You can prevent many problems from
ever happening in the first place
if you keep your system spyware
free. It is very easy to do and it
will also not cost you anything.
There is a site that offers free
online scans for your computer.
Trend Micro Anti-Spyware for the
Web is a page you can go to and
have a free system scan performed.
You can use their online scan to
check your system for spyware and
it will assist you in removing any
infections found. After you have
run the system scan you will see a
report listing the results of the
scan, including any spyware that
was found and you will be given
options that you have to approve
before it is removed.
Signs of a Spyware Infection
• Slow computer performance.
• Pop-up windows.
• Browser homepage changed, but
not by you.
• Error messages.
• New and unwanted toolbars
showing up in your browser.
If you have any of these symptoms
you should immediately have your
system scanned for spyware. Most
people get spyware on their
computers without ever knowing it
is happening to them. It comes
from all kinds of places you visit
everyday on the Internet and
through emails. This is battle you
must keep fighting to prevent your
system from being taken over by
it.
NOTE: You must have
Microsoft Windows XP or Microsoft
Windows 2000 operating system on
your computer. You must have
Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 or
higher as a browser on your
system.
How To Scan Your System
Go to the website located here: http://www.trendmicro.com/spyware-scan/
This will take you to Trend Micros
online free scan. You will see a
yellow button “Scan & Clean
your PC” – click on this
button.
It will take you a page showing
the requirements (listed in the
“Note” above) and it will load
Trend Micro Anti-Spyware to the
Web. It depends on your connection
speed as to how long this will
take.
If you have a pop-up blocker on
your system you will have to
“allow” this site to install
the add-on (ActiveX Control titled
“as4web.cab”).
You will see a pop-up Security
Warning window asking you if you
want to install this software.
Click on the “Install” button.
You will then see the “license
agreement” from Trend Micro that
you have to accept to be able to
scan. Read the agreement and then
click on “I Accept”.
You will see a window of the Trend
Micro Anti-Spyware to the Web
application come up explaining all
of the different types of threats
that are detected by their scan.
Potential Threats Detected
• Trackware – that tracks
your web browsing.
• Adware - that shows
advertising on your system.
• Trojans - applications that
can permit people to control your
system.
• Parasites - that perform
unwanted actions on your computer.
• Browser - Hijackers - that
make changes your home or search
pages.
• Dialers - that initiate
communication with other unwanted
computers
• Keyloggers - that record
everything you type, including
personal information
and passwords.
Click on “Start Scan” to begin
the scan on your system.
NOTE: After the first visit
to their site it is possible that
you will not have to go through
all of the above steps. Once you
have agreed and installed their
ActiveX Control on your system, it
will automatically load the
scanner when you get to this page.
You will see the items as they are
being scanned listed. There will
be a blue bar going across the
window showing how far along you
are in the various sections. The
whole procedure will take several
minutes.
You will see a summary of all of
the threats found on your system.
Click on the “Scan Results”
button.
You will see more information for
every threat found. You can view
more details about each one and
unselect any. When you are
finished, click on the “Clean
Threats Now” button to remove
all of them from your system. Your
system is now free of unwanted
threats.
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