So, you've just discovered that you have a nasty, stubborn spyware, adware or virus file on your computer. You've run your spyware and adware program and even tried an online scanning service to try and remove it...all to no avail. You're sitting back in your office chair wondering what in the world you're going to do now. We'll first and foremost, Don't Panic! Ok, it may be a little late for that piece of advice. How about, Don't throw your computer out the window! Relax, go get a cup of coffee and comeback when you've clamed down because all is not lost. We're here to help!

Ok, now that you're back and relatively calm, we can tell you that there are places on the Internet where you can get free help on resolving your problem. They are called help forums, and there are many specifically dedicated to spyware, adware and virus removal. Before you go surfing off to find one on your own, please take a moment to review the following information on how to correctly use them. We promise if you take the time to review these tips and tricks, your forum experience will be a lot more rewarding and a lot less frustrating. All right, here we go:

1. Most Importantly - Please bear in mind that almost all free help forums are staffed solely by volunteers. They are offering their expertise out of the goodness of their hearts. While your problem is driving you nuts and you're on a razors edge nerve wise, you need to remember that it's not the volunteers fault. These people need to feel your appreciation not your wrath.

2. Do Some House Cleaning - Before you head off to a help forum, make sure you have run all the tools at your disposal to try and clean your system up. These include any antivirus, spyware - adware programs you may have on your computer. Make sure the programs adware, spyware and/or virus definitions are updated before you run them. This step alone could solve your problem and you may not even have to visit a help forum. If your program has a log feature included with it, make sure you enable it. Save the log file after you run the program(s) as the help volunteer will most likely ask you to paste the scan results into the forum.

3. Optional House Cleaning - If you don't have any antivirus or spyware - adware programs installed on your computer, you need to get them as soon as you've resolved your problem. However, for now you can run a free online scan using a reputable service. We've listed some links to these below. Check to see if the service offers a log feature for the scan. If it does, use it and save it to a text file to paste later in the help forum you visit.