Spyware, malware, adware…whatever you call it, it’s time to get rid of it. Is your system running slowly, are you getting pop-up windows?  Is there software that “looks” like an antivirus program asking you to pay, warning that you are infected but won’t do anything until you cough up the dough and you don’t remember even installing it?  You might have spyware on your computer.

Loosely defined, spyware is any software on your computer that is monitoring you (internet usage, web habits, or even possibly stealing passwords), adware is any software that tries to display ads on your computer either when you’re browsing websites that don’t have pop-ups windows or sometimes when you’re not even on the internet.  Malware is both spyware and adware, plus any number of programs that pretend to be antivirus, antispyware or other types of utilities but actually don’t do anything except ask you for money.

There are some really great free tools out there to remove spyware.  If these don’t get rid of your infection we’d recommend either calling a professional or just backing up your data and reinstalling your entire operating system and all programs.

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