How to Install Spybot

According to PC Magazine and other leading online tech reviewers, Spybot Search and Destroy is one of the best personal security programs currently available. While it's not a full-blown antivirus suite, it does offer excellent protection against spyware and other niggling bits of malicious code that eat away at your system resources and weaken your network security. Best of all, Spybot's free to download and install, although its developers do accept donations.

Instructions

1. Head to Spybot's homepage and read more about the program before downloading it. If nothing else, it helps to know which threats Spybot protects against and which ones it doesn't (see Resources below).

2. Look beneath the "Home" heading on the left side of the Spybot homepage. Click on the link labeled "Download."

3. Find the version of Spybot that best suits your needs. The normal version for standard PC scanning is listed at the top of the page. However, there are other versions for scanning cell phones and other devices toward the end.

4. Choose a mirror site from which to download the Spybot setup files and click on its link.

5. Grant any security requests the installer makes and follow its instructions to load Spybot onto your computer.

Tips & Warnings

• Disable your web browser's pop-up blocker before downloading Spybot from one of the mirror sites.

• Be sure to update Spybot's detection rules often to prevent new security threats from infecting your computer.

Resources

• Read more about Spybot before downloading and installing it.
• Check out the CNet editorial review of Spybot here.