Adware Alert
Chances are that, if you use the internet regularly, you are probably familiar with spyware, as well as the resultant programs that are meant to seek out any adware or spyware and clean it from your computer system. There are many different programs that offer to perform this task; some are freeware while others cost something. Adware Alert is a program that offers two level protection. You can get a free scan online, and then you must decide whether or not to invest in the program itself.
Spyware is everywhere on the internet, and if you have ever downloaded anything online you have possibly inadvertently put your compute at risk from spyware. Spyware will cause your computer to do things such as display unwanted pop-up ads, change your browser’s start-up page, or even record your keystrokes or important information, like your passwords and credit card information.
Anti-spyware programs, such as Adware Alert, have been designed to recognize any spyware on your computer by comparing its signature code against a large database of all known signatures that it can reference. If it finds that you do have a spyware program installed it offers to either delete or isolate it so that it cannot harm your computer.
Not everyone is very keen on installing anti-spyware programs on their computers. Sometimes these very anti-spyware programs themselves will alert your anti-virus program, for example, that they are actually a risk to your computer especially when they ask you to accept and download a program. There is some debate about whether anti-spyware programs such as Adware Alert are really worth installing, and even if they may actually put your computer at risk. While Adware Alert is one of the more popular anti-spyware programs currently being offered on the internet, it also has its fair share of critics.
A few years back, Adware Alert was indeed listed on the Spyware Warrior forum as a rogue-suspect anti-spyware program. People were concerned that it was listing false positive infections of spyware. It also was not very forthcoming with either information about the company itself or its own privacy practices. However, more recently a newer version of Adware Alert was released with a new database of definitions. Since the revised update, it has no longer been listed as rogue-suspect anti-spyware.
The latest version of Adware Alert met with mixed results. Many Adware reviews were of the same opinion, that while the program had excellent results when it scanned and cleaned computers from spy-ware, it did not do as good of a job as other anti-spyware programs when it came to providing real time protection.
Another con with Adware Alert, which is another problem that cause people not to want to install the program, is because of the way it sometimes attaches itself to your computer. An unregistered version has been known to piggy-back along with a Trojan that installs itself on computers. Once it is on your computer, it will start up a free system scan and then eventually report a long list of spyware that your computer is infected with. However, in order to remove the spyware, as it suggests doing, it will ask you to first register the full version of Adware Alert, which will cost money.
The problem with anti-spyware programs, such as Adware Alert, is that once installed they can be very difficult to uninstall. Therefore, if you are unhappy with Adware Alert, or you would like to uninstall it and try another program, you may have some difficulty in completely clearing it from your system. That in itself is also another negative mark against the program.
Here are simple step-by-step instructions that will help you eliminate all traces of Adware Alert from your computer, should you wish to do so.
• Close all of your programs. Back up your computer.
• Block the site AdwareAlert.com
• Uninstall Adware Alert. This will differ, depending on which version of Windows you are using. Commonly you would go to Start > Settings > Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs or if you are using Vista: Start > Settings > Control Panel > Programs and Features.
• If the program does not show up in your “Programs and Features” section, as a program that can be uninstalled, search for the Adware Alert program directory. The two files inside the directory to delete are ” AdwareAlert.exe” and “Setup.exe”
• Delete registry entries that refer to the Adware Alert program. Typically these are: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionUninstallAdwareAlert and HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRun “Adware Alert”
• Reboot your System.
If you are not comfortable manually deleting the Adware Alert program, there are quite a few Adware Alert Free Scanner and Remover programs online, that will do the job for you. If you want to find a program that will get rid of Adware Alert for you, make sure that you find one that is compatible with the operating system you are running before you go ahead and run the program.
