Free Spyware Removal Programs

It is a harsh truth that there are people out there who are trying to cause damage to our computers or simply use them for their own purposes without our knowledge. Because of such people, it has become necessary to arm ourselves with a variety of programs to protect our computers from viruses, spyware, and whatever else may be created.

There's no question that the Internet is the great enabler. Unfortunately, it enables spyware to spread too. Spyware is created to do different things from using your computer to send large numbers of e-mails (spam) to transmitting data about your activities as you surf the web.

I like to keep an eye on the freely available programs that can be used to identify spyware that may have slipped through my installed anti-virus program. I figure it's got to be pretty hard to keep on top of every malicious program out there and it's possible that one developer might know something another doesn't.

This constant testing does bring with it some risks though. Some developers, and I have to respect their deviousness, are creating fake anti-spyware programs that are themselves spyware. Yikes!

Here are a few anti-spyware products I think are worth downloading (and yes they're all free):

• Lavasoft Ad-Aware: If you download no other, this is the one to get. The free version scans only when you tell it to which is fine since you should have an anti-virus program installed and running all of the time.
• Spybot Search and Destroy: I've never had the impression that this program is as robust as others and yet it has on occasion found spyware that other programs didn't detect. For that reason it's a worthy choice to use regularly.
• CWShredder from TrendMicro: This program has the specific purpose of identifying programs that have hijacked your browser. You can tell this has happened if you get pop-ups on sites that you wouldn't think would have pop-ups or if your home page keeps changing to something other you've set.
• HijackThis from TrendMicro: This is for the advanced user because it doesn't specifically tell you what is and isn't spyware. Instead, it shows you various settings on your computer for you to assess and correct manually. If all else fails and you still suspect you have spyware, this is worth checking out.

Note that I'm not affiliated with any of these and there is no benefit to me if you download any of them -- aside from there being one less computer out there giving a home to spyware!