It’s so easy for your computer to ‘catch a cold.’ Thousands of websites require you to install some kind of special application in order to view them. So people get very used to pressing the ‘OK’ button without reading all the stipulations.

Suddenly you find yourself staring at thousands of advertisements every time you use the computer (this is called adware). Or maybe you find that your home page is changed (the page you start from when you go on the internet), and you can’t seem to change it back to where it was. Or you get an actual malicious virus, and your computer goes haywire.

As time goes on, the more these little programs load themselves onto your computer, the more they become leaches…sucking up your memory and precious computer resources. The result: suddenly it takes your computer three times longer to do anything.

With any of these problems, it can become a real hassle to get rid of them. They make software that’s supposed to fix them, but the software doesn’t always work. They only pick up on a percentage of known viruses or adware.

(On a side note, be very careful about which virus protectors you install on your computer. I recommend only using well known brands with good reputations such as Norton AntiVirus. You’ll see thousands of adware, spyware, and virus removers online…but many of these are actually the very things you’re trying to get rid of. They do get rid of some viruses, but they also install more advertising software on your computer.)