What's the difference between spyware,adware and malware?

All these anti-spyware/malware/adware/virus programs have confused me. Can someone please explain what the difference is between them all or if one falls under the category of another.





Oh and would they all be considered viruses or are they seperate computer infections? =S





Thank you in advance!|||Spyware is computer software that is installed surreptitiously on a personal computer to intercept or take partial control over the user's interaction with the computer, without the user's informed consent.





Adware or advertising-supported software is any software package which automatically plays, displays, or downloads advertisements to a computer after the software is installed on it or while the application is being used. Some types of adware are also spyware and can be classified as privacy-invasive software.





Malware, a portmanteau from the words malicious and software, is software designed to infiltrate or damage a computer system without the owner's informed consent. The expression is a general term used by computer professionals to mean a variety of forms of hostile, intrusive, or annoying software or program code.[1] The term "computer virus" is sometimes used as a catch-all phrase to include all types of malware, including true viruses.





Software is considered malware based on the perceived intent of the creator rather than any particular features. Malware includes computer viruses, worms, trojan horses, most rootkits, spyware, dishonest adware, crimeware and other malicious and unwanted software. In law, malware is sometimes known as a computer contaminant, for instance in the legal codes of several American states, including California and West Virginia.|||Malware = MALicious softWARE and is a catch-all for the various kinds of (intentionally) bad stuff out there.





Sometimes all the bad stuff is called 'viruses', but a virus is a specific type of malware, just as adware and spyware are.





Adware puts unwanted pop-ups on your computer screen.





Spyware steals your personal information.





There are few actual viruses written any more as there is no money in it. There's a lot of adware and spyware (of different sorts). Most anti-virus programs will now detect not just viruses but most other forms of malware, so if you have a good AV program you should be pretty safe. If you're using AVG free it doesn't protect you from rootkits (a very nasty form of malware), AntiVir doesn't protect you from spyware.





Hope that helps!|||spyware ===%26gt; SPY + softWARE


it's a kind of softwares that hacks your computer with unknown recognition by SILENT act





malware ===%26gt; MALicious + softWARE


Kinda obvious when downloading a file directly from a site (mostly comes from hacked site) that was con jointed from the other computer somewhere.





adware ===%26gt; ADvertisement + softWARE


Most obvious because of popping up boxes which is not really important to pop-up and it contains virus usually|||the tip comes with the name.





spyware. it spies ur pc. tracks ur movements on the internet etc. its not a malware or virus itself. but may be a backdoor for them.





adware. adware is the name of the programs which comes with other programs. a separate program runs with the program that u install. it harvests ur internet usage datas and generates advertisements to u.





malware. its the short use of malicious software. it includes viruses trojans worms trojans etc. all viruses are malwares. but all malwares are not viruses.|||although they're all technically different, they all try and harm your computer in some way.





try spybot search and destroy. link below. be sure to download the most current definitions.|||Hi,


You should use "NoAdware".It's very effective.I don't have any more problem with spyware,Trojan,pop-up or computer viruses.I came across this software in PC World magazine.Now, you can download and try for free.Check it out here:


http://urlcut.com/noadware09|||Following is a useful info about spywares and here it has also been explained that how a spyware enters into a computer in such a way that the user of computer is unaware about it :-





http://gigzotech.com/what-is-a-spyware/