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Some Symptoms of Spyware, Adware, Malware Infection
The symptoms of a malware infection vary.

Your web browsing speed may be slow. Your computer, in general, may be slower that it was and may take much longer to start up than it used to.

It is likely Internet Explorer is modified. You homepage and/or search page may be changed, new favorites that you didn't create may appear, a new toolbar may appear or you may end up at unknown web sites when you try to do a search.

To prevent you from undoing the browser modifications made by a malware program, some of them remove or disable the Internet Options from the Tools Menu and from the Control Panel. If you try to reset your home page and can't, it's likely due to malware. If you can't get to anti-virus or security web sites, but can get to other web sites, it's likely due to malware.

Adware will bombard you with pop-up ads. More malicious programs serve up a constant barrage of ads for pornographic web sites. That's on top of the pop-ups from the web sites you're viewing. If you see pop-up ads even when you are offline, it's due to malware.

Actual Spyware (as opposed to other malware) has to phone home to report what it found. If your firewall provides outbound protection you may see the 'phone call' and be able to stop it.

Malicious software may also shut down or disable your anti-virus program or your firewall program. It may prevent the normal activity of your anti-Spyware software. It may prevent you from accessing Task Manager or msconfig or regedit.

Adware programs may create new icons on the Windows desktop, task bar, or system tray. They may also create popup windows that you are unable to close. If your computer mysteriously dials the phone on its own, it may be infected with a porn dialing program.

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