Secretly Run Programs
This content has been, and is no longer maintained by Indiana University. Resources linked from this page may no longer be available or reliable. What it is Spyware includes any data collection program that secretly gathers information about you and relays it to advertisers and other interested parties.
Adware usually displays banners or unwanted pop-up windows. In many cases, unwanted programs of this sort do both functions. You can unknowingly install spyware when you install new software, most commonly freeware or shareware P2P (peer-to-peer) file-sharing programs. Many of these programs are designed to track your Internet browsing habits, such as frequented sites and favorite downloads, and then provide advertising companies with marketing data. Some spyware programs can adversely affect your computer's performance, and may prevent you from accessing secure services at Indiana University, including, IU Webmail, and.
Every time you boot your computer, you probably have a few programs you always start up immediately. Here's how to set them to start up automatically whenever you. How can I execute a windows command line in the background. If you want the command-line program to run without the user even knowing about it.
How to remove it Unfortunately, you cannot fully remove most spyware and adware programs by using the uninstall option in the Windows Add or Remove Programs control panel. To completely remove spyware from your Windows computer, recommends using Windows Defender. Also, many antivirus products, such as Symantec AntiVirus (SAV) or Symantec Endpoint Protection (SEP), can scan for and remove spyware and adware.
For help, see How to avoid it Follow these strategies to avoid spyware and adware:. Keep your protective programs up to date.
Windows Defender, Symantec Endpoint Protection, or other applications distributed outside of IU will detect only the bad software they know about, so update the software's virus files weekly. Most protective software can be configured to check for updates automatically, saving you the trouble of remembering to do it. Allow the auto-protection feature of these programs to run. This can stop most malware infections before they take root.
Although having antivirus and antispyware programs running in the background uses up memory and CPU cycles, this small (sometimes unnoticeable) loss is well worth the protection you receive. It's better to keep an infection from happening than to allow the damage and be forced to clean it up afterwards. Do not run programs as an administrative user. Most programs that run in Windows do so in the 'user context', or with the permissions that you as the logged-in user have. Often, if you run a program as an administrator, any malicious programs that execute also run as an administrator.
If, however, you run as a non-administrator, most spyware and adware installers will be similarly restricted and will do less damage; see. Reduce your use of cookies. Cookies, in and of themselves, are not harmful, and in many cases are necessary to view and use a web site properly. However, since they contain information, malicious programmers could find a way to misuse them; you should therefore limit the transfer of cookies to and from reputable, trusted sites. For more, see:. Avoid clicking links in advertisements.
Avoid clicking unsolicited links in instant messaging (IM) software, even if they appear to be from people you know. Some malicious programs propagate by launching an instant messaging program and sending links to people in the buddy list. If you are on someone's buddy list and get an unsolicited link, verify with the sender that the link was sent intentionally.
For more, see.
Quite often you might come across a piece of software that you don’t necessarily want sitting in the system tray or showing itself on the taskbar when minimized. It can be set to autorun whenever Windows is booted up, but there is no way to hide it from appearing on the taskbar or tray, not every program that sits in your tray needs to have an icon there. There will probably be no useful option in the program settings, so you’re pretty much stuck with it. If you’re someone who likes to keep their desktop clean and free from clutter, it’s a little frustrating. One of the most common ways to close open application windows but keep the program running is by using something known as “boss key” software which was obviously originally designed to hide what’s open on your desktop if your boss is walking past your computer. This can be used to hide games or any programs that are not allowed in the office by simply pressing a configured hot key. Some anti boss key software has other extra features such as being able to hide a program whenever it’s being launched and also the ability to even hide itself.
Running Programs
Here we list a number of free tools which can help you hide running programs from the system tray and the taskbar. Some will even allow themselves to be hidden from the average user and optionally supply a password to stop tampering. OuttaSight Outtasight is certainly a very old tool, and a few of the secondary functions such as hiding the tray and the Start button don’t work in newer operating systems, but the window hiding functions still work well. Something this tool has that even newer programs don’t is a Magic Wand option you can drag onto a window to hide it.
Outtasight also has other useful options like hiding itself completely from the average user, hiding windows based on the executable file name and a password protect lock to stop windows being unhidden or the settings window being accessed. WinRAP Windows Running Applications Protector (WinRAP) is a program that is able to hide running processes you add to its list, and then only allow them to be unhidden by entering the correct password. In addition to hiding programs, WinRAP can be minimized to the taskbar, system tray or put into stealth mode which will completely hide and password protect it from the average user, with the added option of disabling the Task Manager on the task bar right click to stop the process being killed easily. The Extras menu can quickly hide all or unhide all running applications, or hide the Taskbar and Start button completely. WinRAP is a portable tool that requires the.NET Framework version 2 or above. Taskbar Hide Taskbar Hide is a program that as well as being able to hide the open windows from the desktop, it also has a separate tab where you can hide or show any number of icons in the system tray. There’s also options to hide the clock, tray, taskbar and Start button completely.
Run Commands
Windows themselves can be completely hidden from view or minimized to the taskbar using the configurable hotkeys, while the Taskbar Hide tray icon can be locked from unauthorized changes by means of a password. Although the program is free to use, it does popup a donate nag window every time it’s launched which can be annoying. While Tray It! Doesn’t have the more useful options for stealthing or hiding traces of program windows such as hotkeys or password protection, it does have the ability to hide or show individual tray icons in the notification area for just about any application that places an icon there. A valuable addition if any running program places an icon in the tray and you don’t want it to show.
This is available from the Edit menu - Shell Icons. Alike windows can be grouped together for bulk hiding and there’s also a profiling option to setup more advanced settings for each window. A handy quick minimize will allow you to right click on the window close, minimize and maximize buttons for instant minimizing.
Is also portable.