Are free screensavers safe to install?
Word Count:
483
Summary:
There are many websites online that offer free screensavers for download. The question remains though, are those screensavers safe? By downloading and installing these so called free screensavers will any harm come to your computer? This is a legitimate concern, which needs to be addressed before any user even thinks about installing a free screensaver.
Keywords:
screensavers, free screensavers, wallpaper screensavers
Article Body:
There are many websites online that offer free screensavers for download. The question remains though, are those screensavers safe? By downloading and installing these so called free screensavers will any harm come to your computer? This is a legitimate concern, which needs to be addressed before any user even thinks about installing a free screensaver.
There are several malicious programs which can come bundled with a free screensaver. These will mainly be viruses, spyware, adware, and toolbars. There are a few variations within these programs, but in the main they are considered undesirable, unless the user specifically requests them. And out of that list, the only one that you would even consider installing would be a friendly toolbar. But more on that later.
Below is a brief run-down of each type of malicious programs that you would want to avoid:
Viruses: These must be avoided at all costs as they can detrimentally harm your computer, often to the point of losing unrecoverable data. If you are afraid of being infected with viruses, only download software from trusted sites where programs are verified and tested, such as at Download.com. Download.com also host their own files, which means that software cannot be altered at a later date to include any viruses.
Spyware: These are programs which are used to unethically track and spy on your internet online activities. The data can then be sold to advertisers or used to change your browser and computer functions. Spyware is one of the worst type of bundled software, and can be difficult to remove.
Adware: Adware is a little less scary than spyware, though no less annoying to the average computer user. Adware programs will continually display popups and unwanted adverts while you are browsing. Sometimes you may not even realise that you have adware unless you notice an excessive amount of popups during your normal surfing (where there were no popups before).
Toolbars: Finally we have toolbars, which is a mixed basket. Some toolbars are actually quite useful, such as the Google Toolbar, or some that offer increased entertainment experience like the StumbleUpon toolbar. Having said that, there are other toolbars which are used as a means of displaying ads and are hard to uninstall. Some of these unwanted toolbars come bundled with free screensavers or software, often from some so called ‘big name’ companies.
It is extremely important that you do your research before you download screensavers. Read the Terms of Service, and Conditions of Use on the websites, as companies are required by law to inform users what they would be installing.
Make sure you read the fine print. Not just what is on the download page. Sometimes they will say ‘No spyware’, but they do not mention anything about adware. Are you prepared to put up with some (or a lot) of advertisements for a free screensaver? Most people certainly should not.
Showing posts with label screensavers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label screensavers. Show all posts
Monday, February 7, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
A Guide To Free Screensavers
A Guide To Free Screensavers
Word Count:
410
Summary:
There are millions of Screensavers available on the Internet. Almost all of these can be downloaded and installed easily. These are usually categorized according to themes. Nature lovers can choose picturesque locations. Fish lovers can choose from different kinds of aquariums with multi-colored fish that are swishing through colored water. Those who really like adventure sports or aircraft can choose from a wide array of moving images and clips of death-defying stunts. Screensavers can also be slide shows that have various pictures of movie celebrities, sportspersons and politicians.
Keywords:
screensavers, free screensavers, nature screensavers, animated screensavers
Article Body:
There are millions of Screensavers available on the Internet. Almost all of these can be downloaded and installed easily. These are usually categorized according to themes. Nature lovers can choose picturesque locations. Fish lovers can choose from different kinds of aquariums with multi-colored fish that are swishing through colored water. Those who really like adventure sports or aircraft can choose from a wide array of moving images and clips of death-defying stunts. Screensavers can also be slide shows that have various pictures of movie celebrities, sportspersons and politicians.
However, some precautions need to be taken before downloading Screensavers. The most important one is that Screensavers must be downloaded from trusted sites. It’s also always a good idea to scan Screensavers for viruses and other potentially dangerous elements, such as spyware and adware. If an anti-virus is already installed on the system, a right click enables a menu which provides for a ‘scan with…’ option. This option can be selected and left-clicked to check the selected download before double-clicking it and installing it.
Sometimes Screensavers are extremely graphic-intensive. This means that they contain so many graphics that they are huge files. Huge files take a lot of space on the computer when they run, and make the computer work so much harder and so much faster than normal that the computer freezes. Then the computer needs to be restarted and all the unsaved information on the computer -- such as open files that were being worked on before the Screensaver was activated – is lost.
Some Screensavers also make the hard drive of the computer crash, causing irretrievable data loss. Therefore, it is important for users to download Screensavers that are compatible with the configuration of their computers. This means that the speed of the processor in the computer, and the free space on it, should be sufficient for the Screensaver to be downloaded, installed and run.
Many users like to create their own Screensavers, often with the visuals and audio of their choice. Some software applications facilitate this. Out of these, some can be freely downloaded from the Internet. However, these should be downloaded only from trusted sites, and should be supported by the configuration of the user’s computer. Once downloaded, these should also be scanned for viruses and other common infections. When installed, these programs enable the user to combine images, video clips and audio clips to create a personalized Screensaver, sometimes even for circulation amongst friends and family.
Word Count:
410
Summary:
There are millions of Screensavers available on the Internet. Almost all of these can be downloaded and installed easily. These are usually categorized according to themes. Nature lovers can choose picturesque locations. Fish lovers can choose from different kinds of aquariums with multi-colored fish that are swishing through colored water. Those who really like adventure sports or aircraft can choose from a wide array of moving images and clips of death-defying stunts. Screensavers can also be slide shows that have various pictures of movie celebrities, sportspersons and politicians.
Keywords:
screensavers, free screensavers, nature screensavers, animated screensavers
Article Body:
There are millions of Screensavers available on the Internet. Almost all of these can be downloaded and installed easily. These are usually categorized according to themes. Nature lovers can choose picturesque locations. Fish lovers can choose from different kinds of aquariums with multi-colored fish that are swishing through colored water. Those who really like adventure sports or aircraft can choose from a wide array of moving images and clips of death-defying stunts. Screensavers can also be slide shows that have various pictures of movie celebrities, sportspersons and politicians.
However, some precautions need to be taken before downloading Screensavers. The most important one is that Screensavers must be downloaded from trusted sites. It’s also always a good idea to scan Screensavers for viruses and other potentially dangerous elements, such as spyware and adware. If an anti-virus is already installed on the system, a right click enables a menu which provides for a ‘scan with…’ option. This option can be selected and left-clicked to check the selected download before double-clicking it and installing it.
Sometimes Screensavers are extremely graphic-intensive. This means that they contain so many graphics that they are huge files. Huge files take a lot of space on the computer when they run, and make the computer work so much harder and so much faster than normal that the computer freezes. Then the computer needs to be restarted and all the unsaved information on the computer -- such as open files that were being worked on before the Screensaver was activated – is lost.
Some Screensavers also make the hard drive of the computer crash, causing irretrievable data loss. Therefore, it is important for users to download Screensavers that are compatible with the configuration of their computers. This means that the speed of the processor in the computer, and the free space on it, should be sufficient for the Screensaver to be downloaded, installed and run.
Many users like to create their own Screensavers, often with the visuals and audio of their choice. Some software applications facilitate this. Out of these, some can be freely downloaded from the Internet. However, these should be downloaded only from trusted sites, and should be supported by the configuration of the user’s computer. Once downloaded, these should also be scanned for viruses and other common infections. When installed, these programs enable the user to combine images, video clips and audio clips to create a personalized Screensaver, sometimes even for circulation amongst friends and family.
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