There is a bit of confusion out there about exactly what spyware is. It is different from a virus and generally it doesn’t attack or delete anything from your hard drive but it is definitely something you don’t want hanging around on your machine.

Spyware is most commonly found packaged with freeware applications such as peer-to-peer file sharing programs or custom browser toolbars. The purpose of spyware is to essentially spy on your activities and as a result present targeted ads to you based on the keywords etc. you type into search pages.

Not all spyware is so innocent though. If you are typing credit card information into order forms then there is a chance that keylogger spyware software on your computer will be able to harvest your credit card information and send the details to remote servers!

The best solution to eliminating spyware is to download a third party spyware scanner and run a few tests on your machine to wipe out tracking cookies and other malicious add-on software.

You can run a free scan on your machine by visiting TrueAntiSpyware.com and downloading the software.