In Lesson 1, you learned the mechanisms spyware and malware uses to infect computers and carry out tasks. After spyware has installed itself, there are three distinct investigative steps to resolve the problem:

• Location: Sometimes computers misbehave at random for reasons other than spyware. Installing new drivers, running a new application, or even getting a virus can cause a computer to misbehave. All of these are problems that need resolving, but spyware diagnosis techniques won't help. Therefore, the first step in defeating spyware is to actually locate it and confirm it's spyware.
• Diagnosis: You've located a suspicious Registry entry or an unusual executable file, but how do you know what to do next? Just like viruses or normal applications, every piece of spyware is different. Before moving on to the next stage, it's essential to discover exactly which piece of spyware has infected your computer.
• Removal: After you know the type of spyware affecting your computer, you can begin the removal process. Whether you use an automated removal application or decide to remove it manually, the process is made far easier by knowing exactly which type of spyware you're working with.

Locate the problem, diagnose it, and then remove or treat it -- almost the same process a doctor would use to treat a disease! You learn more about how to do this throughout this lesson.

Has Your Computer Ever Been Infected?

That's a good question: How do you know if you're already a victim? In most cases, the results are obvious:

• Browser toolbars and other BHOs appear.
• Your browser home page is changed.
• You can't access your Web browser configuration settings.

In these cases, you immediately realize there's a problem, and move to the diagnosis stage.

Some spyware is not so obvious and easy to spot. On the whole, your operating system and Web browser may appear to work correctly, but random advertisements appear as you browse and Web sites you used to be able to get to are no longer accessible. Some spyware is downright sneaky and may give absolutely no indication at all that it's installed. Your only clue may be that your computer is running a little slower than it used to, and files don't download quite as fast. It's time to locate the culprit.