Contrary to what companies such as Symantec or Mcafee would have you believe you can easily detect and remove spyware, adware and viruses with free software provided on the Internet, much of which is as good or better than pay-to-use software, which typically charges a fee to purchase the software and a yearly fee to continue receiving very important updates.

Antivirus software, is useless without receiving updates. If the software is not actively protecting your PC, you are at risk, though you may not want the software running at all times, so you should at least do a scan once a month (update the software before each scan!).

Do NOT download software from the Internet that makes claims to protect you, unless you download it directly from a reputable company website such as Symantec, Mcafee, Avast, AVG or other. Ask a professional first. Do not just download software because a friend recommends it. Any software that places advertisements and popups on websites contain viruses most of the time so be very careful about what you click while on the web.

Most important: Never ever download software you see in a popup, advertisement or banner. Legit companies almost never use these tactics to advertise their products. You most likely will end up with problems.

Spyware/Adware Removal
Lavasoft Adaware
Spybot: Search and Destroy

Browser Fixes
HijackThis

Antivirus
Avast
AVG

Online Virus Scan
Trend Micro
Panda ActiveScan
Symantec Security Check
BitDefender Online Scan
Kaspersky

Avast is a very useful antivirus solution as it provides a “boot-time” scan feature. If you are not able to remove a virus normally, use boot-time scan to remove it.

Here is a list of “rogue” (bad) products (do NOT use these):
http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm

CNet operates a website, http://www.download.com and provides downloads of products usually directly from the website. The editors of the site also review software and check for malicious activity. If the software is listed at www.download.com for download, it should be a safe download.