Spyware, Adware, Spam, Hijacked Internet Browsers... All a nightmare on our systems, and also a key piece to keeping our systems healthy. Here are some resources to help!

• Remove Spyware - Lavasoft's Adaware - one of the best & FREE!
• Prevent SPAM - Wonderful Info from HP
• AntiviruDecember 7, 2005 0:02 AMScan from Trend Micro
• What is a Hijacked Page? Information Sheet

Spyware is a growing issue. Wonder how sites manage to find your email address and somehow randomly email you garbage? Spyware (otherwise known as malware- I like to call it scumware) gets loaded through regular use of the internet. Ever see "Bonsai Buddy" or "Gator" who offer you convenience, but don't mention the garbage you also agree to? Are your children downloading music from Kazaa? I can guarantee you have active spyware on your machine.

Another way to avoid SPAM: Have you taken time to clean up your preferences in AOL? This is an important step after setting up AOL services on your machine. Likewise, Yahoo and MSN (Hotmail) also have a set of preferences under your account information. If you are getting instant spam, it is likely those preferences are at their defaults - which include sharing your email addresses with affiliates. Take time to hunt down those preferences.

Highjacked Question: When I startup my computer my homepage switches to a site that I don't want. No matter what I do I can't make this problem go away. What can I do?

Answer: Uh oh, your browser has been hijacked. Some Internet company out there has put a little program on your computer that switches your homepage every time you either restart your browser or your computer. Not nice. The good news is there are ways to fix the problem.