What are spyware and adware, and how do I remove them from my Windows machine?
Spyware and Adware are applications that are installed onto a computer, often surreptitiously or as part of another useful application. Spyware tracks and reports a user’s activities. Adware causes random popup adds to appear on the users system. No only are these activates annoying to users but these applications are often poorly written and so cause a wide range of other problems with the user’s system. There are several applications that aid in the removal of both Spyware and Adware. The two applications we recommend to try first are Spybot and AdAware. These two applications cover a slightly different set of issues and so it is recommended that both be run. Spybot: http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html AdAware: http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/ There is a third tool that for people who are experiencing trouble with IE and have some understanding of the inner workings of windows. That is a program called HijackThis: http://www.spychecker.com/program/hijac
