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Craplets & Bloatware

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What's New at PC Pitstop, November 2004

IN THIS ISSUE

• XP Service Pack 2 Rolls On
• Keep Kids Safe from Spyware
• Spyware bills die; FTC says "good riddance"
• Top 25 Spyware and Adware
• Join the PC Pitstop Folding or SETI Team

XP Service Pack 2 Rolls On

Windows XP Service Pack 2 was released in late August, but already more than half of XP users that test at PC Pitstop have upgraded. Are you lagging behind? Several recent virus and spyware exploits are taking advantage of problems that have been fixed in SP2. Don't let your PC be attacked! If the download seems too large, order the free SP2 upgrade CD from Microsoft:
http://pcpitstop.com/tinylink.asp?xpsp2cd
Want to know more about SP2? Ask on our forums:
http://pcpitstop.com/tinylink.asp?ThePit

Keep Kids Safe from Spyware

Are spyware makers targeting children with their tactics? They sure seem to like the kind of sites and software that childen and teens use, such as peer-to-peer file sharing and music lyric sites. We've put together an article that describes some of the things spyware makers are doing to entice kids, and ways that you can prevent your PC from becoming a casualty:
http://pcpitstop.com/tinylink.asp?SpyKids

Spyware bills die; FTC says "good riddance"

A cynic might say that Congress tackled the spyware issue only because it was an election year. Both the House and Senate worked on bills to address the spyware issue, but in the end nothing was passed. Maybe that's a good thing; the proposed bills lacked teeth, and Federal Trade Commission head Orson Swindle has said existing laws are enough to fight spyware. If that's the case, Mr. Swindle, can we see some FTC action on spyware? In the meantime, PC Pitstop CEO Rob Cheng proposes a simple way to tell naughty software from nice. If users aren't aware that it's being installed, it's probably naughty:
http://pcpitstop.com/tinylink.asp?PitBlog

Top 25 Spyware and Adware

PC Pitstop has begun tracking the rise and fall of spyware in our Top 25 list. Each week we analyze the previous week's tests to see what spyware and adware was most commonly found on PCs. Then we publish the results, showing the up-or-down trend for each one and the percent of PCs that had the infection. Check it out; while you're there, do a quick scan to make sure your PC doesn't have any spyware.
http://pcpitstop.com/tinylink.asp?Top25

Join the PC Pitstop Folding or SETI Team

Can a PC cure cancer? The Folding@Home project uses your spare CPU time to find proteins that might be useful in the fight against diseases. SETI@Home puts your computing power to work searching for messages in the signals we receive from space. Learn more and join the team at the Distributed Computing section of our forums!
http://support.pcpitstop.com/

About PC Pitstop

PC Pitstop, LLC (http://www.pcpitstop.com) was formed in February 2000, and offers users a unique way to make sure their PCs are running fast, stable and secure--all through a free, Web-based interface.

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