Shoutbox

The one and only protection that works without making your whole system either very unstable or either very paranoid is simple: just be careful of what you install. Microsoft was forced toadd all sorts of protection in their recent new IE release because people install anything they're prompted to and then complain that their computer is a garbage can. I personally install all sorts of programs and I can tell you that I have never had any bad surprise. Needless to say that I don't kill my system by continuously running protections such as Adaware or SpyBotSD. Even the worst adware/spyware program will prompt a confirmation before being installed, it's up to you to protect yourself if you don't want these programs.

Oh, and last notes.. most of the times, the nasty spywares are distributed with file sharing programs. Do everyone a favor and go buy your CD and DVD at the store, they are certified 100% spyware free.