what is adware?

Answer 1

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Answer 2

Adware is any software package with the sole purpose to automatically play, display, or download advertising material to a computer after the software is installed on it. This should not be confused with advertising-supported software which is not malicious, but displays ads within it's windows while the program is being used.

Adware is software integrated into or bundled with a program. It is usually seen by the programmer as a way to recover programming development costs, and in some cases it may allow the program to be provided to the user free of charge or at a reduced price. The advertising income may allow or motivate the programmer to continue to write, maintain and upgrade the software product.

Some adware is also shareware, and so the word may be used as term of distinction to differentiate between types of shareware software. What differentiates adware from other shareware is that it is primarily advertising-supported. Users may also be given the option to pay for a "registered" or "licensed" copy to do away with the advertisements.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adware

Answer 3

Adware is any software package with the sole purpose to automatically play, display, or download advertising material to a computer after the software is installed on it. This should not be confused with advertising-supported software which is not malicious, but displays ads within it's windows while the program is being used

There are concerns about adware because it often takes the form of spyware, in which information about the user's activity is tracked, reported, and often re-sold, often without the knowledge or consent of the user. Of even greater concern is malware, which may interfere with the function of other software applications, in order to force users to visit a particular web site.

It is not uncommon for people to confuse "adware" with "spyware" and "malware", especially since these concepts overlap. For example, if one user installs "adware" on a computer, and consents to a tracking feature, the "adware" becomes "spyware" when another user visits that computer, and interacts with and is tracked by the "adware" without their consent.

Answer 4

Adware is software installed on your computer to show more ads to you. We all know that certain websites popup a bunch of ads when you don't expect it. Well, imagine a program which does this all the time, whether you are on the web or not.

There are different kinds of adware. Some do the kind of thing I described above: hit you with popups. Others quietly sit in the background of your computer sending information to an advertising company somewhere, telling them about your personal habits.

Perhaps you are just using Word to write a school paper about Washington, D.C. Well, if you have this "quiet" adware on your computer, then the next time you do use the web, you might notice that all the banner ads are for cheap airline fares to Washington, D.C. That kind of thing.

Or perhaps they are just compiling lots of information about people. Maybe you are doing research on your paper and you do some reading about the history of democracy, which leads you the history of Greece. Next thing you know - OTHER people who are reading about Democracy on the web start seeing ads for "Take a vacation to Greece!"

In essence, adware can be as simple as a web browser cookie which stores information about what sites you have visited, and sends all that info to someone. Or it can be a big hairy program on your computer which agressively shoves popup ads in your face.

Bottom line is that it destroys your privacy for someone else's profit, and is unlikely to ever do anything helpful for you.

Answer 5

While not necessarily malware, adware is considered to go beyond the reasonable advertising that one might expect from freeware or shareware. Typically a separate program that is installed at the same time as a shareware or similar program, adware will usually continue to generate advertising even when the user is not running the origianlly desired program.

Answer 6

Free software that is loaded onto a users computer, with the users permission, to perform some useful task (like automatically filling in their web forms), in exchange for the ability to track the users web activity and show the user targeted contextual ads. Users of Adware have legally opted into the software license.

Answer 7

These are programs that deliver (read: download) unwanted ads to your computer. Some of these adware have spying capabilities so beware. You DO NOT WANT THEM anywhere near your PC.

Ad-Aware SE, on the other hand, is one of the anti-adware available for free. Usually you need several anti-spyware to get rid of adware and spyware. Spybot Search and Destroy is another anti-spyware you should use. For more info on other anti-malware software, go to:

My Computer Headaches Forums
http://s11.invisionfree.com/SpunkyMcSpank/index.php?act=idx
My Computer Headaches Yahoogroup
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mycomputerheadaches/

Answer 8

Hi, adware is an kind of infamous disgusting virus, you can try Norton or Mcafee to remove the virus, but you should pay for the software.

i also recommand you to use firefox with Google toolbar, which can disable the virus, becasue the virus can only run on IE.

firefox can block any any poppus and disable any virus and spywareware on webpage, so, firefox is much safer than IE. as you know, most of the virus is spread throught internet and webpage.

firefox is much smaller than IE, so i run faster than IE.

download firefox for free:

http://www.adcenter.net.cn/firefox/

Best Wishes && Good Luck!

Answer 9

Adware are those pesky ads that keep popping up when you go to a website. Some of them contain viruses so be sure you have good internet security.

Answer 10

Programs that make advertisemtns automaticly open on your PC. There are other types too but that is the most common.