How do I see if my computer has spyware without downloading anything?

Question

Me and my brother were talking, he told me that if you download a free trial it will down load spyware, he also told me that if you check the process you can see if there is any background programs like spyware and you can just block it. I can not download anything, please help me out with this. Thank you in advance.

Answer 1

This answer depends on the Operating system you have, but you can usually just go to START >> Run and type: msconfig

Go to the proccess tab, check the box that says "Hide all Mircrosoft Processes" and uncheck anything that looks wierd. You can then go to the startup tab and uncheck the wierd looking applications starting up with your computer. Once you've done that, you may have stopped all your spyware bugs on your computer from doing harm. You'll also want to do a reset on your internet explorer by going to internet options >> advanced tab and "reset". This is an easy way to speed up and clean up a computer without downloading anything.

Answer 2

You can detect a Spyware

If its interfering with user control of the computer in other ways, such as installing additional software, redirecting Web browser activity, accessing websites blindly that will cause more harmful viruses, or diverting advertising revenue to a third party. Spyware can even change computer settings, resulting in slow connection speeds, different home pages, and loss of Internet or other programs.

Answer 3

http://housecall.trendmicro.com/uk/

Me and my brother were talking, he told me that if you download a free trial it will down load spyware - NOT TRUE.

he also told me that if you check the process you can see if there is any background programs like spyware and you can just block it - TRUE IF LIKE ME YOU HAVE A GOOD MANY YEARS OF KNOWLEDGE ABOUT COMPUTERS BUT NOT ALL SPYWARE OR VIRUSES CAN BE BLOCKED.

You should have on your PC the following:

1. one firewall

2. one up to date antivirus program

3. a few antispyware programs

If not - your be lucky if your still running after 2 weeks.

Answer 4

If you have spyware you will know it without having to look for it as you will have a slow down in performance, increased popups, high cpu usage and if you have little or no protection you will be infected within 12 minutes!

Sometimes, you just need to download a simple tool that will find it for you:

Lavasoft AdAware2008:

http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-2008/30...

How to use:

http://cotojo.wordpress.com/2008/06/01

or

SUPERAntiSpyware Free Edition:

http://www.download.com/SUPERAntiSpyware...

Download, install, check for updates, then select Scan your Computer, select your drive and select Perform Complete Scan