The internet is a valuable resource for work, entertainment and research, but it has become something we take for granted. We tend to forget how much we rely on the internet until something goes wrong.
Whether its a virus infection or a barrage of pop-up adverts, there are many irritating problems that can get in the way and ruin your internet experience.
We are going to explain how to do away with the 15 biggest internet problems, so you can get back to enjoying your internet connection as quickly as possible.
- Viruses
Viruses are one of the most common problems experienced by anyone with an internet connection. A virus infection can come from many sources, but the most common means of infection are email attachments and infected downloads. Its easy to take action to avoid virus problems.
The importance of installing anti-virus software cannot be overstated. Virus protection need not cost the earth. AVG Antivirus is free. This program can automatically scan incoming emails for infection, as well as constantly monitor other files as they are accessed. It can also keep itself up to date.
Be sure to scan your computer for viruses regularly - once a week if possible - and scan immediately if you suspect you have been infected. AVG can scan files immediately after downloading them: right-click the file and select Scan with AVG from the menu that appears.
- Spam
Junk email, often known as spam, is not only an irritation, it is also related to phishing emails. Spam can clog up email inboxes and is particularly annoying for dial-up internet users who have to wait for junk emails to download slowly. One of the easiest ways to overcome the problem is to install spam-filtering software such as Mailwasher. The program makes it easy to filter out unwanted emails.
Many popular email programs include their own junk mail filters. The key to ensuring that these are effective is to train them by marking spam emails as junk and checking the junk email folder to rescue any genuine messages that have been incorrectly deleted. Most email programs also allow you to create your own email rules so that any emails containing a particular word will be deleted.
- Spyware
Although viruses and spyware are often grouped together as malware, they are different. The effects of a virus infection range from annoying messages to an unusable computer, but spyware is designed to spy on the computers users. This could involve monitoring websites visited or recording credit card numbers as they are entered.
Specialist software is recommended to help detect and remove unwanted infections. A good tool is Spybot Search & Destroy, which is free to download. It can scan your hard disk for spyware and remove any infections that are found.
- Phishing
Phishing scams are designed to trick people into revealing personal information online. Most arrive as spam emails that look as if they come from a trusted source. Many email programs include phishing filters that can spot dubious emails, and the latest versions of Firefox and Internet Explorer alert users to known phishing sites.
To ensure that Internet Explorers phishing filter is enabled, click on the Tools button, then Phishing Filter, followed by Phishing Filter Settings. Scroll down to the bottom of the list of options and make sure that Turn on automatic website checking is selected.
The best protection against phishing is caution. Even if you think an email from a bank or shop is legitimate, dont click on links it contains, as these may take you to a counterfeit website. Open your web browser and go to the site by typing its address into the address bar. Never respond to an email that asks you to confirm an account username or password.
- Pop-ups
Pop-up windows appear from nowhere when surfing the web, obscuring the website you want to look at with adverts. Some are merely annoying, but others contain material that is inappropriate for many users. Most modern web browsers include a built-in pop-up blocker that stops them appearing.
Users of Internet Explorer 7 will find that the pop-up blocker is enabled by default. To customise it, click on the Tools button, followed by Pop-up Blocker, and then Pop-up Blocker Settings. At the bottom of the dialogue box, it is possible to configure how stringent the blocker should be, and there is the option to allow legitimate pop-ups from trusted sites.
This can help to combat pop-ups hidden in web pages, but some pop-ups can be a symptom of a spyware infection. If you see them almost constantly, follow the instructions for removing spyware. A free program called Ad-Aware can automatically block pop-ups that originate from a number of well-known sources.
- Annoying adverts
Every so often an advert comes along that gets in the way of the website youre trying to read. Fortunately, Firefox users can block adverts easily using a free extension called Adblock Plus.
Adblock Plus is free to download from http://tinyurl.com/2cd87q. Once installed, it makes most advertisements on web pages invisible. Should something you want to see be incorrectly identified as an advert, it is possible to disable Adblock Plus for a single web page or all the pages of a particular site. This handy tool places you in full control over exactly what is displayed in your web browser.
- Missing multimedia
Many web pages include multimedia content, such as videos, animations and sounds. If these dont show up or play properly, its likely that your browser is missing one or more plug-ins. Firefox and Internet Explorer 7 will warn if they dont have the right plug-in to show a multimedia item, but it can be easy to miss the warning produced by Internet Explorer. Look out for a yellow bar - the information bar - appearing at the top of the page. Clicking on this will usually give the option to install the necessary program.
