Some very common Spy-Ware programs to watch out for are:

Alexa
AT Tune
Cy Door
DLDER
Lop.com
On Flow

The following programs are Spy-ware in that they transmit your personal information back to the company, but they appear to provide a desirable service in the hopes that people value the program more than their privacy:

Bonzai Buddy
Brilliant Digital
Comet Cursor
Common Name
Gator
Offer Companion
Trickler
Web Hancer

How do you get rid of them? Often, simply running an un-install program or removing them from Add/Remove programs in Control Panel isn't enough, they leave components on your system. One very useful program for removing Spy-ware is called Ad-Aware, and Vaccinate your system using a very useful utility called KEL Browser-Vaccine.

Lastly, Weather-Bug and Web-Shots are two very common "free" programs that have been suspected of being Spy-ware. However, they do not appear to be. Weather-Bug does ask a lot of questions and is paid for by advertising (unless you subscribe) but other than the information explicitly asked for during the installation, it does not transmit personal information. It has been reported that Weather-Bug may also install My-Search Bar which could cause problems, especially with Web-CT. Weather-Bug has in the past asked to install Gator or Offer-Companion but tests we ran showed it no longer asked and the programs were not installed afterward (Though the web site says they were offered to "some" users.) Web-Shots installs the New-Dot-Net program, which is suspected as being Spy-ware but not proven. Nonetheless it has caused problems for some people with their network connection, and there is no easy way to remove it because when installed with Web-Shots it does not put an entry into Add/Remove Programs under Control Panel.

So what should you do? If you are given the choice to install an "extra" program, choose not to. If you notice some suspicious activity such as an error message that refers to one of the above-mentioned Spy-ware programs, or a system tray icon that you don't recognize, run Ad-Aware to see if any Spy-ware has been installed.

By far the two most popular articles on this site are the browser hijacking articles and probably that is why you are here. If your browser has been hijacked by some sleazy search portal or porn site, read our article on browser hijacking to learn how to remove the parasite responsible. If you need help with the removal, please register at the message board and a helper will assist you.

Notice to Windows XP users: Prior to running Ad-Aware, it is recommended that you remove certain programs from your "Add/Remove Programs" list. This list can be found in the control panel of your computer. To get to the control panel, click on start, then control panel. Double click on "Add/Remove Programs", and if "BackWeb" or "New.Net Domain Names" are listed, please remove them prior to downloading and running Ad-Aware 6.0. This will prevent an issue that could disable your internet connection after running the program.

You can locate and remove spy-ware using the following spy-ware detection and removal tools. Each product is updated regularly when new Spy-Ware exploits appear.

Important: Before removing Spy-Ware and Ad-Ware, please be aware that:

·    Removal programs will not prevent your computer from getting spy-ware or Ad-Ware, nor are they guaranteed to find all malicious programs.

·    If your computer is badly infected, removing spy-ware and Ad-Ware can cause some programs to stop working. In that case you must reformat your computer and reinstall the operating system and program.

·    After you remove Spy-Ware from your computer, some programs may not run because their advertisement component has been removed. This usually affects peer-to-peer, media, or file sharing programs, but can sometimes interfere with other applications such as Eudora in sponsored mode.

·    Spy-Ware detection and removal programs typically have update capabilities, but they do not alert you when there are new software updates available. You will need to manually check for updates to your software.

·    It is important to install Symantec Antivirus software for virus protection. Spy-Ware and Ad-Ware are not the same as viruses, but both can make your computer unusable.