Spy-ware and Ad-ware are programs that are installed on your computer to track what you do on the Internet.

So, if you have ad-ware on your computer and have been surfing websites looking for a car, you will get pop ups for web sites that have everything to do with a vehicle purchase — from financing ads to insurance ads.

These programs run in the background when you start you computer and can slow down performance significantly. The more destructive variations of those kinds of software will log not only what sites you visit, but some of them can even log every keystroke you enter and send that information to a third party. When that third party gets the information, they can decipher your keystrokes and gain your user names and passwords for any site that you have logged into recently. Additionally, if you fill out any forms on web sites, and if you supply personal information, malicious software programs can put you at risk for identity theft.

A virus is a program that requires an action by the user (you) to get installed on a computer. Such an action could be, for example, opening an e-mail attachment that contains the virus.

Viruses can do many things. The most common type of virus is a Trojan. Trojans install themselves, and they typically open a backdoor on your computer system, so that hacker can install more damaging programs or spy-ware. Some viruses will even delete critical Windows files, so that your computer will not boot anymore. Others will simply delete your personal data.

Another type of virus turns your machine into a zombie. Such viruses will send themselves to anybody in your e-mail address book, disguised as an e-mail message from you. Zombie machines frequently are used for denial of service attacks on web sites. Basically, the machine will send out tons of information to that web site in a coordinated attack with other machines, rendering a specific web site non-functional.

Worms, on the other hand, are programs that come in through security flaws in your operating system, and they require no action from the user. One of the largest worms that came through in recent computer history, was the Sasser worm. It installed itself on any computer that had not been updated. In the end, worms will do the same things viruses do.

Many people are under the misconception that the only thing that can happen with an unsecured network is that your neighbor gets to access your Internet connection for free.

However, when a wireless network is not secured, not only can people access your Internet connection and use your bandwidth — which slows down your Internet activities — but it also allows access to your computers and files.

For example, if someone was to drive by and access your network from their car, they could access your computers as well. As a result, they could install keyloggers and other harmful programs onto your computers without your knowledge. These types of activities frequently lead to identity theft.

What do you recommend to protect my computer and myself from these types of things?

The first thing to do, if you have a wireless network, is to make sure that it’s secure! If you click on your wireless icon, and then select "View available wireless networks," you can see all the wireless networks within range. It will also tell you whether they are secure or not.

Next, a good Internet security program is essential. We recommend Trend Micro Internet Security. This is a comprehensive, all-in-one program that detects and prevents viruses, worms and spy-ware attacks. It is user-friendly and does not significantly slow down your computer. Additionally, it has a nifty wi-fi intrusion detection function to let you know when someone is trying to access your network. And it will tell you which computers currently are on that network. Finally, it also scans for Windows vulnerabilities, letting you know when you are missing required updates.

The next step would be to always make sure your Windows Updates are done each month, and that you have updated your security software.

When it comes to viruses, the most common method of infection is by way of e-mail.

We recommend using web mail rather than an e-mail software program such as Outlook Express. Web mail programs (such as Hotmail, Yahoo and Gmail) have better SPAM filters and they automatically scan e-mail messages for viruses. Additionally, web mail sites keep e-mail messages on the host servers — rather than downloading them directly to your computer.

You should also avoid file-sharing programs, such as Kaaza, Morpheous, Bearshare and Limewire. Those programs connect you straight to another person's computer, and if they have a virus or another computer problem, it will piggy-back on files you are sharing between their and your computer.

Another thing to stay away from are free software programs for weather, cursors, wallpaper and reward programs that offer incentives for clicking on links. Those programs often install spy-ware on your computer. If you read the program's EULA (end user license agreement), it will usually tell you that you agree to install those programs as a condition to using the software for free or otherwise.

I get a pop up that says my computer is infected, what should I do?

First of all, such pop-up messages are usually generated by spy-ware programs that somehow got installed on your computer. Obviously, they want you to click on the message and buy their program to remove the problem. Don’t do this!

Some of those so called spy-ware removal programs are even more problematic than the spy-ware that's already installed on your machine. Before purchasing a program or downloading one, we suggest typing the name of the software into Google. Look and see if there are articles about the software that say it’s a problem. You would usually see something to that effect in the top five search results.

Is there an easier way to search for information on the internet?

We use Google for pretty much every web search. The best way to get the results you want is to type the phrase in quotations. This will tell the search engine that you only want to see results with all the words you put in.

For example, if you were to type Pirates of the Caribbean, the search engine would look for articles that contained each word. And you would get articles about pirates and articles about the Caribbean. If you typed the same phrase with quotations ("Pirates of the Caribbean"), you would only get results that contained all the words in the phrase.