Spyware
is quite a general term that usually refers to a piece of software that watches
what you do on your computer (not necessarily everything, but some things) and
then reports that information back to someone.
The most
common use for Spyware is in the advertisements you often see in free software
programs, such as the Original Kazaa. For this reason, Spyware is sometimes
called Adware. These advertisement systems keep track of what advertisements you
click on and send back statistics to their marketers. This allows them to send
you more advertisements that (supposedly) interest you.
Some
Spyware has the ability to gather information that is more specific on you. Not
necessarily personally identifiable info (like your name and address) but
demographic information such as age range, you gender and perhaps what country
you live in. This kind of information, when coupled with data on what
advertisement you are interested in (and even, potentially, what you search for
using the Original Kazaa) is very useful to companies as it provides them with
information about peoples' habits and interests, coupled with general
information about what kind of person they are.
Are women
aged 18-25 interested in football merchandise?
Maybe,
maybe not, maybe you don't care, but Spyware can tell the people that do care.
The people behind Spyware sell the information they gather to marketing
companies and pass on some of the profit to the software that contains the
Spyware. This is how programs like the Original Kazaa can remain free to
download and use.
The main
concern about Spyware is that no one can really know exactly what information it
is gathering about you. You have to take the maker's word for it, and most
people don't want to do that. Any software running on your computer can
potentially know about anything you do. What web sites you visit. What software
you use. What you search for on Google or Kazaa. It could even gather personal
information about you specifically, provided you give it permission. But think
about it: when was the last time you read the licence agreement you're about to
agree to?
K-Lite
contains none of this, but be aware that it will not uninstall Spyware that is
already on your system. See the question on removing Spyware below.
How
does K-Lite get around Spyware?
It gets
around it, quite simply, by not installing it!
Will
K-Lite remove any Spyware on my machine?
No. It is
important to remember than K-Lite gets around Spyware by not installing it. If
it is already there, it will stay there unless you remove it. K-Lite will not
use any Spyware components that are present on your system.
What
is the best way to remove Spyware?
To get
rid of any Spyware you may have on your PC (including some you probably didn't
know about!) the best tool to use is
Ad-Aware, from Lavasoft. Ad-Aware will search your memory, registry and hard
drive for any Spyware or Adware it knows about and offer to delete it. It is
updated regularly with any newfound software. Not only will it remove Spyware
components, but it will clean their settings out of your registry and also
delete any cookies set by advert banners on web sites.
My-K-Lite.com 
