Block spying eyes from your computer

Not every gremlin that attacks your personal computer via the Internet is a virus.

While viruses can infiltrate and threaten the security and integrity of an unprotected PC, the dissemination of spyware over the Net can lead to serious online problems as well, including bombardments of unwanted advertising — in the form of pop-ups, as well as Trojans, worms and other bugs — and a gradual erosion of bandwidth.

Some companies that monitor spyware infiltration estimate that 90 percent of all Internet-connected PCs have at least one, and likely more, of the snooping programs within. These snooping agents can send secret data back to a third party without asking permission, and even cause a computer's operating system to slow down or stall.

Usually, spyware sneaks in from an e-mail or e-mailed attachment or when a browser opens onto specific Web sites. As far as ridding your system of spyware or preventing spyware from occurring at all, there are numerous programs at a range of prices, including from giants such as Symantec, McAfee and Microsoft.

Here are some programs that can help. All are for Windows PCs; because there are far fewer Apple computers, they are less likely to become spyware targets.

Some software experts advise running two anti-spyware programs consecutively, noting that no single program is guaranteed to remove or detect all offensive files.

Sunbelt CounterSpy

Clever name for a flexible program that is simple to set up, and can be customized to please either the novice user or the expert spy-searcher-outer. The built-in "scheduler" updates the spyware list each time a user logs onto the Internet, and there's an "active protection" feature that runs in the background while the user is online.

CounterSpy also said the program will completely remove all traces of any document, image, music, movie or application stored on the PC.

Price: About $20.

Updates: Included.

McAfee Anti-Spyware 2.0

Probably the best-known name in anti-everything software (along with Symantec) for consumers. Testers, however, have had mixed opinions about the effectiveness of the product, suggesting this software leaves a lot of spookware undetected in the computer.

The bright red interface is fun to use; sometimes, the program requires an annoying system reboot. According to a CNet test, a 30-minute system scan left a few potentially threatening items on the hard drive.

The McAfee program is aimed at users who use Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Those who use Firefox or other browsers might find it more tedious to work with this program.

Price: About $20 after $10 rebate.

Updates: One year included.

Spybot Search & Destroy, version 1.4

It's free — that's about the best thing to say about the Spybot S&D program.

It offers average protection at best from the snarky Web spies, and tech support is pretty hard to come by, as are the periodic updates required to keep the protect features up to date.

In this case, you get what you (don't) pay for.

Price: Free.

Updates: Free.

XoftSpySE Scan

One Web site that assesses anti-spyware software awarded XoftSpy a 9.8 rating out of 10, declaring that it detects "the widest variety of spyware, adware and other threats we've seen." (A free "scan" is available via download from www.paretologic.com/xoftspy.)

XoftSpy has received a lot of hype, but in some chat rooms opinions are divided about the product's effectiveness.

Price: About $40.

Updates: Included in price.

Spyware Doctor 4.0

Universally highly rated software that most agree is easy to use and program. It provides effective "immunization," controlled though user-friendly graphic control buttons. A fast scan locates the offending spyware, then gives users the option to delete.

The testers at Adware Report (adwarereport.com) wrote that a cleanup with the program, developed by PC Tools, detected a whopping 93 percent of the test spyware that had been installed and successfully disabled 86 percent of the spyware it found.

We found that using Spyware Doctor immediately improved boot-up time and performance of our Windows XP-based desktop computer.

Price: About $30.

Updates: Frequent updates for 12 months included in cost.

Webroot Spy Sweeper

A longtime favorite among anti-spyware aficionados — if, in fact, there are such people — the Sweeper is ultrapersistent, if a little slow, in its pursuit of bad spy stuff.

Webroot also is chatty: As it sweeps through your computer, Webroot quarantines the malicious software, then offers to take a deeper look inside what it finds. The program provides a risk-level rating — identifying the likelihood of the spyware-causing problems — as well as a detailed description of the offending files and a link to more information online.

Price: About $30.

Updates: Included for one year.