Before you scan
Any quality spyware-removal tool lets you configure it to decide which system areas to scan and what types of files to check for. To make these adjustments, look for a button marked Options, Preferences, Configuration, or Settings. For example, Ad-Aware SE has a link labeled Customize on its Scan Now screen, whereas Webroot Spy Sweeper has an Options button on its main interface.

On the configuration screen, you should be able to choose which drives to scan, particularly helpful if you have multiple hard drives installed on your system. You also may choose not to scan specific folders. For instance, if you have folders containing thousands of MP3s or digital photos, you can cut down your scan times by excluding them, since it's not very likely spyware components would have invaded those folders.

In many anti-spyware apps, you also can choose to ignore specific files. You could, for example, not scan for cookies, saving some time if you don't think cookies are worth sweating. You may also be able to turn off drive scanning and just scan your machine's registry and memory. This option is fairly safe if you've previously removed all spyware from your hard drive and your removal app has a monitoring feature that scans all new software introduced to the system.

After the scan
After you've finished a scan, take a look at what your spyware remover has found. Most apps should show you the system or registry path where the unwanted components were located. You can confirm the existence of spyware by using Windows Explorer or the regedit command to manually follow the path noted by the spyware remover. As always, don't delete any registry keys unless you know what you're doing, since you could completely disable your system. Also, be wary of removing any files in folders of known, useful programs. Your anti-spyware app might have misidentified a file, or a component of a good program might use the same filename as a spyware component