While the only way to prevent spyware from invading your laptop or desktop computer is to prevent it from being downloaded, the method is not the best for most people. Learning how to remove spyware is important because it will help you to stay keep away from malicious coders who take advantage of the security loopholes to fulfill their own agendas from stealing information from your computer. The problem is that spywares not only interfere with your privacy but also affect how your computer system operates.

The first thing you need to do is to download spyware detection and removal software from the internet. A number of software is available for download and some of the best examples include Spybot Search and Destroy, the Hijackthis and the Windows Defender. It should not be difficult to search for any of these and find safe downloads online.

Go through your computer system and identify the most important data to you before you start using the downloaded software. This is because when you begin installing this form of software, you are likely to lose important data due to misdiagnoses or just by accident. Make sure that information you need in future is safe. Backup everything if need be so that you will have all your data and content available eventually.

Your computer obviously has official files, personal data, work related information and important programs you will never want to lose. The best thing to do therefore would be to have an external hard disk for all your data so that once you store the most important data then you will have nothing to worry about at all. Make sure you go through each file and folder to get the important data before you can start using the anti-spyware solution.

Once you have backed up all the data, disconnect your computer from the internet. If you are on a LAN network, remove the cable from the slot and then restart your computer. Remember to start your computer in Safe Mode.

Scan your computer system using the anti-spyware software you previously downloaded from the internet. It is important to note that the anti-spyware software is helpful because it will automatically remove infected files and folders from your laptop or desktop computer. The other method that you can use is to uninstall infected software files from your computer using uninstall utility programming from your control panel.

You should restart your laptop or desktop computer and see if this has solved the problem. In most cases, the anti-spyware should be just great enough to solve the problem and then one can continue using the computer system as normal without any further problems. There are cases when this does not work and in such instances, you may want to resort to a more advanced solution.

If the problem persists, you may have to format your hard drive and reinstall the operating system. This is a very hurtful approach so you want to make sure you try all the solutions possible before you can resort to formatting your computer system. If installing the operating system is the only solution, make sure you have software backup somewhere so that you have a smooth time in the process.