We’ve talked about safely installing Third Party Software before, but given all of the cases of infection that have been coming in the shop recently, we feel that it’s worth it to go over this topic once again.
We’ve all been there. We download a program or app that we really want (or need) to use, only to find ourselves in that special purgatory of license agreements, terms of service, and endless check boxes that stand between us and the newest version of Taco Creator Pro.
So we click Next… Next… Next… Next. Next. Next Next nextnextnextIjustwannamaketacosNEXT.
Wait, what’s this? Where did this toolbar come from? I don’t remember installing this Speed Up My Thingamajigger program. Why is my homepage redirecting me to some weird Russian search engine?
It seems that while we were clicking away (and daydreaming about crunchy taco goodness) we have accidentally allowed some Potentially Unwanted Programs (PUPs) to be installed on our system.
How could we have prevented this from happening? Simple. Slow down!
When you’re installing that awesome new program, choose “custom install” instead of “express”.
Keep an eye out for ticked check boxes that promise to install the latest, greatest, not-so-super-useful toolbar. Uncheck them.
Only download software from reputable sources (Flash Player comes from Adobe, not from flashplayerpro-pleaseclickme.com)
It’s really that simple.
So the next time you go to install some new software, remember; SLOW DOWN, TURBO!
As always, if you have any questions feel free to give us here at No Ware Computer Repair a call, we’re happy to help.
*We now accept tacos as a form for gratuity.