What is Spyware?

Spyware is the general term for any program that monitors your actions on your computer. There are literally thousands of spyware programs and, most commonly, spyware causes pop-ups and slows down your computer incredably. Most of the time, spyware programs gather information about your online activities and choices you make when using your computer and sends this information to servers out on the web. Spyware is usually hidden and makes your machine so busy doing things your not aware of it almost stops your computer from working the more spyware you have on your computer.

How Did I Get Spyware on My Computer?

Spyware is installed on your machine with legitimate programs you purchase or download then install on your computer, often without your knowledge. Companies pay venfors of software nad hardware to include their spyware when you install games, drivers or programs of choice. Spyware is often a part of free software downloaded from the Internet.  Spyware can be loaded from web pages you surf as well. There are many ways you can get spyware. Some websites try to automatically install spyware as soon as you visit the webpage.  Most of the time a Security Warning.  Most people disregard these warnings or sometimes these warnings are false warnings that confuse people so they ignore the warning all together.

Spyware Removal:

Option 1:

If you know you have spyware programs on your computer, it's probably in your best interest to uninstall them, since they provide no real benefit and usually hurt your computer's performance.  Some spyware programs can be removed by simply uninstalling them from the Add/Remove Programs menu.  To get there, click on "Start" and, depending on your operating system, click on "Settings" then "Control Panel".  From there, you'll find an option to "Add/Remove Programs" and that will open a new menu which shows the software installed on your computer.  Select the software that you wish to get rid of, and click "Remove."  It is also a good idea to restart your computer after you are finished uninstalling software, even if you're not prompted to do so. 

Unfortunately, not all spyware programs show up in the Add/Remove Programs list.  If you are still having spyware related issues such as frequent pop-ups and decreased computer performance, you should try option 2.

Option 2:

You can download a program such as AdAware, Spybot, and CWShredder to remove spyware from your computer as well. These programs will find not only the common spyware programs listed below, but also spyware that is hidden and hard to remove.  SPYWARE PROGRAMS CAN HIDE THEMSELVES VERY WELL AND CAN BE EXTREMELY HARD TO REMOVE MANUALLY.  Therefore, you may want to run AdAware or Spybot even if you are not currently experiencing spyware related problems.  Spybot even has an "Immunize" feature that can prevent spyware from entering your system, much like antivirus software.

If you'd like to download either of these programs, click on the links below. (Download links go to the respective pages on download.com)

• AdAware
• Spybot
• CWShredder

For more help with Spybot, take a look at our Spybot Tutorial.

If you are still having spyware problems after using these spyware removal programs, contact your local ResCom desk.