Have you ever stopped and noticed that your computer is just not running the way it used to? Things take a lot longer to start working, it takes forever to boot up, and you keep getting those pesky advertisements?

Any time you use the internet, you expose yourself to a myriad of problems, ranging from adware and spyware to viruses. All of these things slow your system down and make it take forever to work.

You're especially at risk of having adware if you've ever downloaded music or watched videos online. Music download programs and some of the plugins that run online movies can install adware with them. Free applications that you find (various toolbars, weather widgets, etc.) can also install all kinds of adware on your system.

It's easy to tell if you have adware on your machine. The most tell-tale sign is that advertisements pop up for no reason, especially while not browsing the web. If you've ever seen an ad pop up while using your word processor, or returned to your computer only to find multiple ad boxes showing on the screen, you've got adware.

Why do so many sites try to install adware on your computer? That's how they make money. When they display ads on your computer, they make money off of your aggravation. For the same reason, you should not use any free adware removal software: many of them remove other peoples' adware only to install their own.

Quality adware removal software will allow you to scan your system for free before you commit to buy the software, so you can check your system for adware before buying.