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Being deluged with those annoying "pop-up" ads while surfing the Internet? You may actually be the victim of having "spyware" installed on your computer. This "spyware" is causing you to receive many of these pop-up ads.

In a nutshell, "spyware" works like this - it enters your computer as part of another program that you install (music file sharing software is a prime example). This "spyware", once it has attached itself to your computer, literally sits and "spies" on your web-surfing habits. It watches the sites you visit, and keeps track of them. While spying on you, it also sends a report back to the "home station" on the Internet. This report contains a history of the various sites you have visited. Once the home station receives this report, it turns around and instructs the "spyware" on your computer to pop-up ads that relate to the sites you have visited. The more web surfing you do, the more pop-ups you may get!

How do you know if your computer has "spyware" on it? It's easy - download a program called Ad Aware (they have a free version, and fee-based versions with additional features) from a company called Lavasoft (www.lavasoft.de). Install Ad Aware and let it scan your computer to identify programs and files it considers to be "spyware". It will allow you to easily delete them, helping to greatly reduce the number of pop-up ads you see.

You may also be interested in a program called Ad Subtract from Intermute Software (www.intermute.com). Ad Subtract is an award-winning program that helps minimize the number of pop-up and other annoying ads you see while surfing the Internet. Remember, it's not possible to completely stop ALL pop-up ads, but these two products can really help minimize them.