Adware

Adware is any software application in which advertising banners are displayed while the program is running. The authors of these applications include additional code that delivers the ads, which can be viewed through pop-up windows or through a bar that appears on a computer screen. The justification for adware is that it helps recover programming development cost and helps to hold down the cost for the user.

Adware has been criticized for occasionally including code that tracks a user´s personal information and passes it on to third parties, without the user´s authorization or knowledge. This practice has been dubbed "Spyware" and has prompted an outcry from computer security and privacy advocates, including the Electronic Privacy Information Center.

Spyware

Spyware is a generic term typically describing software whose purpose is to collect demographic and usage information from your computer, usually for advertising purposes. The term is also used to describe software that ´sneaks´ onto the system or performs other activities hidden to the user. Spyware apps are usually bundled as a hidden component in mis-labeled "freeware" and shareware applications1 downloaded from the Internet--a spyware module may be active on your computer at this moment without your knowledge! These modules are almost always installed on the system secretively, suggesting that spyware companies know how users feel about such software and figure that the best/only way to ensure its widespread use is to prevent the end-user from discovering it.

Drug Dealer Ware

Drug Dealer Ware* is software/services that are peddled the same way a drug dealer drives sales of addictive dope: It´s given away for free, until the user is "hooked" on it, at which point the prices are jacked up. Some Adware products are distributed in this manner, as well as many "free" internet services such as email, web space andinternet access. For example, an adware developer may set up his/her software so that it masquerades as a Freeware product for a length of time, until the user has gotten accustomed to freely using this "freeware" as part of his/her daily life, created files in this program´s proprietary format, etc., and is somewhat "stuck" to it. Then the program suddenly changes from Freeware to $hareware or Advertising Supported $hareware. While a normal user looking for a software product may see a program listed as Adware and keep looking, someone who´s already wasted the time downloading this one may not have the ambition to start the search all over again (hence more $$$ for the drug dealer developer, and one of the reasons it is created in the first place). This is a shameful and deceptive practice that, much like an actual drug dealer, often targets children.

A good site with information and a listing of some of the more common adware/spyware can be found at: http://cexx.org/adware.htm.

Free Spyware Uninstall Program

LavaSoft Ad-aware http://www.lavasoftusa.com/ (~700k) Free Windows utility detects and removes many adware products, including TimeSink TSADBOT, Aureate/Radiate files, Comet Cursor, Cydoor and more.

There are other free detect/uninstall programs, a good place to look beyond the http://cexx.org/ site would be http://www.tucows.com, a very good source for all sorts of freeware and shareware programs. More info on the subject can be found at http://grc.com/downloaders.htm, this site may look strange, but the owner, Steve Gibson, is reputable. He identifies three primary sources: Netscape/AOL´s Smartdownload; RealNetworks´ Realdownload; and NetZip´s DownloadDemon.