This fantastic freeware scans your system looking for hidden adware or spyware placed on your computer by websites that you visit. The search may take 5-10 minutes and identifies all known problem items. Once the scan is done you have the option to “destroy” the files by safely removing all of them.

SpyBot Search and Destroy is available here at no cost.

Based on one experience with a client with over 1000 adware and spyware infections on their computer, once you run this program the first time, do it again immediately. There are some creative programmers designing spyware that tries to avoid being detected by SpyBot Search and Destroy. The second pass usually gets all the problem items.

Run Spybot Search and Destroy weekly for a better sense of security, and use the option to check for updates on spyware definitions each time, also. My choice for firewall, anti-spam, and virus protection is Norton Security. Add Spybot Search and Destroy to your arsenal to fight off spyware and adware.