Mozilla Firefox

The most important step in preventing your computer from accumulating Adware and Spyware is to stop using Internet Explorer to view web pages. There are a variety of alternative web browsers for Windows XP, and my personal favorite is Mozilla Firefox, which can be downloaded for free from the Mozilla Foundation. Since most of the malicious web sites that install software without your consent take advantage of weaknesses in Internet Explorer, not using Internet Explorer is the simplest solution. Mozilla Firefox also has a variety of other useful features, such as pop-up blocking, tabbed browsing, and a search bar that make it pleasant to use.

Mozilla Firefox
http://www.mozilla.org/

Adware and Spyware Removal

There are a variety of applications that are useful for removing Adware and Spyware from your computer. Most of them have interfaces fairly similar to the anti-virus software we have seen before. The following applications are free for personal use:

Lavasoft Ad-aware

http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/

Spybot Search and Destroy

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html