The How to Get Rid of Things Blog

My introduction to trojan horses came last year as I tried to download a patch to one of my computer games. Instead of using the game’s website - which was obnoxiously slow - I haphazardly downloaded what appeared to be the patch from Limewire. I was impatient to play, and I paid for it. Instantly my screen was filled with pop-ups and a thousand different windows that couldn’t be closed. This trojan was designed to annoy and was relatively innocuous, considering that many are engineered to steal personal information or turn your computer into a disease-spreading zombie - not to mention give control of your machine to a basement-dwelling misanthrope. I’ve learned much about this type of malware since the Greeks fooled me. There is no “one way” to get rid of trojans, but rather many methods that work for specific infections.  Read my latest article to learn how to go about trojan removal, as well as what steps to take in preventing infection.

Yes, how to get rid of adware, and yes it’s just like spyware and popups and every other ware you can think of. The thing is, though there isn’t much of a difference between adware and spyware, excepting the obvious difference that one spies quietly and the other displays ads, people tend to perceive between them when the solutions to both problems are quite similar: don’t visit websites you don’t think are safe, don’t install software presented to you in popups, don’t open your junk mail, and don’t install p2p software that demands you install other pieces of software along with their client program. Ad-aware from lavasoft should take care of the rest; though, I’m pretty curious about Microsoft’s Defender program.

Getting rid of viruses (computer viruses) is a tricky topic because there are so many different kinds of viruses out there that a computer could contract. I have left out the lengthy descriptions of each kind of virus, because I believe most people aren’t looking for them, they’re looking for a way to get rid of them. So, the topic of virus removal remains fairly simple: get a free online scan if you can connect to the internet or antivirus websites, then clean the virus and install antivirus software. The tricky part is explaining how to bypass a hosts file hack, which is what a lot of viruses these days do. I think the most important advice found in the article “how to get rid of a virus” is in the last paragraph where I explain why it might be a good idea to choose a lesser known antivirus program, because a lot of hackers tend to target the bigger companies in the hopes of gaining more recognition, as was the case with the Blaster worm. Lately, though, news on the computer virus front as been pretty tame–nothing much to report there, which is a good thing. “How to get rid of a worm” will probably be the next Computer Problem project.

This most recent article brings us back to the topic of Computer Problems, and one of the biggest problems aside from popups, has always been spyware. Granted, spyware is no longer as huge of a threat as it used to be, but it certainly ranks up there when it comes to annoyances. Spyware can affect your system performance, and opens the doors to possible hackers and identity theft. So, it’s a good to have an idea of how to get rid of spyware, or at least avoid the largest pitfalls that people surfing the web tend to fall into.

Getting rid of popups isn’t as big of a deal as it used to be. Many of the websites (particularly of the adult nature) don’t really employ popups as a means of advertisement anymore because of the recent advents in web browsing technology. It’s far more common to see popups due to background spyware and adware programs than javascript popups these days. Nevertheless, if you’re unable to run one of the latest web browsers or you don’t have money for popup blocking software, then this article might be of some use to you. If only we’d had a popup blocker installed on my little brother’s new computer that fateful day.

I don’t usually do this sort of thing on this website because this isn’t a political platform, this site is about solid information and research. But, because telecom companies like Comcast, Verizon, and AT&T want to privatize the internet, regulate what you see, what you read, and where you go–I feel obligated to tell you that informational sites like this one, run by little people like me, might be in jeopardy if these big telecom companies get their way. The issue is called Net Neutrality, and basically it’s about big telecom companies (TV and Internet) being able to restrict your access to, say, Google because they’ve signed an exclusive contract with Yahoo–or the other way around, depending on who you have service through. Do you want telecom companies charging you more for restricted access, dependent upon what they want you to see? It happened with network television, which is why FOX, CNN, and MSNBC are the only big players left in news and punditry. It can happen again with the internet.

There’s a website you can visit if you want to learn more about how you can save the internet. Your congressional representatives don’t think this is an issue. Make it one.

After reading enough spam and junk emails about your lack of “girth” or “length” as a man, or enough emails about how big your butt looks, you may be starting to wonder how to get rid of junkmail, otherwise known as spam on the intertron. Indeed, even I am sick of the emails about my lack of manhood, even though it’s not true *cough*. Call them spam blockers, call them anti spam software, call them spam filters: whatever you want to call your spam protection software options, the fact is there are a few things you should keep in mind before you go downloading any software that promises to keep spam out of your inbox. Here is that advice about how to prevent a spam invasion: How to Get Rid of Spam

I’ve recently discovered the joys of the Yahoo! Answers program, and I think there’s some potential here to keep How to Get Rid of Things advice in the public eye. I signed up a couple of weeks ago, and not too long ago I was picked as a best answer for the service they offer in the U.K. Here is the question and my answer. Apparently spiders are a problem in the United Kingdom as well. I offered her a link to a book I’d bought about spiders in Minnesota (the north woods), not thinking that she would actually appreciate a book detailing spiders only found in the most northern parts of North America. I also linked here to the wikipedia article about spiders, and back to How to Get Rid of Things–which brings me to my point.

If you happen to be all about answering questions and getting pseudo-rewards for them, I strongly recommend that you  check out the Yahoo! Answers program. It’s easy to sign up for, and it’s actually a bit of fun. Not only that, but you can brush up on your rhetoric skills by seeing just how many times you can lull a couple of readers into thinking you really do have the best answer to their problem.

Oh, and if you find the occasion to link back to getridofthings.com at the bottom of your Yahoo Answer page, please do.