If you are here, then you were most likely told that you have spyware and told to come here by me or someone else. First off let me define spyware
Spyware- 3ed party programs usually installed with file sharing programs such as kazaa or without your knowledge. There main purpose is to show you ad's and collect marketing data from you such as what web sites you visit. These program are usally poorly written and tend to slow down your computer and internet connection. They have also have been known to cause system error's such as the "blue screen of death", illegal operations, and Internet explorer crashes.
Now, before we remove the spyware, IF you have kazaa you will need to remove it first as it will stop working after removing the spyware. (to do that, go to START then CONTROL PANEL (or settings then control panel) then ADD/REMOVE programs, then select kazaa from the list and hit remove or uninstall) But don't worry as you can download kazaalite, which is a spyware free version of kazaa (www.oldversion.com). May people have asked me if deinstalling kazaa will also delete there songs, it will not.
Now time to remove the spyware, we will be downloading a program called "ad-ware" which is a free spyware scanner and remover. Please download it before we continue
Ad-aware's main page: http://www.lavasoftusa.com
Ad-aware's download page: http://www.lavasoftusa.com/support/download/
And for thoughs of you too lazy to browse the net here is the direct download link:
Download it and install it (just follow the on screen Instructions until it's installed as shown here)
After it has finished installing, go back to your desktop and double click on the AD-AWARE 6 icon which looks like this:
Now that we have ad-aware open, we need to update the definition file, so click CHECK FOR UPDATES NOW and the click CONNECT and let it download the update as shown here:
Now time to start scanning, so click the START button, then click the next button and it will start scanning as show here
When the program gets done scanning your system, click then NEXT button as shown here
Now a list will appear, these are the various spyware componate's on your system, on your first scan you should have somewhere between 100 to 300, if you have more then this, spyware was probably causing you more problems then you thought. Right click on this list and go to SELECT ALL OBJECTS and click the NEXT button. As shown here. This process may take up to 5 min to complete.
If you get any error's saying it cannot delete a file and if it asks if you want ad-aware to scan next time you reboot say YES. After the scan is finished, it will return to the startup screen, now reboot your PC. Congratulations! Your PC is now free of spyware! If you have any additional problems after removing the spyware and you thing that putting it back will help, ad-aware has a restore function.
To get kazaalite, go to This page and download KAZAALITE 2.4.3.
Ad-Aware is copywritten by Lavasoft software company (www.lavasoftusa.com), all screenshots are taken from there free ad-aware product.