If you suspect your system has been infected, waste no time in taking the necessary steps to protect yourself.

There are dozens of free scanning tools available on the internet. A good piece of advice would be to conduct initial research on spyware scanning tools. Even a cursory examination shows that there are several free scanning tools that are suspected of being nothing more than spyware themselves! Do the research. There is no sense in letting the medicine be worse than the disease.

Choose a free initial scan from a reputable company, one such as Norton, McAfee, or Microsoft (if the computer is running Windows or Vista as its operating system). You may need to download a piece of programming from the website in order to complete the scan. Once a user has downloaded and installed the software, immediately execute the scan. Because of the diversity of malware on the internet, most scanning tools do not limit themselves to scanning for spyware, but the whole spectrum of malware and viruses.

If the scans reveal an infestation, the next step is to remove the spyware and whatever malware is present as quickly as possible. There are a number of anti-malware products on the market, almost all of which are sold under the “Antivirus” moniker. Be sure to conduct research on the different available products. Websites such as www.cnet.com, www.pcmag.com, www.consumerreports.org (subscription only), and www.amazon.com all have very good, useful reviews of the pros and cons of each product. Pick the one that you feel best addresses your needs and internet usage habits.