If you suspect that you have programs on your computer that you do not want, there are a few things that you can do to clean things up. You should run your anti-virus software, and see if a malware scan picks anything up. If you suspect that you may have spyware or adware, you can use a spyware scan to see what is slowing up your system. In many cases, you have more going on in your computer than you realize, and getting rid of some of these pesky programs can make a huge impact on the speed and function of your computer system. You may not have realized how much it has slowed down until you get it cleaned up.
A spyware scan is something that you may find with your new computer if you have bought one recently. Not all of them come with this, but some companies may include them. If you already have one that you can use, make sure it is one that receives updates, or it won't do you much good. It will find older versions of spyware, but won't find anything new. This spyware scan may also come included in your anti-virus or with your firewall too. Look through what you have on your computer. You may already have a spyware scan that you can use.
If you do not have a spyware scan program on your computer, you have to go out and look for one. You can use any search engine to search for this, and you will come up with many different options from which you can choose. Some names may look familiar to you, and some may not. You have to decide what and who you can trust. If you are worried that you may try to download a spyware scan program that is nothing more than more spyware or even a virus, search the name of the products you find to see if anyone else has had problems. If they have, you should find the information rather easily.
Once you have chosen a spyware scan that you can trust, all you have to do is to let it run on your system to see what it finds. This can take a few minutes or a few hours, depending on what you have on your computer and how long it takes the software to go through all of your files and programs. You should start seeing results right away if you have an infected machine and have not run any type of spyware scan on it in the past. If you are curious about what it is finding, you can use a search engine to search each one individually. You may be surprised at where many of these come from.
Once your spyware scan has stopped running, you may see as many as a few hundred results. This happens to people who have had a computer for a few years but have never run a scan. Depending on the program you have selected, you have the option to pay to have them removed, or the removal may be free. Look through the list carefully to see where some have come from so you know what to avoid in the future. Once these are gone and you have restarted your system, you should see a huge boost in performance and speed.
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