Spyware, as its name suggests, is a type of software that spies on your computer activities. When your computer is infected by spyware, third parties are able to gather data from your PC about your online searches and all other things you do on the web.

Your search history and other similar information are sent to whoever is collecting them, which can be stored by them for later use. If you think your computer has spyware, follow the easy steps below:

To remove spyware from your computer, you need to first disconnect it from the Internet or other networks to which it is connected. It is also very important that that you save backup copies of all your important files before you actually start the cleaning process.

Put your computer in Safe Mode to make sure there are no running spyware since there are self-starting spyware that runs automatically. Click on the key with the Windows logo plus the letter E to open the Windows Explorer. Click on "My Network Places" and manually delete any files that are not familiar to you or look suspicious.

Then, re-boot your computer to safe mode again and re-check for other malicious files.
Open the start menu and go to the control panel and click on the "add/remove" icon. A window will pop up where you can start deleting spyware.

Once you have cleaned your computer from spyware, you need to install and activate a firewall and/or anti-spyware application to prevent spyware from entering your PC in the future. Scan your computer for any spyware you might have missed. After this, you can now re-connect to the Internet. Lastly, re-boot your system back to normal mode.

There are many software programs that can help you remove spyware, viruses and adware. If you do not want to spend money, you can try free trial versions of these software programs to easily detect and remove infections. For the best protection, however, it is best to invest in these products. In addition, be careful where you go online or what you download from the internet.
 
Removing spyware is just one way to clean up windows. Another way is to clean the system’s hard drives, which usually get filled with a lot of data that are no longer used or needed. Heavy-loaded hard drives cause the computer to process information harder so the overall performance slows down. System errors usually occur and there is a likelihood that the computer will crash. For this reason, it is always a good idea to give your computer a good cleaning.

The first step to cleaning up Windows is to open up “My Computer” through Windows Explorer and then locate the hard drive, usually the C: Drive. With the hard drive selected, right click. A menu will appear, wherein you will click the option “Properties”. This will open another window with a pie-graph showing the used and free space on the hard drive. You will see a “disk cleanup” button. Click on it and then click OK. Doing so will free up space, mostly temporary files, on the hard drive.

Cleaning installed applications is another way of cleaning up windows. You can do this in the “Add/Remove Programs” box which you can find in the control panel. When the box opens, just scroll down to find the programs that you are rarely using or those that you will no longer need and click the “change/remove” button to un-install the program.

As you manually delete programs and files in your computer, make sure you are not deleting any system updates or files that are critical to the computer’s security or operations. The PC will normally prompt you when you are about to delete critical files so always pay attention to what you are doing.

Cleaning up windows and removing malicious files in your computer is not that complicated. Plus, there are many tools you can use to make the task easier. If you are not up to it, you can always get technical help from a professional or a friend. In any case, a good cleaning of your PC will certainly result to improved performance.