how spyware works (or one more reason greed immoral businessmen should be lynched):
1. you visit a site or popup ad
2. a cookie is installed on your computer
3. if the cookie has a program known as a spybot or parasite, you now have spyware on you computer
spyware cannot be removed without special software and is not detected by antivirus programs because it is technically legal. spyware transmits information about you back to the company, the sites you visit the computer software you use, the keys you type in, your credit card numbers, your social, everything. as a result, your speed will decrease exponentially. but that's not all folks!!!! some spyware can make random pop-up windows appear all the time!!! it can be used to change your homepage....
but the scariest spyware is what i call puzzle piece spyware.
yuo go to page a and get piece one
you go to page b and get piece two
you go to page c and it offers you some free program for managing your clock or weather....
the programs merge...CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! you now have a legal, undetectable virus on your machine!!!! all of the above will happen, plus any hacker can now access your personal files and screw with your pc as if you have a trojan or dialler program.
even worse is a scam run by a company called evidence eliminator. you get their spyware on your computer... you try to go to a web page...but instead you see a page with YOUR WINDOWS DIRECTORY on it and a claim that you have illegal files, the you are being investigated by the FBI and that your name has been sent to FBI.gov and your local PD. and it will show you your hometown, your adress, and any word yuo've ever typed on your keyboard that has anything to do with sex or illegal activity. you then get a new page: BUY MY SNAKE OIL.
don't fall for this crap. don't let it mess up your life. I went to office max and bought spyware killer for 5 bucks. freed up half my memory and am no longer plauged with anything like that. plus it somehow interacts with norton antivirus cause the few times i have had trojans, it seems that SK has somehow disrupted their activities, resulting in absolutely no damage when i've removed them (spyware and trojans act similarly. so that's my spiel, take my advice.