We all get hit with it at some point or another - the infamous slow computer. And most of the time, we have no idea why as it can be caused by a number of different things such as hardware failure, not enough memory, high resource utilization (memory hogs), etc. You might just be surprised however, to learn that more often than not slow computer problems are at least partly, if not mostly attributed to spyware.

Spyware has become so prevalent and so widespread that experts are now saying that over 90% of all Internet users will, at some point, become infected with spyware. Yet over 80% of those users do not have any form of spyware protection on their computer. That being said, how do you know whether or not your computer is infected with spyware?

Let's look at some of the most common symptoms of spyware infection;

- Slow computer
- Annoying popups
- Homepage has changed
- New icons on your desktop
- New toolbar in your internet browser
- No symptoms

Yes, it is true that you could literally show no symptoms of a spyware infection on your computer yet there could be a number of spyware applications recording your keystrokes and browing habits without you knowing it.

Regardless of whether or not you are seeing symptoms that may indicate a spyware infection, the only surefire way to tell if you are infected is to actually scan your computer using proven antispyware software.

Most antispyware software vendors will allow you to download their software and scan your computer for free. This is great because this will tell you without a doubt whether or not you have spyware on your computer.

Or will it?

The problem with this is that the hackers have become so clever that they have created spyware that actually is disguised as antispyware software. Yes, there is software that you can download that will claim to scan and clean your computer, however all it really does is install more spyware so you need to be careful and do your due diligence in selecting to download and run a free scan. Make sure the vendor you choose has a solid reputation and their software is proven to be effective.

After you have downloaded the software and completed an initial scan, you then have the option of purchasing the full version of the software so that you can remove all of the detections. If you do not purchase the full version, you will not have spyware removal capability.

Again, I recommend you do your research before deciding on a spyware remover but you absolutely do need to incorporate antispyware software into your computer security as it is the only proven method for effectively removing spyware.

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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Paul_McDonald

Back in the early days of the Internet, which for many was not that long ago, if you asked the question: why is my computer running slow? Your answer was pretty simple, you more than likely had to delete some programs from your computer or the worse of the two was that you had a virus on your computer. Ask that question today and you could be staring at multiple problems. A registry fix, scandisk or virus could all be reasons why your computer runs slow.

The good thing is, for the most part, those just mentioned mostly have solutions for them. You can get software to help clear up most of those problems. However, today's Internet has now become a double-edged sword. We can get any information right at our fingertips. You can even type in the phrase "why is my computer running slow?" and come up with loads of answers.

The internet offers us all kinds of great information from how to instructions to gossip and great products that we can buy without ever leaving our homes. The bad side of that is while we are searching for answers or products we can have all of our identity stripped from us with adware or spyware programs secretly placed on our computer in secret locations on our computers.

Lucky for us there are many great anti adware companies out there. Many great antispyware software companies have made it their business to remove adware from unknowing consumers. Chances are you have downloaded some product from some of these companies already. Many companies who offer great antispyware software give a free scan of your computer to let you know exactly what kind of aware or spyware is lurking on your computer.

A good antispyware program will let you detect Trojans, worms and malicious programs. It will also repair damage left by malware. You can usually use a good antispyware software to load extremely helpful features such as a registry shield that will protect your registry, one of the first things that cause your computer to slow down.

There are times when it is hard to trust shareware, as we might not know if it is just another malicious program wrapped in a shareware package. So it's good to do some research before you download anything. You can find good reviews on antispyware programs all over the net and it's also a good thing to check out the company and make sure it is a legitimate software company before you download anything. If you are asking your self "why is my computer running slow?" Then antispyware could be an easy fix. If you are looking for free or paid adware software you do some research and read some reviews.

Author Sam Filter writes on a variety or topics. To find out more about this topic Sam recommends you visit Antispyware Reviews: Fix a Slow computer

Click Here to Visit Joes Antispyware Review