Spyware

Many people that I know always complain to me that they recieve a ton of pop-ups and their computer is painfully slow. Most of the time I diagnose the problem as some sort of spyware or malware has been installed on the computer. Some very common and nasty spyware programs are Gator, Weather Bug, and Bonzi Buddy.

The steps to remove spyware are very easy. First you need to download some free utilities. Many companies will try to sell you software to remove spyware. Don't buy them. The programs below work a lot better and are FREE.

Spybot Search & Destroy
This is a Great Program. When you first start it up be sure to check for updates and imunize your system.

AdAware
This program is also good. Make sure to check for updates.

Another problem that people have is browser hijacks. If you have ever had you homepage changed without you changing it yourself, you have probably been hijacked. To remove these hijacks use the program CW Shredder.

CW Shredder
This program runs very fast so run it often!

This should pretty much clean up your system. Hopefully you will notice a speed improvment. If not at least you will know you are not being tracked all over the internet. Be sure to run these programs OFTEN to keep your system clean. Every time you run them you should check for updates. This is similar to checking the DAT files for an anti-virus.

If anyone knows of any other good spyware removal tools please leave a comment.

-MacMan