Protect Your Computer from Spyware and Adware

I know for many of you these may be unfamiliar terms, but to keep your personal information safe online, you need to understand them.

Many treat adware and spyware as the same thing, and it can often be hard to tell the difference. Adware is perhaps the more benign of the two, although it can be the more aggravating. If you get popup after popup no matter what site you visit, it's time to check for adware. Maybe the popups aren't associated with the sites you're visiting. They can be due to adware software installed with or without your knowledge on your computer.

While adware may be more apparent, spyware can cause more trouble. Spyware can report on what you do on your computer, including sending your logins and passwords and other private information to its creator. Some spyware causes popups as well, and this is why it can be hard to tell the two apart.

Some of you may have voluntarily installed adware programs on your computer. Maybe a site promised you that they would get you the latest deals or you could earn "points" towards prizes from their sites for your loyalty. It is very hard to get paid by many of those programs, and they may slow your computer to boot. Why risk your personal and private information for a prize that you may not even recieve?

Now you may be wondering how to get rid of this stuff. Guess what? This is not a sales pitch! There are FREE options out there to get rid of the spyware for you! Here are some of my favorites:

AdAware - There is a paid version, but the free one works wonderfully!
Spybot Search & Destroy
Microsoft Antispyware Beta - Gives a few programs I'd like to see blocked a pass, but otherwise good. Checks for a valid Windows installation before installing.

I recommend using more than one spyware program on your computer. Unlike virus programs, these don't tend to interfere with one another as you generally have to remember to run them regularly - once a week or more is recommended.

If these just aren't doing the job, it may be time to get serious and buy a program. At that point, I would have to recommend CounterSpy. It got the best rating from PC World for having the highest detection rate. You get a one-year subscription from them and it's fast.