Stripping Adware/Spyware from PC Can Be Tricky Sat February 07, 2004 09:06 AM ET

By Gene Emery
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (Reuters) -

...another great article by Gene Emery on The Great Plague of 2004-05: Spyware.

Some of what is said here is now outdated, of course, but the principles of how to decontaminate your machine -- as well as the actual software download sites to aid you remain pretty much the same.

(It's now Adaware 2007 - not Adaware 6.0 - or even SE. And we still agree with the less than glowing praise for WebRoot. Mr. Emery should be pleased to know his information has withstood the test of time, and one really can't go wrong following the advice outlined here -- even three years after his original article was published.)

We were unhappy that he gave a pass to StopZilla then -- and (if it's still around), we wouldn't be in a hurry to try it. But his final word bears repeating:

... "Make it a habit to click No whenever a Web site tries to get you to download a free program."