I believe that gator is spyware, so I'd be wary of it. Spyware usually keeps track of where you've been on the internet, and the uses of that info varies. Some programs/sites use it to target ads, some collect data...I don't want ANY of it on my computer. Personally I feel it violates my privacy.
To get rid of adware and spyware, I use a program called AdAware, which is free. They have a customer support forum which is very helpful and responsive - they helped me tremendously (even did a couple of hours of research for me to fix a problem I had
). They've been featured on TechTV many times - that's how I heard of them.
Anyway - the AdAware program searches your registry and hard drive for you and finds any suspicious programs/cookies/etc.- then you tell it to keep or delete each individual thing it finds. Keep in mind that some free programs you might want to use do come with some spyware that installs itself on your computer (usually without your knowledge) and those programs usually won't work without the spyware being there. However there are alternatives out there for most free programs where someone has worked around the spyware to prevent its installation, but still allows you to use the software you wanted in the first place. I have no idea who has made these work-arounds and if they violate anyone's copyrights, etc., I'm just telling you they're out there.
I downloaded the AdAware program from lavasoftusa.com, in case anyone else wants to.
