Have you ever sat at your computer one day and your just happily searching the net and suddenly all chaos breaks loose as you are suffocated by pop ups? This is a very common situation for many but most people have no idea what to do when an event like this happens. They go into a state of panic and fear for the worst, or some people even turn off their monitor. Wow, a big help that's going to be, lets turn off the monitor so I can't see the damage taking place in my computer but the CPU is still running and the results could be fatal!

If you've ever done that before, shame on you. Doing something that foolish is just sheer idiotic. First off, by turning off your monitor, you won't be aware of what is going on and the end results could be a complete disaster for you and your computer. Secondly, what you should have done was to close all your Internet browser windows, but if they keep coming you could also shut down your computer by keeping your finger on the "power" button which is located on the CPU. Another helpful thing to do if you fail to close down all the windows or shut down your computer is the good ole "Ctrl - Alt - Del", which will pause your computer activity in a sense and allow you to shut down at the same time.

That is just the easy part, the judgement begins when you turn on your computer to find out how bad the damage was. Usually at this moment it is wise to scan your computer or if you don't have any programs get your hands on some immediately. There are free programs that you can get in literally 3 minutes that will scan and remove spyware, but "free" has its limits and may not do the trick.

Anyway the free programs that I would recommend are Ad-Aware SE Personal and Spybot Search and Destroy. I'd also recommend getting both programs because they work better together than alone, but they still aren't the best. They can prove to be effective short term, but in the long run, they just don't cut it against more serious infections. This is due to the fact that many of these new spyware and adwares out there target Spybot and Ad-Aware because they know most people use them.

What these new spyware and adware do is they disable Spybot and Ad-Aware from functioning normally, this usually happens when your doing a scan and that scan freezes. Then, a few seconds later that program you used to scan shuts down on you and if your unlucky, you get bombarded with more pop ups. This is when you have to get more serious and realise that you have just been severely infected.

But hope is not lost yet, what you can do is, reboot your system and from the moment it loads up continuously press F8. That should load up a menu that brings you to a selection screen, from there select "Safe Mode" and make sure it doesn't have network connection or anything. In Safe Mode you can scan your computer again with either Spybot or Ad-Aware. This should increase your chances of preventing another scanner melt down.

If what I listed above also fails, then you are severely in over your head. At this time you should consider a total system reformat. This reformat will wipe out ALL data on your computer, your documents and programs will be gone but the spyware and adware will be gone also. Another thing you can do is get a anti-spyware program that isn't free, in other words one that will cost you money. There are many ways to do that, you can go down to your local electronics store and get one, or even purchase one online.

Now here's a brief description of what happened to me. I was just surfing the net normally and I came upon a pop up that I ignored for about a few minutes. It slowly mutliplied and I was over my head in them. Long story short, I ended up reformatting my computer as a last resort but that was because I didn't have the proper tools. I lacked a anti-spyware program that was professional and up to date with the latest spyware definitions. Later I ended up using AdwareAlert and my system has been running like brand new. It even became faster because of me getting rid of some spyware.

More tips on how to Prevent Spyware

1. Get a good anti-spyware program and a nice firewall to accompany it.

2. Never be a sucker and click on ads that pop up in the middle of your screen saying you've won a prize or a great deal awaits you.

3. Always be sure to scan your computer regularly, a scan every few days is good enough if not daily.

4. If you search up something illegal, there is a very good chance that you will get infected just by going into a site promoting something illegal.

5. Be very careful with P2P programs, they contain a deadly amount of spyware and adware if not used properly.