BLOG MyyyyyAsssss

Have you ever heard the name Kim Komando? If not, this woman's story is a good read.
As the above link reveals, Kim Komando is the host of The Kim Komando Show, a top-10-rated radio talk show with over 10 million listeners every week. She is also a syndicated columnist, and the author of eight books.
Obviously this gal is no slouch and if you look further into her web page she offers a variety of tips. I liked this one:

Mysterious porn links appear Q. My boyfriend and I share a computer. We have administrator accounts. I went into his account and found risque material. I also found folders including links to porn sites. All this appeared after he installed WeatherBug. He insists he knows nothing about this raunchy stuff. Is it possible that porn can appear on your computer without you visiting that kind of site? A. Yes, it sure is possible. Pornographers have led the way in tapping technology. In the process, they have found many ways to invade our privacy. I don't think that the installation of WeatherBug is related to the porn found on the computer. This real-time weather program states emphatically on its Web site that it is not adware or spyware. Here's a link if you want to see for yourself: http://www.weatherbug.com/aws/notSpyware.html Your boyfriend could have gotten this stuff by simply opening a spam message. Or he could have been offered a free download while surfing the Internet. The site where the download was offered may have been anything, not necessarily pornographic. Perhaps there was a banner ad on some Internet Web page he visited. Also, if Windows has not been updated, downloads could have been installed without his knowledge. The lessons here are obvious: Don't open spam. And don't accept free, unsolicited downloads. You're just asking for trouble. Furthermore, Windows XP must be updated. Automatic updates can be enabled by clicking Start>>Control Panel. Double-click System. Select the Automatic Updates tab. Make the updates as automatic as possible. You can also update manually. Open Internet Explorer. Click Tools>>Windows Update. Let Microsoft scan your computer. Install everything listed for Security. XP has many security flaws, and failure to update it is dangerous. As for removal, download and run a program to remove adware. You can get three (Ad-aware, Spybot Search & Destroy and SpySweeper) through my site: http://www.komando.com/bestshareware.asp#adware When SpySweeper wanted to advertise on the show, I installed it on my computer. Now, previously I had been using Spybot and Ad-Aware to keep the spyware and other junk off my computer. When I installed SpySweeper, it found things on my system that the other programs did not pick up including a sex dialer program! You can have SpySweeper do a free scan of your system here: http://www.webroot.com/land/komando.php Now, I would also install a HOSTS file. This can block a malign program's access to the Internet. When a program on your computer tries to link to the Internet through your browser, the browser has to find its Internet address (the Internet Protocol number). It first tries the HOSTS file. A custom file can direct all such inquires to 127.0.0.1, which is your computer. Doing so blocks the request. You can download a HOSTS file, along with its instructions. In Windows XP, the HOSTS file is placed in the Etc folder, found at C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\Etc. The file must be updated regularly. I use the HOSTS file at: http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm

You can obviously see that Kim has a web page full of good material just by looking at the above content. I'd save this one to your favourites and refer to it when required.
Note that everything Kim suggests above is freeware with the exception of SpySweeper. I've heard good things about this software, but have not put out the money for it.