Scanning

• Once you've downloaded and installed an anti-spyware program such as Spybot (see Resources) you can use a scanning tool to look for spyware threats on your computer. It's a good idea to update your software first before you use this tool, to give your software the best chance to find spyware and other malicious programs that may cause you to lose data on your computer. After you've updated and scanned, your software should be able to remove the spyware and prevent damage.
  
  

Monitoring

• Anti-spyware programs like spyware also have tools where it can passively monitor your system for problems. You can also use the program to check a certain file to see if it has spyware embedded in it. One of the ways that spyware programs that cause data loss get into your system is through other programs that you download since you think they are something else. Checking such files first is a good way to prevent potential data loss.
  
  

Immunizing and Backups

• Another tool against spyware causing data loss is immunizing. Spybot is an example of a program that does this. Immunizing is something you can do after you've scanned and removed threats to make it harder for such programs to infect your computer again. You can also use back up software tools to create backups of your files in case they are corrupted by spyware. if this happens, youc an restore the back up and the potential data loss is averted.