If the internet is the information superhighway, your browser is the car you drive to get from place to place. On an Apple system the built in browser is Safari. On a PC, Microsoft Edge has supplanted Internet Explorer, but both are part of Windows. And many people have downloaded and use one of the three main independent browsers, Chrome, Firefox, and Opera.

Just like your car, your browser can be customized with options to make your drive easier and more comfortable. Browsers are customized with small programs called extensions - add-on toolbars and gadgets that perform an additional function. Because browser extensions have access to everything you do on the internet, it's important to be judicious when choosing and adding extensions to your browser.

There are some very useful extensions. I have two that I use every day - an ad blocker called AdBlock Plus, and a password manager called LastPass. I highly recommend both extensions, and will probably write an article about one or both at some time.

Many antivirus programs also add browser extensions, meant to keep you safer on the internet by blocking you from visiting malicious sites. Although some of them provide some additional protection, I'm not a big fan of most of them, as they can slow down your browsing without actually improving your security, so I usually turn them off. Some, particularly from free antivirus suites, can even behave like the types of programs they are meant to protect you from!

Unfortunately, the extensions I see most often are unnecessary, or downright malicious. These extensions redirect your searches or change your home page. They are generally installed without your knowledge or consent, and can be difficult to remove. Some names of common malicious extensions I see every day include MapsGalaxy, Doc to PDF, and the almost ubiquitous Ask Toolbar. If you find that you are going to a "fake Google" page, or you are getting a ton of advertising pop-ups, you probably have malicious extensions installed!

This article tells you how to check for extensions on most browsers. If you look and find that you have a bunch of unknown or unwanted extensions, it's probably a good idea to schedule a clean up!

Every month I post a few articles of interest on my Facebook page. For those of you who don't use Facebook, here are some of my recent posts:

• Microsoft has released a new app that lets you transfer photos from a smartphone to a Windows 10 PC over WiFi. I tried it out and found it pretty slick! 

• I'm constantly getting phone calls from people who's computers are screaming at them with tech support pop-up ad scams. Please, don't call the 800 number - call me instead, and I'll walk you though the process to shut down your browser!

• I save money by buying refurbished tech all the time, but the definition of "refurbished" can be very flexible. Here's a good article about buying true refurbished tech, and the best places to look for bargains.