You don’t always need a sophisticated program to remove the spyware on your computer. If you have a specific problem and some idea of what is going on, you can follow some of the processes below for totally free removal.
Add/Remove program is one good way to remove spyware. Some parasites can be easily and effectively removed from Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel. Other parasites cannot be removed in this way. Some don’t appear in the list. Other times the program will appear on the Add/Remove Programs list, but the remove function won’t work, or will appear to work but only partially remove the spyware. So be aware of these limitations.
If you don’t know where Control Panel is, open My Computer, and Control Panel should be in there. Then open Add/Remove Programs. Any programs that show up in this list in Add/Remove Programs – such as the common trio of Wild Tangent, Weatherbug, and Viewpoint – should be removed. Do this by clicking on the spyware program, then clicking the Remove or the Change/Remove button that appears. Another very serious invader that may not be removed by spyware removal programs will show in Add/Remove Programs variously as MySearch, MyWay, MyWeb, MyWebSearch, etc. Get rid of them! So how do you tell which ones are spyware? Instructions follow:
Anything with the following words in their names is highly suspect for Spyware Add-Remove Program: Search, Web, My, Your, Bar, Toolbar, Browser, 180, Cash, Save, Rebate, Click, Shop, Spy, Ad, Adware, ScreenSaver, Chinese, or anything with a totally random string of letters (such as qsuvzeonfw). This is just a general rule. Be careful and don’t delete any program you actually want. For instance, if you have Java Web Start (a legitimate program), you probably shouldn’t delete it, and if you do, don’t be surprised when certain web pages using Java don’t work!
Weatherbug, Wild Tangent, Viewpoint Media Player, Stop-sign, CashBack by BargainBuddy, HotBar/Outlook Tools by Hotbar/Web Tools by Hotbar, GAIN, Gator, eAcceleration, Date Manager, Precision Time, New.Net, Kazaa, Grokster, Uninstall 180Search Assistant, Win-Tools Easy Installer, BonziBuddy, Alexa, MyWeb/MyWay/My[Whatever].
System Restore is another way to remove spyware. People, who have not yet installed the new Windows operating system Vista into their PC, are probably still using Windows XP version and are familiar with its System Restore characteristic. This System Restore is helpful when your PC starts functioning erratically and when your machine or workstation is attacked and infected by various viruses and trojans.
System Restore differs from a simple PC clean up. A clean up can be usually done on a PC at its present state, while system restore backs up the files in the process, as well as the viruses and other infections. When the machine gets infected, it is recommended to follow the steps below.
1. Access Windows as Administrator.
2. Click Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Restore.
3. On the Welcome to System Restore page, click Restore my computer to an earlier time (if it is not already selected), and then click Next.
4. On the Select a Restore Point page, click the latest system checkpoint in the On this list, click a restore point list, and then click Next. A message may appear that displays the configuration changes the System Restore will make. Click OK.
5. On the Confirm Restore Point Selection page, click Next. System Restore Windows restores the previous Windows XP configuration, and then restarts the computer.
6. Access the computer as Administrator. The System Restore Restoration Complete page appears. Click OK.
