Safe Mode

There are a lot of different programs and processes that run automatically when you start your computer. This is one way that malware can hide on your system. Luckily, Windows has a nifty feature called Safe Mode. This prevents all but the most essential processes from running on start up. Safe Mode can be particularly useful if your spyware removal tools aren't functioning properly.

To access Safe Mode on a PC, press and hold F8 while your computer is booting. You'll be given several options; generally you'll want to pick Safe Mode or Safe Mode with Networking.

Macintosh offers a Safe Boot feature which can be accessed by restarting the computer and holding down the Shift key after you hear the start-up tone until the gray background with the apple logo appears. Safe Boot should appear beneath the Apple logo when the log in window comes up. This may take a while because the computer is checking the hard disk.