Many of the computer clients in my home that I deal with on a daily basis suffer from the same problem: spyware. In recent years, spyware has become the new “virus” on the block and, in many cases, the two are one in the same. There are a number of things you can do to avoid the spyware problem and it won’t cost you a penny.

First of all, make sure you have a good antivirus program. Norton and McAfee are great, but they cost money, and unless you have a fast computer, things can stop quickly, especially when you first turn on your computer. I recommend using Avast Personal Edition Antivirus. It does everything a home user would like and updates are automatic (no user intervention required). You get a 12-month subscription and if you want to renew it, it will cost you nothing.

The next thing to do is get free spyware scanning software. The two I use are Superantispyware and Malwarebytes. Do a Google search for these programs, but to get started, I added the link to Malwarebytes: Malwarebytes

Once you have downloaded these programs and installed them, be sure to run the updates. After the update, run a full scan of your computer and remove any spyware that is detected.

These two programs should remove most of your spyware, but if you are unlucky enough to have one of the “rogue” antivirus programs (PSecurity, Antivirus 2009/2010) to name a couple, another tool in your arsenal is a program called Fake Antivirus. Elimination. Just do a Google search and you will find a number of links to this software.