I have a story to tell, and I’m not too happy about it happening in the first place. I have friends who are good at computers and they have warned me to be careful what I download and install onto my computer. Like many people, I like to do some shopping online. So when I saw a program called BargainBuddy that claimed to give me rebates on things I purchased from participating merchants, I wanted to give it a try. I had no clue what I was letting myself in for!

A toolbar appeared, my home page was changed, and I started getting pop-ups. I had a pop-up blocker installed, but I was still getting these pop-ups. I knew something was wrong at this point. I shouldn’t be getting any pop-ups. So instead of admitting my mistake and bugging one of my friends who is good with computers, I decided to do some research on my own.

I found out a few interesting things about BargainBuddy. It is considered adware and a browser helper object, or BHO. Adware is a program written to give you unwanted advertisements, mostly pop-ups. Browser helper objects are known to hijack your start page and search results while sometimes spying on your browsing habits. BargainBuddy can contact its maker’s servers and update itself without your knowledge or permission. I also found out that BargainBuddy is known by several names. These names include CashBackBuddy, Bullseye Software, eXact Searchbar, and NaviSearch. Exact Advertising created it. Subtle name huh? I would like to think if I’d known the name of the company, I would have thought twice about getting BargainBuddy.

I tried to uninstall BargainBuddy, but when I rebooted my computer it was back. I finally called a friend and they told me I needed an anti-spyware program, but to be careful what I got. It turns out that most anti-spyware will remove 80-90% of your infection, leaving you either still infected or leaving enough for the infection to reinstall itself. I needed to look for a program that would remove 100% of my infection. I found one and BargainBuddy is completely removed.

About the Author:

Carl runs a site devoted to helping you rid your computer from all sorts of spyware and malware at http://www.spyzooka.com/

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Bargainbuddy — More Problems Than Its Worth