SPYWARE or MALWARE is a general term for Advertising Supported software, sometimes called Adware -- not to be confused with Ad-AWARE, a good program. Spyware can report your Internet surfing habits back to advertising companies, who then send you more pop-ups.  It also makes your computer work VERY slowly! The more spyware and pop-up generators you have on your computer, the slower it will operate.  I've seen people with 14,000 spyware items on their computer that they didn't know were there! There are three easy (and FREE) steps to rid your computer of Spyware.

First, go to START, then CONTROL PANELS, and Add/Remove Programs. You need to remove the programs which cause the pop-ups.  There are over 60,000 programs!  Many are clearly spyware and include words such as "Search Assistant" "Webtools" "SomethingToolbar" or "Ad-something" Remove any program which you are 100% sure are spyware. You can check any unknown programs at this site: http://www.spywareguide.com/

Finally, you have to remove the spyware which do NOT show up in the Add/Remove programs list. Start by downloading just MalwareBytes and Google's Spyware Doctor.  If you have more than 100 spyware programs, we recommend restarting your computer and running both of these spyware programs AGAIN at least until all are removed. Some spyware programs are incredibly difficult if not IMPOSSIBLE to remove in this manner.  At times, it may be necessary to completely remove your hard drive from your computer, and scan it using another "spyware free" computer.  In the worst case, you may have to backup your important files, reformat your PC, and reload the files. :-( Save yourself some frustration, and contact us if you are in this situation.

First, get "Malware Bytes Antispyware" by clicking on DOWNLOAD NOW from... http://www.download.com/Malwarebytes-Anti-Malware/3000-8022_4-10804572.html?tag=mncol&cdlPid=10984636 Run the Full Scan Delete anything it finds. Then, I would add "Spyware Doctor" which is a company which is so good that Google bought them. Go to pack.google.com Uncheck all the boxes, except Spyware Doctor (unless you want the other stuff). Push RUN after it downloads, and run the scan. Delete anything it finds. Another popular and very good program is Spybot, but it is a little confusing to use. www.download.com/Spybot-Search-amp-Destroy/3000-8022_4-10122137.html