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Network Connections
offers two products that will help you take back control of your
desktop:
Ad-Aware
SE Personal Edition 1.06
Adware is known by many names--spyware, trackware, or even Big
Brotherware. While producers of adware claim its purpose is merely to
collect information about Internet habits in order to deliver ads
tailored to a surfer's interests, privacy advocates are concerned about
the potential misuse of this data. Where does it come from? Most likely
it was installed alongside that free software widget that you
downloaded just last week, without you even noticing.
Ad-aware identifies and removes these
surreptitiously installed applications. Using updateable
"reflists," which are sort of like antivirus DAT files,
Ad-aware scours your system--including Registry and temporary Internet
files--and looks for traces of recognized adware modules. When it's
finished searching, it displays a list of what it found and lets you
select the items you'd like to remove from your system. And when
coupled with its companion program, RefUpdate, you're always assured of
using the most comprehensive list of adware to search for. The main
drawback is that some ad-supported programs, such as GoZilla Free, will
no longer function if you remove their ad modules. If privacy is your
main concern, Ad-aware will help keep you anonymous on the Web.
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