Demming

I have always believed the best way to get rid of spyware is not to get it in the first place. There are easy things you can do to avoid spending a Saturday afternoon trying to restore your computer to it's former glory. Let's look at some common ways PC user's get spyware, adware, viruses and all that other bad stuff.

Peer to Peer (P2P) file sharing is a sure way of getting your computer infected with spyware. You may think you're getting the latest Red Hot Chili Pepper song for free, but you may be getting a little something extra you didn't expect.

Browser vulnerabilities or unpatched security holes in Windows can let spyware in your system without you knowing. This is especially true with Internet Explorer, many hackers target IE because it's the most used browser, I would recommend using Firefox instead, much more secure. If you were using a unsecured browser and you went to a bad website (porn sites are famous for this) that took advantage of the security flaw you could get infected automatically without even clicking or downloading anything. This is why it is so important to update Window's and your web browser right away when there is an update.

Email is another way of getting infected with spyware or viruses. Never click on links or open attachments, even if it's from your Uncle in Mississippi. Often these programs will look in the address book and send everyone of them the same email. So before you go clicking on that link or opening up that funny picture Aunt Milgrid sent you double check with them first.

So follow those easy things and you should stay out of trouble, and get yourself a good anti-spyware program in fact get several because no one spyware program can detect every single spyware/adware.