AVG Anti-Virus

Housecall online Virus Scanner

Why is Spyware bad? 
Spyware (and Adware):
      Enables Popups
      Enables Web Advertisements
      Changes Your Home Page or Your Search Page
      Redirects Your Searches to Their Advertisers' Sites
      Causes System Sluggishness & Slowdowns
      Causes Lockups / Crashes
      Reveals Your Private Information
      Increases Your Risk of Identity Theft
      Reveals Web Pages You've Visited
      Steals your Bandwidth, Slows Your Internet Connection

For a more thorough explanation of spyware and its dangers, see this site.

You can Fight Spyware

The best tools to fight spyware & adware are, fortunately, FREE! (Beware of programs advertised in popups that claim to eliminate spyware -- many, if not most, of these are themselves spyware)

The links below will take you to the download sites for some of the most effective ways to rid your computer of spyware and adware.

Make sure to run programs at least weekly, and to update the programs (using the program's update button or link) each time before you run them. Also, be sure to use Spybot's "Immunize" function to help prevent future problems.

Spybot Search & Destroy

AdAware, Personal Edition:

AVG Anti-Spyware

AVG Anti-Rootkit