Stopping a Spyware Threat with Ad-Aware

• 1). Go to http://www.lavasoft.com and click the "download free" button in the navigation at the top of the page. This will take you to the download page for Lavasoft's Ad-Aware software, a detection and removal program for eliminating spyware, malware and adware from your system. (A direct download link is provided in the resources section of this article).
  
  
• 2). Continue to select the free download option to start the file download. The Ad-Aware download is just under 100 MB, so allow some time for the download to complete.
  
  
• 3). Double-click to begin the Ad-Aware installation. Once it is complete, open the Ad-Aware program.
  
  
• 4). Download the latest definitions file when prompted by Ad-Aware. This will ensure the software is able to scan for the latest spyware threats.
  
  
• 5). Click the "Start" button to begin the Ad-Aware scan. The program will examine your computer's file system and look for spyware signs.
  
  
• 6). Review the scan results. Note any critical objects--these are generally spyware programs that should be removed immediately from your system.
  
  
• 7). Remove any critical threats. Ad-Aware should be able to quarantine these files, eliminating the security concerns.