Spyware is defeated (but not without a little discomfort)

Despite the fact new forms of Spyware appear daily, and the old spyware keeps coming back, ready to pounce upon and infect the unprotected Windows system, there are those willing to help in the fight fight against the Dark Side; the Spyware Jedis if you will.

Several great sites help track down spyware and fix infected systems, including one I came across not too long ago called spywarewarrior. Of course it?s good to take proactive steps to minimize the possibility of infection in the first place, such as running and maintaining anti-spyware applications with due diligence. Unfortunately the Dark Side is ready and cunning and sometime disguisses its neferious intent in so-called anti-spyware. It?s a real bummer since the normal user is simply not equipped to decipher the good from the bad. The best way around this is to just stick with what most experts agree are definitely the good. But this too requires more research than most people have time.

Here a few that I have found to be without malice:

Again, due dilegence is the key. Just as in anti-virus solutions, make sure anti-spyware application definitions are updated frequently. After all, a Jedi is only as powerful as his grasp of the force.