Here is an little information that we are sending out to our past and present clients to help them get their computers free of spyware and running faster. Feel free to forward it along to friends.

After staying cooped up all winter and playing too much on your computers and maybe opening attachments that you shouldn’t have it is time to clean up the mess.

Here are FREE programs that we recommend your download and run to get ad ware, spy ware and viruses off your computer. The links we have listed for you will take you to PCWorld Magazine with more information and to download. It is a good idea to run multiple anti-spyware programs to get everything off the computer. And why not - they are free and fast.

Ad-Aware SE Personal Edition: Rid your system of adware and spyware with the latest version of this free utility.
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,7423,00.asp

Spybot Search and Destroy v1.3: Search your hard disk for so-called spybots or adbots, the modules that are responsible for showing ads and transmitting information back to vendors.
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,22262,00.asp

CWShredder v2.1: Even if your PC has Ad-aware and Spybot Search & Destroy, you still can't stop some versions of an insidious and virus-like pest called CoolWebSearch.
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,23551,00.asp

Microsoft AntiSpyware Beta: (Protect yourself from unscrupulous files that change your Internet settings and exploit private information.)
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,24761,00.asp

If you don’t want to go through this next year then here are a few recommendations from our team.

1)Don’t us Internet Explorer – get Firefox… it is also faster - http://www.mozilla.org/

2)Stop what you are doing and go get Firefox right now. It will take 45 seconds!

3) Buy antivirus software – it is under $50 bucks a year and could save you weeks of recovering work from a damaged computer – try Norton AntiVirus 2005
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,4030,00.asp
Other interesting free options are Anti-Virus System Free Edition v7.30
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,15202,00.asp

And if you think you have a virus now and want to check use Panda ActiveScan: a free online antivirus utility that will allow you to detect and eliminate any of over 60,000 viruses and Trojan horses. You can access this utility from a Web site, but you cannot download it onto your computer. It uses Microsoft ActiveX technology and works within your browser.
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,19500,00.asp

4)Read all software user agreements. If a free program has spyware bundled with it, it may say so here.

5)Read a Web site's privacy policy, usually found at the bottom of a page. It may explain its use of cookies or adware.

6)Use spyware detection and removal applications. PC Magazine has tested several, such as Ad-Aware or the free SpyBot Search & Destroy.

7) Consider setting up hardware and software firewalls that detect outgoing traffic from your computer. A good place to start is with ZoneAlarm Free 5.5 (Get protection for DSL and cable connections with this free utility.)
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,7228,00.asp

8)Make sure your IE browser security settings are at least at medium.

9) Carefully read the text of any dialog box.

Hope this helps! Remember that you should always back up important information off your hard drive - of course in this case we are just giving free advice and don't take responsibility for anything ;-) .

--eric