Adware is annoying and it may wreck havoc on your computer, most of which you won’t even be aware of until your computer slows down, for example, or you go to the web and your home page is no longer the one you specified. Removing adware can be intimidating, but paying someone to remove adware from your computer is not always necessary. You can remove adware from your computer fairly easily even if you’re not a computer geek.
Let’s take a closer look at what adware can do to your computer, how to remove it and signs you need to pay someone to remove it for you. Generally speaking, adware will not harm your computer though it will infect your computer without your knowledge.
Adware can wreck havoc on your computer by:
Causing pop ups, and pop unders, on your desktop and during online search results.
Changing your computer settings, including selecting a new internet home page.
Adding new tool bars to your internet browser.
Putting new programs you don’t use on your start up list.
Changing in your host file.
Slowing your internet connection and causing sluggish performance in your operating system.
Shutting down your PC operating system for no reason.
Freezing your system or causing it to fail.
Adding advertisements within applications.
This is only a partial list of problems adware can cause your computer; however, it is important to get familiar with all types of adware. While some adware is good most of it is negligible at best and annoying but relatively harmless. Recognizing which type of adware is on your computer will help you determine the best corrective action and who should take care of it.
Here are some differences between good and bad adware:
Good adware will not install itself onto your operating system unless you give it permission to do so whereas bad adware will attach itself whether you give it permission or not.
Good adware is easily uninstalled by users where bad adware is very difficult to remove, at best.
Good adware displays unobtrusive ads while bad adware will often hijack your operating system, recording every keystroke (e.g. keyloggers) and forwarding your personal information to third party users.
Once you know what adware is, how it gets into your computer and how it can affect your computer you have vital information that can help you decide if you should pay someone to remove it for you. Recognizing the differences between good and bad adware and knowing which you have will also help you decide whether or not you need to hire a trained computer professional to help you remove it. Here are some simple steps to removing it yourself; however, if the adware has attached itself to a file that is hidden and just won’t go away paying someone to get rid of it is always an option.
Removing adware from your computer:
Find the unwanted adware software from your start up program files.
Sever your internet connection so the adware can’t contact its host site.
Scan your system with an adware removal program to find and get rid of the infected files.
Reboot your computer and check to see if the files have been removed.
This will generally take care of most small adware programs. Another suggestion, if you can’t remove some of the programs from your system, would be to boot your computer in safe mode. If the problem persists, you then might want to consider paying someone to remove adware from your computer or, as the absolute last resort, you might have to reformat your computer. A paid professional will be able to tell you what is best and many do consultations for free or next to free.
