Does your computer run much slower than you remember it performing when you first purchased it? This isn't a ordinary degradation of your PC; it is almost guaranteed to be parasitic software that are leeching your system's resources. These parasites are most commonly called spyware or adware. They do a lot more than just slow down your computer though.

There are a few telling signs that you have some sort of spyware or adware (almost all web users have at least some form of it that they are oblivious of!):

• If you've ever downloaded music or movies off of the web
• Your PC runs much slower than it had in the past
• You often find yourself closing obnoxious popups or removing programs that you don't recall installing
• You find your homepage constantly changing without your approval
  

Most of these are just expected as normal acts of an aging PC, when in fact it is most likely due to parasites such as spyware and adware infecting the system. Just because you often browse the web and popups fly out of every direction doesn't mean that it's the website's fault. In most situations (for good sites anyways) it is actually some program on your computer causing it. Hearing the word spyware tends to evoke an image of popups for most web users. The biggest problem with these parasites  is that most users don't know just how dangerous they can actually be. The truth is, you have way more to worry about than just those annoyances. Not only are you risking your privacy by having spyware, but you're risking your life as you know it.

That last statement may seem a bit drastic, but it isn't. How often do you enter personal information on the internet? For most people, this will be very often. Many of these viruses will track everywhere that you go on the internet and report it back to its creator. Not only will it track everywhere you go, but it will trace everything you type and click at these locations as well. It doesn't stop there either. More often than not, once this information is sent to the malware's author, they then sell it to hundreds or thousands of people. That means your bank information, social security number, and credit card numbers could be sitting in hundreds of people’s emails. This is how identity theft really occurs.

Spyware and adware are beatable however. There is a free report named "Malware Removal" which outlines everything that spyware and adware do, as well as how to get rid of it. If you want to keep your privacy on the internet, you'll need to rid yourself of any spyware and adware that inhabits your PC. Remember, the report is completely free and definitely worth a read. There are so many tools these days that say they get rid of spyware and adware that you just don't know which ones to trust. The most recommended course of action is to find one which offers a free scan, as this allows you to see if you actually need a removal tool or not. The report mentioned above includes information about recommended programs as well as more information, and remember it's free.

To learn more about adware and spyware removal, check out the free Malware Removal report.