• To help explain why you still see pop-ups even when your Pop-Up Stopper product is running successfully.
• To present information on what spyware is and why you should care about it.
• To provide guidelines for preventing and eliminating spyware.

Whether you're sick and tired of being interrupted by pop-ups, concerned about your privacy or both, read on to find out how to protect your computer and your personal information. We share resources on Twitter and Facebook to help protect our users. Join us there for the most up to date information.

Spyware sends information from your computer to a third party, usually as part of an advertising-supported software product. Other terms used to describe this type of nuisance include adware, malware, keyloggers, phishing attacks and snoopware. Each of these terms has a slightly different meaning, and in the absence of an official definition, even lawmakers are continually reworking the definition of spyware. Not all adware products are spying on you, and not all spyware pesters you with pop-up advertisements. However, the word "spyware" has become the generic term for all of the above.

Spyware makers usually want information about your surfing habits to better target pop-up advertisements toward your preferences. However, they could violate your privacy even further by transmitting your name, gender, age, address, passwords or any other personal information you have saved on your computer.

There are three main techniques used to distribute spyware. Click Here for a free PC Spyware Scan!

More and more programs are distributing spyware using these methods. The presence of spyware or other adware is often not disclosed when you download or install software. If any information is disclosed, it is usually buried in an End User License Agreement (EULA). You may have missed a warning that spyware was being installed on your computer if you clicked "I Agree" during a download without reading exactly what you were agreeing to. If a child in your household has access to your computer, he or she could have downloaded spyware without your knowledge.

Any computer that has ever been connected to the Internet could potentially be infected with spyware. There are a number of ways it can impact your system, including the following:

Not necessarily all of these things will happen as a result of spyware. Your computer could be infected even if you're only experiencing a single symptom. Even a machine that is running normally could be infected with spyware.

Anti-virus software, firewalls and Internet pop-up blockers generally do not provide adequate protection from spyware once it's on your machine. Once installed, spyware is typically hard to remove in its entirety and is sometimes automatically reinstalled. You should not attempt to remove spyware on your own. Using software designed for spyware removal will enable you to remove unwanted programs in their entirety and is safer than deleting files yourself.

You can combat spyware using free or paid for software available for download on the Internet. We list some free scans, with options to pay to receive more features. Click Here to try AdwareBOT free of charge!Spyware removal software will scan your computer for infected programs and help you remove them once they have been identified. Be sure to download only recommended spyware removal products. Many fake spyware removal programs exist to trick users into paying for ineffective software or even to install more spyware on their computer.

While it is true that there are free products that perform a similar function to Panicware's Pop-Up Stopper Anti-Spyware, but none offer complete protection from both the ads served by spyware and removal of the spyware/adware files too. Here's a quick list of what separates Panicware from the rest its competitors:

In most cases, removing spyware will cause whatever free software it came with to stop working. In order to use your computer without the annoyance of spyware-generated advertising, you may have to either live without the functionality of the software it came with or seek out alternatives.

There are a number of steps you can take to guard against spyware infections in addition to running the anti-spyware programs mentioned in the previous section.

Rest assured, by paying careful attention to what you are downloading, educating others and using the right combination of applications, you can be safe surfing the Internet!