How Do I Know If Spyware Is Running on My Computer?

Spyware on your computer can expose your personal information to thieves and hackers. If you are wondering whether you have spyware on your computer, you can find out by running a spyware scan of your machine and seeing if any results come up. This can be done with only a basic level of computer expertise and some free software you download from the web.

Things You'll Need

• Internet connection

Instructions

1. Download an anti-spyware program such as Malwarebytes or Spybot Search & Destroy (see Resources). These software programs are free for personal and home use and allow you to detect and remove spyware programs from your computer.

2. Install the anti-spyware program on your computer.

3. Open the anti-spyware program and use the Update option to update it with the latest spyware and malware information.

4. Run a complete system scan of your computer with the anti-spyware software. This may take several hours to complete. Once it finishes, any spyware programs that are running on your computer will be displayed on the results screen.

5. Use the Removal option on the anti-spyware software to remove any spyware that was found.

References

• BleepingComputer: Remove Spyware
• Remove Virus

Resources

• Malwarebytes
• Spybot Search & Destroy: Download