Computer Tips for Our Gainesville FL Apartment Residents: Beware of Spyware

Computer Tips for Our Gainesville, FL Apartment Residents: Beware of Spyware

Spyware is computer software that tracks your Internet usage and then sends advertisements to you, usually without your consent. Signs of spyware include frequent pop-up ads, surprise changes in your home page, unwanted toolbars in your Web browser, slow browsing, and repeated computer crashes and freezes.

Usually spyware sneaks onto your system at home when you download free software like music-sharing programs or cute icon images. Over time, spyware can cause expensive problems like hard drive failure, corruption of other programs you paid for, loss of data, and the need to reformat your system.

Whether you’re using your laptop in your Gainesville, FL apartment or your workstation at your office job, here are some ways to avoid this computer nightmare:

Be extremely careful of what you download. Many “free” programs advertised on the Web are traps that will infect your system with spyware. Only trust free software that comes from a large, reputable company such as Adobe, Microsoft, or Apple.
If you must download free software, read all security warnings, license agreements, and privacy statements. (P.S. They’re long, boring, and often written in “legalese.”)
To close a pop-up window, never click “OK” or “Agree.” Instead, click the red “X” in the corner of the window or press Alt + F4.
Use the “system restore” function in Windows. Whenever you believe software has been loaded without your permission, Windows has a “System Restore” feature (in Windows XP and later versions) which acts like a time machine that brings your computer back to a date before the spyware invaded – without losing any other files or information.

If you do end up with spyware on your system, there are programs that can help you clean it off, but few spyware cleaning programs will free your PC completely from spyware. The nefarious people who write spyware programs are very good at making sure remnants of spyware will be left on your computer, making it virtually impossible to clean off 100 percent. You also can purchase anti-spyware programs to help prevent spyware from loading, but just like spyware cleaning programs, anti-spyware programs are not perfect because they have a hard time keeping up with the countless spyware programs invading the Internet every day. Your best bet is to, if at all possible, avoid loading spyware to begin with.

“The scenery and space is amazing. The apartment leasing staff and maintenance staff are wonderful. I love that its a gated community and all though it's family and student oriented it's still extremely quiet.”

“This is a quiet gated community with nice apartments located in a great area.”

“We just moved in about a month ago. We had maintenance in so many times trying to get things set up for my disabled son - but they never complained. The grounds are beautiful. The people in the office are always polite and helpful. Very happy here.”