Top Three Hiding Spots For Adware
Adware is a sneaky little devil of a program that can hide all over the Internet. All those fun free downloads and your favorite websites are the perfect places for adware to hide, making it extremely difficult to escape. This article will help you learn the most prevalent hiding places and give you advice on preventing an adware from making itself at home on your computer.
Freeware: Most people say that the most likely place adware turns up is in freeware programs. This is due to the fact that freeware is, well free, and so its cost is sometimes paid for through adware and pop up types of software. By definition, freeware is software that users can download and use at no cost. Usually, all the designer of the program wants is recognition for their efforts. Freeware isn’t the same things as open-source software, despite the fact that they are a lot alike. The primary way that freeware and open-source software are different is that the computer coding in open-source software can be changed, while you can’t do this with freeware programs.
As the name implies, freeware is supposed to be free. The creator of the free cannot ask you to pay a fee to download the software. Instead, a creator can ask for voluntary donations or pay for the costs of running a website and giving out free software out of their own pocket. Another option is having adware programming mixed in with the freeware. Putting adware and pop-up software in the freeware programs give the creator a source of revenue and keep them from opening their own wallets or begging for donations.
2. Shareware: Shareware is almost the same as freeware, in that it is software that can be downloaded from a website. Creators of shareware will ask for a donation for use of the software rather than giving it away free. The voluntary fee helps the creator keep the site up and running and helps to cover the costs of updates. Users have the option to pay, but are not required, rather the creators rely on peoples honesty. Since paying the fee to use the software is not a requirement to use the supplement their income, some creators use adware in their programs supplement their income. Other than freeware, shareware is the second most popular place to hide adware.
Because of this fact, adware tends to be bundled into shareware just like it is into freeware. Most of the time, users will probably just keep using the program for free and never pay the author a dime. Therefore, the software people are prepared to bundle in the adware in order to help pay for their products. Still, adware usually doesn’t show up as often in shareware as it might in freeware. But, it is still responsible for why a large number of shareware programs don’t disappear. Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Applications:
Even though adware is not usually added to P2P software like it was in the past, it still shows up within these programs. A major case that documents a time adware was put into P2P software is Kazaa. Before now, there was much debating about putting whether to put adware in with Kazaa, but they discovered that without it, there wasn’t a way for it to continue. This was the same dilemma some shareware authors had in keeping their programs alive.
All in all, knowing the main places adware can be found will help to make you more cautious when you decide to download any free programs online. It is vital that people understand that even though adware might be hidden within anything they download, they shouldn’t be too worried. There are so many excellent free programming out there that can give the commercial programs a run for their money. And, if you find adware within a program you downloaded, you can always get an adware removal tool or a special security program to get rid of it.
Susan Reynolds is a content editor for a leading Spyware And Adware Removal Software brand. For more information visit: http://www.spywareremovaldoc.com
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