading Adware Ties into Internet Explorer

Filed Under: Anti-adware, Anti-spyware, Anti-Trojan, Anti-virus, Security, Security Fixes, System, Terry's Computer Tips, Vista, Windows XP

ActiveX or No ActiveX

April 6, 2007 By Terry Stockdale

I received a question from a subscriber who asked:

A number of times I have seen you refer disparagingly of “Active-x controls”.
I have seen downloads that require Active X to run properly. I have read the definition of the program, but, I guess I am just dense. What is this thing, and why do you consider it so insidious?
Admittedly, I’m technical-challenged, but can this program be explained?
What does one do as an alternative, if the program you want to download, requires Active-X to run?

Active-X controls are downloadable programs that have full capabilities to do anything on your computer. I’m not sure why Microsoft chose such the innocuous word “control” for a program that originally had few or no security constraints imposed upon it.

Fighting Against Spyware & Malware

March 9, 2007 By Terry Stockdale

Spyware is software that enables a third-party to track where you go on the Internet. Usually this does not involves specific tracking cookies and companies that specialize in tracking your visits to advertiser sites.

Although this capability has given cookies a bad name, cookies are not inherently evil. They are used for many good purposes such as automatically logging you into a site like My Yahoo! or the New York Times. Most sites do not use cookies to spy on you.

Spyware, on the other hand, is almost always software that is actually installed on your computer — without your knowledge, usually, to monitor and report on what you do. It may be for the purpose of giving you specific advertising. More often, it is designed to steal personal information such as user IDs and passwords or credit card numbers.

Adware is software that generates ads, especially popup ads, to interfere with your computing and Internet surfing experience.

As most people use the term “adware,” and I agree with them, “adware” does not include software that displays unobtrusive ads with your conscious agreement (not buried deep in a license agreement or installed without your agreement) as a way to provide free software for you.

Examples of this latter “non-adware” case are Eudora (email) and Opera (web browser), both of which give you the option to purchase versions without advertising and have ad-sponsored versions available as free alternatives.

Malware is a more generic term to mean any program that is designed to abuse your computer system or trust. Spyware and Adware are in this category, as are Browser Hijackers, Trojans, Viruses and Worms.

Filed Under: Anti-adware, Anti-spam, Anti-spyware, Anti-virus, Firewall, Security

Why I Recommend Firefox…

February 18, 2007 By Terry Stockdale

I guess it’s been a long time since I’ve gotten on the Firefox versus Internet Explorer subject in my newsletter. For a while last year, I beat it to death…

But, recently, in responding to a reader’s question, I mentioned that I recommended Firefox over IE for web browsing. His response was “You Do?”

The reason that I recommend Firefox over Internet Explorer boils down to security while web surfing.

First, there’s the ActiveX issue.

ActiveX is a proprietary Microsoft technology that allows a web site to download a program to your computer via Internet Explorer — and to automatically run that program.

CounterSpy v2 Released – First Look

February 17, 2007 By Terry Stockdale

Sunbelt released CounterSpy 2 in early February. The new version features a new antispyware / antiadware engine aimed at providing much enhanced capabilities.

In addition, CounterSpy 2 has much improved memory usage and runs on XP, 2000, and Vista (32-bit only). I’ve already updated my computers to CounterSpy 2, which was a free upgrade for registered users.

Sunbelt has continued the 15-day free full-function trial version. At the end of 15 days, if you haven’t licensed your copy, it becomes disabled.

CounterSpy 2 is only $19.95 for one computer, with significant discounts for multiple computer licenses.

Read more in my article CounterSpy 2.0 Released – First Look

Filed Under: Anti-adware, Anti-spyware, Operating System, Security, Shopping Deals, Windows XP

CounterSpy, iHateSpam and Sunbelt Kerio Personal Firewall coupons

January 28, 2007 By Terry Stockdale

I wrote in my PCRepairSite.info blog on December 10th that Sunbelt Software had some unadvertised coupons for ComputerSpy, iHateSpam and Sunbelt Kerio Personal Firewall.

