[tobaccoman]

I have been using Spybot Search and Destroy long enough to recommend it to the forum.

Spyware are programs that get imbedded in your computer and track it's activity. They are not viruses so antivirus programs may not detect them. A common source of spywar is a shopping site that allows comparing of two or more items.

You may not mind a program that monitors your surfing preferences and sells the information to marketers, but think about a program that monitors keystrokes. This could compromise your passwords. At the least, the programs degrade computer performance.

The download is free. The developer states he will not charge individuals, but there is a voluntary donation page if you like the product. Updates are available to all.

I suggest you read all the info before downloading and installing the software. The only problem I have had was that the scan got hung up on:

c2.lop

This issue is covered in the FAQ section. For me, the hangup was about a minute, and then the scan continued. The problem disappeared when I downloaded the latest update.

The first time I ran Spybot, it found 42 spyware programs. :shock: