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You don't have to be a computer nerd to notice the signs of a spyware invasion. That is the beauty of it, most spyware is very obtrusive and will let you know it has infected your computer by bombarding you with those annoying pop-ups claiming your computer is infected and is in need of a thorough scan. Some even advertise the infection by changing your wallpaper.

Best of all, they are right! Your home computer is definitely infected. Only you should not be clicking on that button you get presented with. The one that says "Click here to download the full version of the program." By clicking that button, you will not only suffer from a spyware infected PC but pretty soon your wallet will feel lighter after purchasing their bogus program.

Viruses, Trojans or spyware do not in anyway harm your computer's hardware. They mess around with your software or Operating System, which is MS Windows for most people. What you see onscreen is also very often not the only thing you get. It is what you don't see that should get you worried about.

The common signs of an infection are frequent pop-ups with advertisements trying to entice you to visit adult, online gambling or other dodgy sites. If you are familiar with Windows task manger, you will also often find that it has been disabled, leaving you no choice but to shut down your PC or browser.

Most people do not realize that these malicious programs create a tunnel through the Internet and start downloading other spyware or Trojan Horses that could be a lot less benign than the pop-ups you can -at least- see. This includes e-mail worms and keyloggers nesting themselves in the background. The worm will attach itself to any contact in your address book, send itself to this contact and infect their PC as well.

Once you have had such an infection, you can never again be sure that your PC is not compromised. Even after a scan with antispyware protection software. You might not see any pop-ups anymore, but what about what you don't see?