Malware is a catchall term used by some IT folks that encompasses spyware, viruses, or any other software designed to do bad things to your computer. They can do a lot to your computer - some will simply pester you into buying some malware-removal software (and most of the time, the software itself doesn't work as well as advertised), while others will make your computer do some funny things like rebooting at random or start up slowly.

So how'd you get it? Chances are, you downloaded something onto your computer from a file-sharing service (Limewire, Kazaa, etc.) or from an email attachment. You may have also downloaded something inadvertently from a site like MySpace. The "how'd this happen?" is important only to the point where you now know not to do it again (or at least be more watchful of those movies you're trying to download). The more important question is, "How do I get rid of it?"

There are many programs available to help remove spyware from your computer, so choosing them is probably more difficult than it should be. You can always start at places like cnet.com to see what they recommend, and what users' experiences are like. I personally use the following free programs:

For spyware removal: XoftSpySE, SUPERAntiSpyware, Spybot Search & Destroy, Ad-Aware
For virus removal: AVG Free, Avira, avast!

Another good program to use for battling spyware is PC Tools' Spyware Doctor. If you just had to pay for something, then this would be a good deal - it's much less of a drain on resources than other products like Norton or McAfee. Download a trial copy, or better yet, get it for free here!

Again, be careful of what's out there - stick to some of the more well-known or well-reviewed names. Anything else may be inviting trouble! Beware of anything that offers a free scan, and then tells you that in order to remove what's been found, you need to purchase the full version of a particular software package. Antispware 2008 is a good example of this - it has some legitimate-looking warnings and even the Windows-like shields in your task bar (near the clock area), but the program itself is pretty useless. (Antispyware 2008 and its family of programs are actually considered to be malware!)

Many people think that just because they're protected with some sort of antivirus program, that they're shielded from spyware as well. Not true! Antivirus programs can only look for viruses, and antispyware programs can only seek out spyware. There are malware suites out there, like Norton 360, that can deal with both spyware and viruses, but the protection actually comes from separate portions of the program, if you were to look at it from a code point of view. (If that got too technical, then don't worry about it - if you like the software that you have, who am I to talk you out of it?)

Once you've got your tools ready, install them and start running them. It is important to note that you absolutely should not use more than one antivirus program at once on your computer! They have a tendency to flag each other as viruses or flag something that has already been identified as a virus by the other program, and thus cause problems when trying to address the infection.

Some programs run better when running in Safe Mode - after your computer starts up with its manufacturer's splash screen, hit F8 repeatedly until you get a text menu. Safe Mode is the first option in that menu - pick that and let Windows start up. The desktop will look different (icons are larger and out of order, for example), but it's still Windows. Once it's done loading, try to run your particular program. Safe Mode is still Windows, but without a lot of your usual options such as your fancy wallpaper or IM clients loading at startup. Many spyware programs load at startup, so booting into Safe Mode prevents that and may make it easier to remove the malware.

Sometimes you'll need specialty tools to remove the malware. If you can get the name of one that is particularly troublesome, you can always Google it and see if you can find some more detailed and specialized instructions for removal. Sometimes those instructions are pretty complicated (i.e. tweaking your Windows registry), so be very careful if you decide to go this route!

If you're at the point where you're unsure of what to do next, or if you're not comfortable working with the registry, it may be time to call someone in on the problem. Just be sure to say what the computer was doing prior to your attempts to fix it, and what you have done so far in the process.

As you can see, the list of options can grow pretty large once you're getting into removal issues. I'm not going to get into all of those options here - that'd take a while to write and even longer to read! One thing that you should consider as an absolute last resort is to reformat your hard drive or to use your restore CDs to correct the issue. Either one of those will cause you to lose all of your data, files, and settings - you'll be right back to the day you first bought your computer. Again, don't reformat unless you've exhaused all other options!