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Steve
Basciano of High Voltage Computer Service in Edwardsville,
IL answers your questions about computer and technology
issues. Have a question for Steve? Send
us your question and watch for your answer online.
Dear
Steve,
I
am a part-time pastor and a part-time artist. I recently
started searching for online sources for photos of models
in motion (e.g. humans, horses, geese, etc). I found what
I was looking for... but also discovered that I downloaded
a set of photos that included nudes in graphic positions.
I deleted them.
Now
I am getting emails with much more graphic (actually porno-graphic)
photos. And I was curious and stupid enough to open some
of them. Now they don't stop! Can these be traced to my
computer? How do I ascertain whether or not they are truly
"deleted from my computer memory?" (They are
rather difficult to delete from my personal memory!)
Basically,
I have seriously erred in my decision making. How do I
get rid of this stuff, and how do I block it from continuing
to come in my email?
Sincerely,
A frantic, stupid pastor
Dear Frantic Pastor,
Your
question is a very good one and one that is quite a problem
these days. First, anytime you open a web page, it can
be tracked back to your computer. To make it easy, I will
use a basic explanation. Your internet provider, whomever
it is, issues each customer their own IP address. An IP
address is like an electronic fingerprint. Each time you
visit a website, or send an email, this information is
recorded, by the web site you visitied, by your internet
provider and most likely even our government (due to Homeland
Security).
Is
it something that you should be overly worried about?
No, unless you were consistently downloading or exhanging
child pornography, etc, it wouldn't raise any red flags.
Websites that you sign up for, or give your email address
to, most likely sold your email to thousands of spam advertisements.
Stopping them is impossible. All you can do is have a
good spam filter in your email account to sort your good
email from the spam.
Now...
you "opened some of them, and now they won't stop."
If you're talking about emails, all you can do is the
above. If you are saying that your computer is constantly
popping up ads or pictures on it's own, then you have
been infected with what they call "spy-ware".
You can get rid of most spy-ware by using some free uilities
like adaware SE, or spybot, readily available on the Internet,
but make sure you get them from the actual websites!
Also,
make sure you have an excellent virus protector and keep
it up to date. A security suite is the best thing to have.
Most suites protect you from viruses, spy-ware, ad-ware,
and even have a firewall. AVG security suite is very good,
as well as Microsoft's Live OneCare.
Now,
here is some advice:
- When
signing up for online accounts, etc, create an email
address through gmail, yahoo, etc. And use this account
just for that stuff. Use your "real" email
only for business, banking, friends, etc. This way,
if your online blogging memberships or other non-important
sites sell your email address, it doesn't matter. This
still does not make you invisible, as I said above,
no matter what email you use, or website you visit,
your IP is always recordable. This will keep your main
account clear of spam though.
- NEVER
NEVER NEVER NEVER, open an email you don't recognize,
or download attachments unless you know who they are
from. Many viruses are spread through email.
- Also,
if you do open a spam email, I bet you do what most
people do -- you click on that link on the bottom that
says "REMOVE ME FROM YOUR MAILING LIST". I
bet you are saying, yes I do that. Guess what? All you
managed to do was verify that your email is GOOD, and
they will sell it to more spammers!
- The
remove me from your mailing list only works for LEGITIMATE
businesses, such as Home depot, Lowes, etc. They will
honor the request. Spam ads never will honor it and
by clicking on the link, you will get even more spam.
High
Voltage Computer Services, www.gohighvoltage.com
- Log into our Free Forums and check out our Specials
on the Contact Page! Thank you!
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If
you have any questions or need help, please contact me.
High Voltage Computer Service, www.gohighvoltage.com
or pcrepair@gohighvoltage.com.
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