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It
cannot be stressed enough, how important it is to keep
spyware out of your system
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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