Spyware is software that runs in the background while you are browsing web pages (or any other activity) and sends information about your computer and internet usage habits to marketing companies so they can target you with their garbage spam, ads and pop-ups. Spyware usually installs itself in a stealthy manner, either through java/activex scripts on a web page, or hidden in the installation of other software. The original version of Kazaa included spyware. Common names of known spyware programs are Gator, BonziBuddy, Ezula... the list goes on and on. Even networking manufacturer Belkin has been found to be using spying software on their hardware. A good place for more info on spyware is http://www.spywareguide.com/. I receive their monthly newsletter, it's where I learned of Spybot Search and Destroy, AdAware, and CWShredder, the spyware removers I use. Spyware Blaster is a good program to keep most spyware from being downloaded/installed, also.

If you have a lot of spyware installed on your computer, it can make your machine run so slowly and unreliably that you might think the computer is worthless. Some people decide to reinstall the operating system (usually Windows) to fix the problem. I have found that this usually isn't necessary (except for WindowsXP Home, in some cases), the spyware removal tools mentioned above can help get your computer back to a usable state. If you need help downloading or using an anti-spyware tool, please feel free to contact me via email and I will be glad to assist you.

Using an alternate web browser like Mozilla or Opera can reduce the amount of spyware being installed on your system. Changing some of your settings in Internet Explorer can also help. Here are some screen shots that show my security settings...

Click Tools/Internet Options in Internet Explorer.

Then click the Security tab at the top.

Click the button labeled "Custom Level...".

Then, as you scroll through the next screenshots, you can see how I have configured mine.

This is only meant as an example, you may need to configure your browser differently.