Spyware is a threat that common anti-virus applications do not yet properly cover. If you see new toolbars in your Internet Explorer that you didn't intentionally install, if your browser crashes, or if you browser start page has changed without your knowing, you most probably have spyware. But even if you don't see anything, you may be infected, because more and more spyware is emerging that is silently tracking your surfing behaviour to create a marketing profile of you that will be sold to advertisement companies.

Spybot-S&D is free, so there's no harm in trying to see if something snooped into your computer, too

By:  Bill Royle at March 11, 2004
   
I just stopped by Patrick Kolla's site, and noticed that there's a new version out for Spybot - Search & Destroy. The version number as of this posting is 1.3 Beta 6. There doesn't seem to be a note on the site regarding the update, but the interface seems to be a bit different when installing, and in a good way for beginners!

The changes I've noticed?

Upon installing, it asks you right away if you'd like to backup your registry. Good stuff - it's always a good idea to do that, regardless of what you think is on your system. After that, you're asked whether you want to search for updates. Once again, that's good stuff. For users that are just becoming aware of spyware, the added prompt should help sweep up a few extra bits of spyware that they might otherwise miss. As well, it seems to be a bit quicker here in terms of the overall scan.

Warning
Some software that uses spy or adware include in their license agreement, a general prohibition against modifying the software, or the prohibition against usage of the software without those 'bots'. Please read your license agreements first!
And remember: the best way to remove ads is to pay the shareware fee!

The first thing you should know is to distinguish between the red entries, which represent spyware and similar threats, and the green entries, which are usage tracks.

For the usage tracks removal is non-critical, but depends on your personal preferences.

Ignoring the usage tracks for now, you should have a look at the red entries which represent the real threats. While you of course can trust us that we have chosen the targets using strict criteria, you can check for yourself if you click on each product and read the product information that will be shown in a pop-up window.

All problems displayed in red are regarded as real threats and should be dealt with. But while you read the product description, you may still decide to keep a threat, or just a usage track. Maybe you don't want your list of most recently used Word documents removed? At this point you have three options.

You could decide on ignoring all usage tracks. In that case you could open the File sets page on the Settings section of the program, and disable the Usage tracks entries.
Or if you want to just keep all tracks from a specific product, just right-click a product in the results list.
Finally, if you want to keep just one file, that is possible the same way.

How to update the program to the newest version
1. Click on 'Online' in the navigation bar,
2. Click on 'Update',
3. Search for available updates,
4. Select ALL available updates,
5. Select a download location nearest to you,
6. Download the selected updates.
Updates will be installed without any further action needed.

http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?...o&detail=update

The integrated update is not working. Are there any solutions for this?
 
The main reason for this problem is that you need to use a proxy server to access the internet. In that case, the proxy server is already set up in your browser, where you can look up it's settings and enter them into Spybot-S&D.

In Mozilla, you can find the Proxy settings if you open the Edit menu, choose Settings... at the bottom, and navigate to the section Advanced - Proxies.
In Internet Explorer, see the Menu Extras - Internet options, go to the tab Connections and click the Settings button at the bottom.

Back inside Spybot-S&D you need to go to the settings page, and scroll down to the entry Automation - Web update - Use proxy. Now check the box below it, and a dialog will appear where you can enter your proxy settings.
The format is host:port (the host is the name, the port the number you found in your browser). If you need to access your proxy using a login, you can use the format username:password@host:port.

How to disable the proxy [link] 
Open the Settings section and go to the Settings page. Locate the Use proxy entry in the Automation - Web update category, and disable it.