Spyware is one of several threats that can cause a surprising amount of damage to your computer. Along with that, spyware can help criminals carry out identity theft or other malicious activity. Since spyware is becoming more and more of a problem for computer users, many people are taking steps to combat this problem by purchasing spyware remover software. Security experts recommend this as part of a comprehensive strategy to limit the damage spyware can cause but there are some things you should look for in a good spyware remover. Here are my top 3 criteria for the average computer user.

1. Is the spyware remover easy to use?
When spyware infects your computer system, you dont have time to be fumbling through a 30-page manual or in contact with customer support trying to figure out how the software works. Therefore, it should be pretty intuitive to use, even for the basic computer user and shouldnt require you to be a computer whiz to understand how to scan your system.

2. Does the spyware remover offer real-time protection?br> Real-time protection simply means that the software monitors programs as they start up, so that future instances of spyware have a greater chance of being detected and stopped before their even installed on your system or before they run for the first time. This is critical if you download a lot of software, including screensavers, games, or other applications.

3. Does the spyware remover allow you to schedule periodic scans?br> The average computer user is far too busy to be concerned with keeping tabs on when the last time the computer was scanned for spyware was. Therefore, the anti-spyware program should have a feature, similar to whats found in most anti-virus programs, which allows you to schedule periodic scans of your computer. That way, you can set things up once when you first purchase the software, and then you only have to take notice when something comes up in the scan. Of course with good computing practices and safe internet surfing habits, the chances of something being found go down dramatically.

Use these three criteria as a guideline for what to look for as you research different spyware remover programs. There are quite a few programs available, but by using these criteria, you can quickly narrow down the available options to the cream of the crop. And the good thing is that you usually dont pay much more even though the software has these additional features.