These were supposed to expire, but for some reason, the discount codes still seem to be active. I have no idea how long these discount codes will continue to be good.

Here’s the original article:

Sunbelt has an unadvertised coupon sale that runs until 12 midnight, Eastern Standard Time, December 31, 2006:

* Get $5 off a CounterSpy license with coupon code CSC5TY.

* Get $5 off a Sunbelt Kerio Personal firewall license with coupon code SPF5TY.

* Get $5 off a license for Sunbelt’s award-winning anti-spam program iHateSpam with coupon code IHS5TY. iHateSpam is for Outlook and Outlook Express only.

Sunbelt also has great discounts on multiple license purchases (of the same program). For example, 2 CounterSpy licenses are $29.92 instead of 2 times $19.95. Plus, you can use the discount code to get another $5 off your purchase.

Be sure to purchase by December 31, 2006 to get the coupon discount. Coupons have no cash value and are good only at the time of purchase. You can only use the coupon on one license per transaction and only one coupon per transaction.

Filed Under: Anti-adware, Anti-spyware, Coupons, Firewall, Shopping Deals, Windows XP

CounterSpy, iHateSpam and Sunbelt Kerio Personal Firewall coupons

December 10, 2006 By Terry Stockdale

Sunbelt has an unadvertised coupon sale that runs until 12 midnight, Eastern Standard Time, December 31, 2006:

* Get $5 off a CounterSpy license with coupon code CSC5TY.

* Get $5 off a Sunbelt Kerio Personal firewall license with coupon code SPF5TY.

* Get $5 off a license for Sunbelt’s award-winning anti-spam program iHateSpam with coupon code IHS5TY. iHateSpam is for Outlook and Outlook Express only.

Sunbelt also has great discounts on multiple license purchases (of the same program). For example, 2 CounterSpy licenses are $29.92 instead of 2 times $19.95. Plus, you can use the discount code to get another $5 off your purchase.

Be sure to purchase by December 31, 2006 to get the coupon discount. Coupons have no cash value and are good only at the time of purchase. You can only use the coupon on one license per transaction and only one coupon per transaction.

Filed Under: Anti-adware, Anti-spam, Anti-spyware, Firewall, Windows XP

Why I Love Firefox

November 10, 2006 By Terry Stockdale

Nice little blog entry by a Firefox “newbie” who switched from IE to Firefox for security reasons — after problems with I.E.

Why I Love Firefox — You know, I use Firefox, too. For pretty much the same reasons, too, but Ive been using it since version 0.7.

Filed Under: Anti-adware, Anti-virus, Security, Web browsing

IE7 Vulnerability to Phishing Attack

October 26, 2006 By Terry Stockdale

Security researchers at Secunia have discovered and reported another vulnerability with the newest version of Internet Explorer – IE7, as reported in heise Security‘s blog.

On the day of its release, Secunia reported a vulnerability where phishers were able to spy on the content of other open windows. As usual, the recommendation was to disable Active Scripting (Microsoft’s name for its implementation of JavaScript). [How to turn Active Scripting back on again, later]

Microsoft quickly announced that this was not an IE6 and IE7 vulnerability, it was a problem with Outlook Express code that was in Windows. According to the heise Security article, Microsoft has known of that vulnerability for about six months.

Gee, isn’t that reassuring?

In the latest vulnerabilty reported by Secunia, malicious web sites could fake the data in the “address bar” of a popup window. This despite Microsoft’s touting of the new anti-phishing, high-security IE7 and its new address bar display in each window.

By spoofing the address of a legitimate site into its popup window, phishers could convince unsuspecting visitors to reveal personal information such as userIDs, passwords and credit card data.

Filed Under: Anti-adware, Anti-spam, Anti-spyware, Communications, Operating System, Security, Web browsing