Daily IT news & views

Yesterday I was talking about Greyware. If you're unsure if you have any, here is a short list of symptoms to look for:

Follow up:

1. Computer is slower. Greyware uses more memory. Check Windows Task Manager or msconfig to see what is running or starting when your computer starts.
2. Your modem lights are flashing but you're not using the internet. Recommend disabling your internet connection until you find the cause. (It might just be the Microsoft update program trying to download more updates. Better to be sure though!)
3. Pop up messages appear at any time.
4. You've lost your home page. It keeps changing back to some other page you didn't choose yourself. Careful here though, if you've installed a program from a magazine CD, your browser may change due to that.
5. IE doesn't search from your favourite search engine anymore. Something or someone has changed it to a strange search site that looks like it's full of advertising.
6. New toolbars have been installed without your knowledge. Lots of things stop working because of them. Uninstalling them doesn't work.
7. Your antivirus stops finding viruses. Your Spybot installation says straight away that nothing is wrong. You firewall seems to be letting through traffic you blocked.
8. If you're still on dial-up you may get charges to international numbers if a dialler has got into your system.
9. Lots of error messages!
10. Your broadband account says you've downloaded and uploaded a lot more than you would expect.

Other signs could be signs of viruses, for example, if you suddenly find your system sending out emails but you haven't written any to send.

Scan your computer daily and if you're suspicious of whether your programs are working properly, try downloading and installing new programs that do a similar thing. Or install several programs designed to remove greyware and test them regularly. Have fun!