Fending off spyware is an extremely important part of maintaining your computers top performance and helping to protect your personal information. The term spyware refers to software that’s installed on your computer without your consent and is used to track your activities. The information gathered by spyware is typically used to display targeted advertisements (those annoying popup advertisements you constantly get) but could also lead to identity theft. To protect yourself against this type of threat you need to install and run antispyware software.

Antispyware software comes in two main forms, one which requires manual scanning and another which scans in real-time like antivirus software. I recommend installing two different programs, preferably one of each since no one program will catch all spyware programs and two simultaneously installed real-time scanners could interfere with each other. I recommend installing Microsoft’s Free real-time scanner “Windows Defender” and either/both of the free manual scanners: Spybot Search & Destroy or Ad-Aware SE.

My favorite free antispyware program is Spybot and they’ve recently updated:
Safer-networking.org has released their first Spybot Search & Destroy version update (1.4 to 1.5) in what seems to be about two years. The new update includes:

a lot of improved detection mechanisms (which in parts were already made available through the regular 1.4 updates in the past months), improved Operating System support (Windows Vista integration, restored support for Windows 95, more compatibility with Wine, support for bootable Windows CDs), improved browser support (e.g. for immunization) and much more

There doesn’t appear to be any major differences but I’d still recommend updating if you’re using 1.4. If you’re not using any form of antispyware then now is the time!

To learn more about Spyware and Viruses read the following two articles on www.ComputersConfuseMe.com:

• Basic Spyware Guide
• Basic Virus Guide

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