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February 17, 2006
Dear CNET members,
Happy Friday! Before I proceed to this week's Q&A on how antispyware works, I would like to apologize to those members who may have experienced some difficulties accessing the Community Hot Topic discussion that we delivered to you a few days ago. We had some hiccups in our system that may have prevented you from reading other member posts or submitting your own opinions. So if you missed out, please go here to pick up where you left off. Again, my apologizes for the unforeseen issues.
Now let's get rolling with this week's antispyware question from Silvana. Silvana, I'm really glad that you brought up your question. Many people out there are all too familiar with spyware, but I'm sure there are just as many who don't have a clue about it. So I hope this week's answers by our members will help you protect yourself from nasty spyware. Without further delay, here's this week's winning answer by Miguel, who does an excellent job of explaining how antispyware utilities work and how they differ from antivirus apps. We also have a bunch of honorable mentions and other advice from our members. So read up, everyone, and if you have a moment, share with us your experiences in dealing with these cybernasties and join us in this week's discussion. Thank you and have a great weekend!
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Member Question of the Week
Hey, CNET members! I am completely new to antispyware programs, and I would like to install one. However, I have no idea how these programs work. Do they work like my antivirus app? How do they know which files are good and which ones are bad? Do the programs need updating? I'd also like to know how to install these programs, if possible. Thank you very much.
Submitted by:
Silvana L.
Silvana, antispyware programs are a lot like antivirus applications: Both essentially consist of a scanning engine that relies on signatures files (also known as definitions or fingerprints) to detect spyware and adware. Once a scan detects potentially harmful files, the antivirus or antispyware software will either ask you how it should handle the detections or remove or quarantine them automatically. More comprehensive antispyware applications offer real-time protection akin to what antivirus programs offer. Real-time protection monitors...
Submitted by:
Miguel K. of Columbus, Ohio
For
Miguel's
efforts, we're sending him a choice of any
Help.com Learning CD.
Community Buzz
 Each week we take a look at topics discussed in the forums.
Best regards and enjoy!
So many things can happen to the important data on your computer, so do you have a backup plan? In this discussion, member tonyny77 describes how he backs up his data but would like to hear what others do. Join in the discussion to learn of the different strategies that our members use, and if you have a strategy that's not listed already, tell us about it.
More from the Windows XP forum
If you had to pick a power supply,
which would it be?
With more and more hardware components added to today's computers and video cards requiring a lot more juice to run, computer power supplies are often being swapped our for larger-capacity ones. So if you had to pick a new power supply, which one would you recommend to others? Join in the discussion and tell us.
More from the PC hardware forum
DVD ships with rootkit; the lesson
was not learned
Here we go again! Rootkits were first discovered on music CDs from Sony BMG, then on Symantec's Norton SystemWorks, and now on a German DVD. What's next, in our computer hardware? I know these companies are just doing what it takes to copy-protect their properties, but doing so opens us up to malicious attacks. Read the news and talk about it.
More from the Viruses & security alerts forum
Microsoft Defender beta 2 released
Some of you are familiar with Microsoft's AntiSpyware beta; recently Microsoft release its updated version, called Microsoft Defender beta 2. Though it's still in its beta phase, for those of you who currently are using it, tell us what you think of it and how it compares to the older version and the more popular antispyware utilities out there. We're all listening.
More from the Viruses & security alerts forum
Mac nugget: Mac just for fun: what
do I need?
Member Claptrap would like to get a secondhand Mac in order to keep up with his studies, and he would like to know what is the lowest spec of hardware and oldest OS he could buy to be able to keep up in his course? Do you have any recommendations for him?
More from the Mac OS forum
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Check out next week's question:
When logging in to a secure Web page, the browser will often have an option to save my password. Or the Web site will ask if I want to store my password. Are these the same? Where and how are these passwords saved? How secure is it to do this? Are the passwords stored in an encrypted format, and if so, can they be hacked? As a precaution, I never store passwords anywhere in electronic form. I don't trust password managers because there is no way to know what they are doing with the information. What is the safe way to manage passwords?
--Submitted by:
Gary H.
If you have the answer,
e-mail us at messageboards@cnet.com.
If we choose your response, you'll get a
free Help.com CD.
Have a question?
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| Member Profile of the Week |
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User name: jemsbarr
Location: Vancouver Island,
B.C., Canada
Member since:
November 19, 2005
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About me: About me: About me: always been an early adopter. I could start a museum with the "pieces" I've collected... remember the Sony eBook Reader? Have it in a box...
(read more)
Each week we feature a CNET member who contributes to our community. Fill out your profile to get a chance to be featured in our newsletter and win a CNET t-shirt!
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Simple question, simple answer
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