Windows 8 Bible

Conquering Viruses and Spyware with Windows Defender

There are many programs on the market that are designed to prevent and eliminate spyware (and adware), but you don’t have to spend any money or download any third-party programs to protect your system from these threats. You can use Windows Defender, which comes with Windows 8 for free. Despite its focus on spyware, Defender actually protects your computer from any potentially unwanted programs. That includes many types of adware, Trojan horses, and rootkits.

Windows Defender is designed to locate and eradicate viruses and spyware. There are basically two ways to deal with viruses and spyware. The best is to prevent them before they infect your system. The other is to detect and remove them after your computer has already been infected.

As you read earlier, viruses can cause a great deal of harm to your computer. Therefore, it’s best to always run an anti-virus program like Windows Defender.

Note

Windows Defender was a popular download for Windows XP. It came free with Windows Vista, Windows 7, and now Windows 8, so there’s nothing to download.

Spyware (and its close cousin adware) isn’t specifically designed to cause your computer harm. But even without the direct intent to do harm, spyware can have serious consequences. Too much spyware can bog your system down, causing everything to run slower than it should. Spyware can make unwanted changes to your Internet settings, causing your web browser to act in unexpected ...