Is there Spy Ware on the Kitco site ?

[thebeav]

Hi Folks,

It seems that, for the past few months, everytime I go to check prices on Kitco, any other application I'm currently running slows to a crawl. I think they're running something there. It chokes off my processor everytime.

I wouldn't be surprised, when you have a site with so much traffic, that they might be doing something in an effort to pull down a couple bucks.....

Anyone else notice this ?

 

Paul

 

[Oldtrader3]

They are probably using a tracking software feature to track your spending and coin interests. Everytime that I scan my computer with Norton Anti-virus, I get a tracking program alert that someone is tracking the sites that I visit. I find it rather annoying that companies feel that they have the right in invade my privacy and track my site history.

[TomB]

You can use a program such as Spybot-Search and Destroy to clean out your computer of any tracking cookies and you may also simply clear out your internet cookies, files and history after each session.

[carson city]

Tracking mode for future spam !

[DC Dawg]

The site uses a lot of Flash elements. Depending on the configuration of your system and browser, your performance may be effected. You should look into making sure you have the latest release of the Flash player from the Adobe website. While Flash can be programmed to insert Malware into your system, I am fairly confident that Kitco's elements do not perform the actions that could deliver malware to your system.

 

Another possibility is to upgrade your browser. Firefox handles Flash better than IE. In fact, almost any browser works better than IE!

 

But if you are insistent on using IE, consider upgrading to IE7. IE7 is very different than IE6, especially the interface. It gets a lot of getting used to!!

 

An alternative is upgrade your system's memory. The Flash plugin for IE is not as efficient as other programs. It is not multi-threaded, which means that a Flash player is loaded for each Flash element. While the Flash resource files are sharable, the basic program is not. It is a serious resource pig and could be difficult on systems with 1Gb or less of RAM.

 

Finally, my best alternative, get a Mac! I have zero problems with the site under Safari and Firefox under MacOS X 10.5.2! And you're in luck... the Macbook and Macbook Pros were just given a bump in performance with new processors and bigger disk options!

 

Scott

[thebeav]

Interesting info Scott, and everyone else.....Thank you...

 

Paul

[jackson64]

my spybot always informs me when I go to kitco that it just blocked something.....maybe this is the unauthorized invasion that you are refering to...if it is--then spybot appears to block it off...

 

PS: not to push a product--but spybot is more effective than Mcafee or Norton (had them both at other times) by far..although a little bit of a pain sometimes cause it blocks some pop ups that I want...but I can manually enter those sites pop-ups into my allowed list..

[DC Dawg]

I use Firefox on both the Mac (home) and Windows (work). Firefox has a lot of great plug ins that I use to prevent stuff from happening. AdBlock is a great plug in that will block visual elements from appearing on the screen. As you surf the net, you can right-click over the element and select "Adblock Image" from the menu. It will bring up a dialog to block the image. I would remove the file name from the path (the last part after the last slash) and replace it with an asterisk. This will block a lot of images. I keep doing that for every image I do not want to see. After a while, the number of ads are reduced.

 

NoScript disables JavaScript and prevent other scripting anomalies. This one is not for the faint of heart. You have to allow sites to add scripting as you surf. But I find it wonderful to slow down the creeping addition of graphical elements that are disguised as ads.

 

For Safari users on a Mac, Safari Block is an open source add on that will do the same thing as AdBlock but for Safari. But Safari block comes with a basic database of known ad sites to block their images. In two weeks of using it, I've added three additional items to the database. It is well worth having! BTW... it does not work on the Windows version of Safari.

 

Scott

[BULLY]

You can use a program such as Spybot-Search and Destroy to clean out your computer of any tracking cookies and you may also simply clear out your internet cookies, files and history after each session.

 

For those using PCs, I think this program mentioned is a great one (and it's free!

 

Spoybot Search and Destroy!

 

Also...

 

Ad-Aware

 

Also if you are an AOL user, take their FREE scanning software.

 

Then the big choice: Norton or McAfee

 

Personally, I find that Norton interferes with too many things, and prefer McAfee. It has incorporated firewalls for wi-fi connections, as well as multi-license user-agreements for it's anti-virus software, which you can get 5-10 year contacts on at VERY reasonable prices.

 

For more info, there are "The Geeks" on a local radio" show in my area, Erik and TJ, who do Computer Talk with TAB, and they have links to a lot of this stuff:

 

http://www.computertalkwithtab.com/ (taken from WTIC1080.com)

 

Also, Firefox tends to protect you from more of the spyware and nasty items than Internet Explorer. Nothing is perfect, but it helps a little.