by Jared Davidson

Created on: December 20, 2010

Spyware can be one of the most annoying problems with your computer. Once you get spyware onto your pc, doing the smallest task can take forever or even cause your computer to crash. Several types of similar programs known as Adware and Malware are often grouped with Spyware. They are all programs designed to cause problems or unwanted activity without your consent. They usually install themselves without your knowledge and often hide themselves or attempt to make removal hard to do.

There are two main ways to identify and detect spyware once it is on a machine. The first way is by monitoring physical symptoms. A sudden decrease of the operating speed of your PC may indicated you are infected with spyware. If you notice pop-ups or that certain sites are unavailable you may be infected as well. Spyware is often designed to redirect you to a competitor's website. For example you may try to visit walmart.com and be redirected to target.com. Another symptom of spyware is sometime noticeable when the PC is turned on. If you get any messages about a file failing to load this could indicate spyware especially if the file is named with random letters and numbers. Some spyware will create an icon in the system tray in the bottom right on the PC.

Other than physical symptoms there are more in depth ways to detect spyware on your PC. These may require you to be more computer savvy. Opening up task manager and viewing the processes that are running can help you identify spyware. If you are not familiar with which task should be running, you can google search the process name and see what other people have reported on the process. You can also use msconfig to see what is schedule to run at start up. If you see anything out of the ordinary you can turn them off. Using the registry is another great way to identify if you have spyware. Caution must be used before making changes in the registry. If you make the wrong change you can cause your PC to crash. Make sure you export the registry before making changes. In the registry you need to look under HKCU\software\microsoft\windows\currentversion\run for anything out of the ordinary. You also want to check HKLM\software\microsoft\windows\currentversion\run for the same thing.

An easier way to detect and remove spyware is by either purchasing or using a free version of the many antispyware programs available. I recommend MalwareBytes as my first choice. Other popular tools are Avast, AVG, and Adaware. Run these programs every couple of weeks or more often if you are suspicious or concerned.  If you have any important documents,video or pictures always make sure to back them up.  That way if you get some really bad spyware you can wipe your pc clean and start over without losing any data.

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