Before we get into the nitty gritty of removing these buggers it will be good for you to know just what each of these pieces of Malware do to your computer, as well as the symptoms of their horseplay and what to avoid so they do not get on your computer in the future.

So lets begin!

Spyware by design — exploits infected computers for commercial gain. It is estimated that 9 out of 10 computers connected to the Internet are infected with Spyware. Why has it grown so tremendously these past few years? Well, as with most things in life, it is motivated by one thing: Money!

The basic purpose of Spyware is to monitor your activities on the Internet as well as collect various types of personal information to report to advertising agencies so they can be more effective at targeting products to your interests.

Spyware is typically installed on a users computer in deceptive ways.

Many times Spyware will come bundled with a piece of shareware or free software. When you install the free software Spyware will install itself in the background. Although the desirable software itself may do no harm, the bundled Spyware does. In some cases, Spyware authors have paid shareware authors to bundle Spyware with their software. In other cases, Spyware authors have repackaged desirable free software with installers that add Spyware.

Let me repeat: Spyware will piggyback on legitimate programs and install themselves in the background without the users knowledge.

Spyware will also use the Trojan horse method. A deceptive pop-up message is displayed disguising itself as a legitimate error message.

Many times these error messages mention something along the lines of:

These messages persuade you to click and install this piece of software. This software is usually a piece of Spyware that will download many of its friends creating an even bigger problem for you!

The installation of Spyware frequently involves Internet Explorer. Internet Explorer is tightly integrated with the Windows operating system and has many vulnerabilities that Spyware authors can exploit. These vulnerabilities allow Spyware to install Browser Helper Objects into Internet Explorer which add tool bars or redirect your browser traffic. Many of these vulnerabilities can be fixed by keeping your computer updated with the latest Windows updates or switching to an entirely different browser such as Firefox.

Spyware commonly interferes with your computer by:

1. Installing additional programs and tool bars in your Internet Explorer without your consent..
2. Causing your computer to become unresponsive or perform sluggishly, making you want to toss your computer out the window.

I have tried to keep this information to a minimum and give you just the basics of Spyware. If you would like more information on Spyware, the Wikipedia on Spyware is a great source.

Now that you know what Spyware is and how it affects your system, where it comes from and what to look for, let’s move on to removing these parasites from your computer.

Computer Repair Las Vegas – Kingdom Computers is dedicated to bringing you valuable information to make you a more effecient computer user. Be sure to check back often for updates to our help desk section.

Spyware, Adware, Viruses and pop-ups plague just about every computer that isn’t adequately protected. Most of the time you are unaware of them, but when they become a problem, you know it. It is the most common problem that plagues computers, from sluggish response, to wonderful pop-ups offering you every conceivable gimmick or cool toy you can think of on this planet, to redirecting you to some strange place on the web you never intended to be. All this type of behavior is undoubtedly traced back to some sort of Spyware, Adware, or Virus running on your computer.

I compare these nuisances to the common cold. Every computer will have a problem with them at one time or another, so it is a good idea to know what they are and what you can do to stay free of them.

Well, in the next few days I will be posting a series on how to remove Spyware and Adware from your computer and take you on a little journey on the inner workings of your Windows system.

This knowledge will help you in the future to know when you have a virus or Spyware infection and to understand the source of the problem so that you can take the correct steps in fixing the issue yourself.

So be sure to check back in the coming days to enjoy this information. I look forward to hearing from you to what you think of this guide and any topics or areas you would like me to focus on in upcoming posts.

If you want to just get rid of your Spyware and Adware right now without the real substance of the matter just skip ahead to the nitty gritty. I will be posting a quick and dirty guide that will get your system cleaned of these nuisances. You will be up and running in record time!

Computer Repair Las Vegas – Kingdom Computers is dedicated to bringing you valuable information to make you a more effecient computer user. Be sure to check back often for updates to our help desk section.