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What is Spyware?

Whether malicious or benign, spyware is software secretly placed on a computer that records and reports user activity.

How do you get infected?

• Cookies: Many legitimate websites use cookies to function properly. Malicious website can however use cookies to collect and report user activity for dubious purposes.
• Website installs: Malicious websites often disguise spyware as a helpful utility and prompt users to install the spyware when browsing the site.
• Email Aattachments or links: As with viruses, spyware can proagate as an email attachment or link.
• Application add-ons: Often bundles with popular software, such and peer-to-peer applications, free games, phony spyware removal tools, and the like; May or may not be discolsed during the host application's installation.

Signs of infection

• Unexplainable reduction in computer performance
• New toolbars appear that can't be permanently deleted
• Excessive, unexplained modem/network traffic
• Dramatic increase in pop-up ads
• Default search engine or browser home page has changed

Spyware Removal

• Identify and end suspicious processes with Windows Task Manager
• Identify and disable suspicious services with the Management Console.
• Identify and disable suspicious service and startup items with the System Configuration Utility.
• Search and delete registry entries associated with suspicious services or startup items.
• Identify and delele suspicious files
• Install and use multiple spyware detection and removal utilities.

Spyware Prevention

• Regularly apply software patches and updates.
• When possible, configure user accounts without download or install permissions
• Prohibit the installation and use of unapproved software particularly peer-to-peer, file sharing networks.
• Use only commercial and known-safe utilities.
• Regularly scan machines with antivirus and antispyware programs.
• Use a firewall to restrict outbound traffic on all ports except those used for http, POP3 and SMTP.
• Adjust Web browsers cookie permission settings.

Google has a habit of defaulting to the local country search engine of the country you are in, going to google.jp when you're in Japan, and google.fr in France, for instance.

If you're not a native speaker of that country's language this is a pain. You can change your language and search result preferences, say back to English for example but a lot of times the preferences you apply just don't stick. 

For myself and a lot of others, every time you close and re-open a new browser window, which could be several times a day and search google, you'd be taken to results from Google.fr, french page results in French, no matter if you had just changed the preferences (again) back to English. This is a major irritation for a lot of people and a flaw from Google. After looking into altering Cookies and other suggestions and perhaps switching Search Engines to Bing or Yahoo, I found a solution for Firefox.

You can set Google up in your Top Right browser search box that will actually fix Google's language back to English by just using an add-on.

Instructions

If you are using Firefox, easily fix it this way by following the steps, no coding whatsever!

Steps:

1. Install Add To Search Bar.

Add To Search Bar - an add-on for firefox, by installing this, you can delete the original google search engine (which'll default to your country locations google search) and replace it with a new one. 

You can download Add To Search Bar from here:

https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/3682

Restart Firefox so the add-on can be used.

2. Go to this english Google page: http://www.google.com/intl/en/

This is Google in English.  You can bookmark this search engine if you like.

3. Click on the search bar, right-click on it and click "Add To Search Bar".

A new Google icon will be seen in the drop down list of search
engines, the new Google icon should be seen from the lowermost area. 
If you search on it, results will now have English as its main language.

4. Delete the older Google icon and you can move the new icon up through the "Manage Search Engines" from the drop-down list.

And your finished!

A useful utility I recommend to install on your PC is Startup Inspector for Windows. When you buy a new PC or install some new software often the software automatically configures itself to start the software when the PC restarts.

This is fine for programs you use often, it allows the PC to load that program more quickly which is a good thing. Unfortunately junk software installed by the PC manufacturer and other programs you install but never use also are loaded into memory where they stay resident, eating up your processes cycles and if you have enough of them, slow down your PC.

An easy way to manage what gets loaded is using Startup Inspector for Windows. Install the software and it'll bring up a list of programs and identify those automatically installing simply un-select the ones you don't want. This doesn't uninstall the software, just the automatic startup feature, which is good for software you use but only infrequently.

Minimising the amount of resident programs running will have a positive effect on your PC start-up times and speed by lowering processor usage. 

Another good Utility is Advanced SystemCare which helps protect, repair, clean and optimize your PC which you can downlaod and try for free.