This lesson has alluded to the fact that some programs run in the background and do annoying things such as display endless pop-up ads, monitor your Web-surfing habits, or spy on you. What's worse, many of these don't appear either in the notification area or in the Add or Remove Programs list, so there's not an easy way to disable or remove them.

There are several programs available that find and disable or remove these annoying programs, and they all work to some degree. There's one program that works really well and happens to be free! It's called Spybot Search & Destroy.

Downloading and Installing Spybot Search & Destroy

Here's how to download it. (If you're an old hand at downloading, feel free to do it on your own.)

1. Go to the Spybot Mirror selection website and click the Download Here button next to one of the mirror sites that has this software available. (Download.com is a good one for people in the United States.)

A mirror site is a server that contains the same data as some other server (in other words, a mirror image of it). Mirror sites are used to make files available for download all over the world so that each person can download it from the server nearest to her.

2. Click the Download Now link (if using Download.com) or the equivalent link on some other site. (Each of the mirrors has a slightly different organization to their Web site.)
3. A File Download box opens; click Save.
4. The Save As dialog box opens. Click the Desktop icon on the left side of the dialog box.
5. Click Save and wait for the file to download. When the Download Complete dialog box appears, click Open.
6. In the Select Setup Language box, select English (or your native language), and then click OK.
7. The Setup Wizard opens. Click Next.
8. Click I Accept the Agreement, and then click Next.
9. Accept the default install location, and then click Next.
10. Accept the default components, and then click Next.
11. Accept the default Start menu folder name, and then click Next.
12. Accept the default Additional Tasks, and then click Next.
13. Click Install.
14. Click Finish. The program runs. The first time it runs, it prompts you to create a Registry backup.
15. Click the Create Registry Backup button, wait for the Registry to be backed up, and then close that window.

Using Spybot Search & Destroy

Now you're ready to use the program. It should already be open. Here are the steps to follow each time you want to check your system:

1. In the Spybot Search & Destroy window, click the Update icon.
2. Click Search for Updates. If it finds any updates, click Download Updates.
3. Click the Immunize icon. If you see a message that says Please immunize, click the Immunize button.
4. Click the Search & Destroy button.
5. Click Check for problems and wait for it to run its check. It takes 5 to 10 minutes.
6. Examine the results. If desired, click a plus sign next to an item to see what's in that category. In Figure 2-8, for example, it has found several problems.

Figure 2-8: Spybot results (yours will be different).

Enlarge image

7. Click Fix Selected Problems, and then click Yes in the confirmation box. Wait for the problems to be fixed.
8. When a confirmation appears, click OK, and then close the application.

You'll be amazed at what it finds the first time you run it -- all kinds of nasty little programs and whatnot. Some exceptionally entrenched programs may require a reboot and a rerunning of Spybot Search & Destroy to get all their tendrils dislodged from your system.

This program is fairly easy to use and understand but if you have any questions or problems, post them on the Message Board for the class and perhaps someone can help you figure it out.