There are a few easy steps you can take to prevent spyware on your computer. Rather than waiting until you have a problem, be prepared beforehand. Be proactive in protecting yourself and your PC.

Install a free firewall. Not only does a firewall keep most hackers at bay, if somehow a malicious application does make it into your PC, a firewall can alert you if the spyware tries to "phone home" or contact its owner.

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Regularly run a free antivirus application. Scan your entire computer on a regular basis, and check out any files or applications before installing them yourself. These applications can even scan email attachments as they come into your email client, before you even know you have received one.

Read the End User License Agreement when installing anything on your computer. If you don't have the time to read it, don't install the software. Otherwise, be ready to deal with a spyware problem later.

Finally, there are a few tweaks and steps towards computer security you can make to keep your pc even safer from threats and attacks. Tweaking your applications more securely and/or using non-targeted applications can make a huge difference in preventing spyware.