Choosing the Right Product

The question you probably have after all of this is "Which program should I install out of all the ones that are available?"

All of them.

Okay, let me amend that slightly: I'm not asking you to spend $50 apiece on three or four different anti-spyware utilities. But there are enough free products available that you can run two or three products without breaking the bank. And in many cases, you'll find that each of these programs will find spyware infections that the others won't. For example, I've run a scan on my personal laptop with each of these three products in the last 60 minutes, and each one has found a spyware threat or infection that the other ones missed. So, if you're serious about keeping your home computer free from spyware, you should run scans with at least one of these products, and preferably more than one to make sure that nothing falls through the cracks.

There are, of course, other products on the market that will perform anti-spyware monitoring and cleanup; I've touched on only a few in this section. The thing to be careful of, though, is that you don't get tricked into downloading and installing a malicious anti-spyware tool! In a twist of irony that they probably don't fully appreciate, many spammers will send you unsolicited email advertising a "Great New Anti-Spyware Tool!" If you're not careful, you can download and install it, only to realize that all you've done is to introduce yet another piece of spyware onto your computer and give away your credit card information to a disreputable company. Actually I take it back; these spammers probably realize exactly how ironic it is and are using that to prey on home computer owners who don't know any better. If you're uncertain, go to http://www.microsoft.com/spyware to find links to reputable anti-spyware tools.