Thread: Install anti-spyware

Spyware as we all know is a program that is installed on a PC without the users consent or knowledge and is intended at collecting personal/sensitive information about a user or the computer. An anti spyware is a program that blocks malicious programs from fulfilling their motive. Telltale signs that a computer is infected by spyware include a flood of popups, browers opening web sites you didn't specify, appearance of bookmarks or new toolbars, ete. The threat of spyware is so great that the US Federal Trade Commission has defined guidelines to deal with the problem. Among the guidelines is the obvious mechanism of installing anti-spyware. There are several anti-spyware suits available. The best among the free ones are Spyware Blaster, Lavasoft's Ad-Aware SE Personal Edition and Spybot Search &: Destroy. S&D has functions such as SDHelper and TeaTimer that are quite useful. The paid software offer higher detection rates. There is also the option of installing Windows Defender which is included with all versions of Windows Vista and is available to download free for genuine copies of Windows XP SP2 or later. Many people use anti-spyware in combination so as to add multiple layers of security. But should a conflict occur, it is recommended to use only one solution at a time.