TIP OF THE WEEK

What Is Spyware?

Spyware is malicious code that infects your PC and can manifest itself as things such as unwanted browser toolbars and pop-ups, or if your browser homepage suddenly changes without your knowledge.
Spyware also takes the form of tracking files that watch where you go on the web in order to create a marketing profile of you that will be sold to advertisement companies. Not only is it a source of irritation but it also affects your privacy too.

Removing spyware is an important step in the process of cleaning unwanted files and programs from your PC, keeping it secure and fixing problems.

Fortunately there are programs available to help you track down and remove these unwanted files. There are several commercial security packages that offer anti-spyware tools as well as other features.
Ad-Aware and Spybot are two free programs you can use to fight spyware.

Download Ad-Aware 2007 Free from http://www.lavasoft.com/single/trialpay.php

Download Spybot Search & Destroy for free from http://www.safer-networking.org/.

NEW COMPUTER CLASS OFFERED

The next free computer class is scheduled for March 9th at the North Plains Public Library. Two sessions will be held, 10 am and 7 pm. Sign-up is required since class size will be limited to ten. You may sign-up by commenting to this blog or by visiting or phoning the North Plains Public Library at 503-647-5051. The class subject will be "Word Processing - Creating Documents" and will begin with the basics and move into more advanced topics.

TIP OF THE WEEK

Customize your Desktop with icons pointing to your favorite websites. (These instructions are for Windows XP)

First, drag and drop any unused desktop icons into the Recycle Bin. (Don’t worry…You’re not deleting any programs or files when you do this. Just putting “things” away, off your desk!)

If there’s a website you go to every day or so, make it easy for yourself by putting an icon on your desktop that will take you directly to that site. Here’s how.

1. Open Internet Explorer (not Mozilla) and find a favorite website (or page within a website) either using a previously made “Bookmark” or typing in the URL.
2. Now from the Menu Bar click on “File” and mouse down to “Send” .
3. A new drop down will open and you can click on “Shortcut to Desktop”.
4. That’s it! Now when you look at your desktop there will be a new icon that will point directly to your favorite website.

You can use the Rename function if you want to give it a better (shorter) name and you can change the icon picture too. We’ll cover that in another lesson.