could someone please explaine this to me (computers)

[Dznypal]

I was doing my rewards last nite when MacAfee popped up saying there was a trojan found Im not sure about viruses but I have a feeling this one is a bad one.


another notice popped up saying that all is clear but to run the virus program right away which I did.

When that was finished there was a message that said

potentailly unwanted program
program name: aware-IST bar

nothing else was said about the trojan so Im hoping that is all clear. otherwise would that still come up when you run macafee

what is the potentailly unwanted program about

please help

 

[ARDisHog]

That IST-bar thing is what is commonly called Spyware. You should probably download a good Spyware program. Here at work we recommend Spybot Search and Destroy and Ad-Aware. I personally also recommend Microsoft Anti-Spware Beta which is obviously a Microsoft product.

You can find each of these by doing a search at www.download.com.

We recommend that you run at least two of these programs because some of these will pick up stuff that the others leave behind. I suggest that you run these at least once a week or anytime after you have been on the internet for long (several hours) periods of time.

Hope this helps.

 

[azgal81]

The downfall to doing reward programs is you get alot of spyware and adware on your computer. These programs are downloaded onto your computer and used to track what websites you are visiting. Also some of the bad ones put programs down that track the keystrokes so those are recorded and sent back. That is how people can get your passwards or other private information. There's a sticky on top of this site that talks about the programs to download to remove these.

I have adware, spybot and microsoft spyware (this is a new program so it's not the final version yet). The microsoft spyware one is the best it catches programs spybot did not. Run these often to remove the programs. You will probably be amazed what all is on your computer. I know I was!

ETA: Your virus program will not remove the spyware from your computer or stop it from happening. You need to download one of the programs I mentioned above. Spyware will get through virus software.

 

[ARDisHog]

I work as a WebMaster at a fairly decent sized University( about 11,000 Students) and we see Spyware almost daily. My office is attached to the Helpdesk and I fill in for the helpdesk person occasionally as needed. Azgal81 is correct though most AV programs do nothing to stop Spyware.