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When you start Windows, Windows
starts lots of little programs that let it do what it
needs to do so that you can use your computer.
Additionally, it starts any programs that you’ve asked
it to. Because so many programs are launched at
startup, it’s easy for spyware to hide among the crowd.
Since you can’t delete a program that’s already running,
it’s very difficult to eliminate spyware that starts
automatically when you start your computer.
Safe mode is a feature of Windows
that lets you start your computer with just the bare
necessities, so damaging programs don’t start and can be
wiped from your machine. Running a spyware scan in safe
mode stands a much better chance of eliminating all of
the problem software on your machine. If you’re running
Windows XP or Me, make sure you disable Windows System
Restore before you start. See the article on Windows
System Restore, above, for details on how to do this.
Starting your computer in safe mode
is a snap. Follow these steps to boot into safe mode:
1. Turn on your computer while
holding down the F8 key. Keep the key down until you
either hear a series of beeps or see a black and white
screen with very plain looking text.
2. Use the up and down arrow keys
to highlight the line that says, “Safe Mode.”
3. Press the [Enter] key.
4. If you see another, similar
screen that asks you to select an operating system, use
the up and down arrow keys to highlight your version of
Windows and press the [Enter] key.
As the computer continues to start,
you’ll probably see lots of gibberish scroll up the
screen. Don’t worry - this is normal. When Windows
finishes starting, you might notice that the screen
looks bigger. This is also normal and is one of the
indicators that you are in safe mode.
Once you’ve started in safe mode, run
your spyware scanning software as normal. Follow the
instructions provided with your particular scanner.
Because you are in safe mode, the program should be able
to delete even those spyware programs that would
normally be running and therefore would be impossible to
delete. When you’re done, restart your computer as you
normally would.
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