First PC late 2006; first 2-3 years of use, no problem with spam –  received almost nothing at all. Against better judgement, downloaded a free office WP package. Some time after started to receive quite a lot of spam. Eventually I connected it to the ‘free’ download, figured out how to remove software and  spam ceased.

After several years of ignoring invitations to download the latest Adobe update, decided should take advantage of all my computer has to offer and hit the ‘download now’ button for Adobe.  Now I receive masses of spam (several a day) offering ‘to enlarge my penis’, continuing for several weeks; this has recently changed to offerings of ‘bonus wins’ – none of which I open or delete.

Do I have to remove Adobe to get this to stop?

Cheers for the New Year.

Thanks for the new year greeting.

Unfortunately removing Adobe isn’t going to fix the spam problem. What’s happened is your email address has somehow found its way onto the spammer list, possibly through the free software you downloaded.

All you can really do about this sort of spam now is to make sure you have a good spam filter on your email program. If you’re using a web based service like Gmail or Yahoo! Mail they should deal with it automatically. Programs like Microsoft Outlook need the feature turned on.

If you let us know which email program you’re using in the comments section below, we can give you the instructions on enabling the spam checker for your service.

Updating Adobe is really important as they have had a lot of security problems in recent  times, so don’t hesitate with installing any legitimate upgrades.

Spammers can get into your account through a number of ways and if your computer is up to date with security patches and anti virus protection then it’s unlikely your computer was hacked to carry out this spam campaign.

What has probably happened is your Yahoo! mail account has been hijacked, which could have happened from any computer.

Your first step is to change your Yahoo! passwords then those of any accounts that use the same password. You may also want to take the opportunity to download a copy of your online address book.

On your own computer, visit the Microsoft Update website to make sure you have the latest Windows security patches installed and the Symantec Security Centre for the latest security definitions.

It might also be a good idea to send out a message to your friends, relatives and colleagues to tell them you’re not really in the business of selling viagra or other pills.

Updating your computer, whether you have a Windows or Mac computer, is very important as new security bugs are found all the time. Unfortunately Microsoft’s automatic update function can be intrusive.

It isn’t a good idea to totally disable the Windows Update service as those updates and patches are important, but you can change the settings so they are downloaded but not installed until you choose to do so.

Microsoft’s Knowledge Base describes how to change the Windows Update Settings, we recommend the download updates but let me choose when to install themoption.

The most valuable thing on a computer is the data, so it’s important to wipe any system before disposing of it.

If you have an OS X or OS 9 system disk, you can completely wipe and “zero” the disk to make it extremely difficult for someone to recover any data from the old computer. Apple have detailed instructions on this at their How To Zero All Data On A Disk page.

Warning! Before following Apple’s instructions, make sure you have backed up all important and valuable data.

These messages are known as  malware – software designed for malicious reasons – which has been the bane of Windows computer users for years and unfortunately this curse has spread to the world of Apple computers with MacKeeper, and other variants like MacProtector and MacSecurity, appearing on people’s Macs.

In almost every case, these warnings are a scam and the programs don’t actually do anything once you’ve purchased them. So we’d recommend getting rid of the messages.

Removing Mackeeper is relatively easy and Apple has released a security patch to fix it on OSX systems. Details and download are available at the Apple Support website.

One of the most irritating things to lose when a computer crashes or you replace it are your email and contacts.

Windows 7 comes with its own backup program which Microsoft shows you how to use it on their website.

If you select all your data, or at least your profile, the backup will save your Windows Live Hotmail data along with your contacts, favorites and all your other settings.

Once you’ve created the backup, we’d suggest using an online service like Dropbox or Box.net to keep a secure copy of these files.

The answer to first question is “no”, Microsoft don’t make these calls and you’re being targeted by a silly little scam that’s looking at conning you out of a $100 or so.

If you agree to these people running their remote service they will log in using a legitimate software program, usually LogMeIn and play around for a little while. At the end of their “repairs” they will have done little more than charge your credit card.

To date we haven’t heard of anyone having their data stolen or credit cards misused by these people but that’s all possible if you’ve let them onto your computer.

In answer to your second question, if you are worried you’re infected then you should follow our Removing a Trojan instructions or call a computer technician to check your system.

Should you have let one of these scammers onto your system, we’d strongly recommend getting your computer checked by an experienced technician and dispute any payments charged by these people.

You don’t need two Internet security programs, one will be fine and having two or more security programs running on your system runs the risk of them interfering with each other.

On balance, we’d recommend the Microsoft program simply because it uses a lot less of your computer’s resources than McAfee’s Internet security and anti-virus programs. The computer security companies also have the habit of stinging you with expensive upgrades every year or so.

We have a list of the free internet security programs available on our Four Free Anti-Virus Programs post. All of these software packages are fine for home use.

That’s a great question, Lesley and being a legal question it doesn’t have a straight answer. A strict reading of the various copyright statues indicate the original writer of a letter or email does have copyright protection. Although lawyers advise you should have a disclaimer asserting copyright at the end of your emails.

Of course this doesn’t prevent “fair use” of your email’s contents, so key parts of it still could be still distributed if the extracts meet the criteria that determines fair use.

Copyright law is a pretty blunt tool to use when it comes to email contents, it may well be there are various privacy laws, employment conditions or other legal restrictions depending on where you live and whether the emails relate to business or private matters.

Generally it’s good manners to ask permission before forwarding an email containing sensitive information, however given the ease of copying of distributing digital communications, you should be wary of sending anything electronically that could embarrass or damage you. Some ideas on email etiquette are available on the PC Rescue site.

Overall though, no-one has a “right” to do anything they like with emails they receive, there are both moral and legal issues with passing on any private information they come across, whether it’s by a letter, email or any other way.

Note this is not legal advice and it is essential to seek guidance from a professional legal practitioner on your specific circumstances.

You’re right to be worried about using Internet Explorer, the program has shown itself over the years to have some serious security flaws. We’ve recommended for a long time that users should use alternative programs.

Previously we’ve posted a list of the four main alternatives to Internet Explorer. These options include Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Opera and Apple Chrome.

Of the choices, Firefox is the most popular while Chrome is gaining fans because of its speed. The other two have their advantages as well and its best to download one and see if it meets your needs.

Don’t try to remove Internet Explorer as it is an important part of the Windows operating system and there’s quite a few sites that will only work properly on Internet Explorer.

So save IE for the sites that require it and use alternatives for your day-to-day web surfing.