spyware. you can download software that monitors your web surfing behavior and cause all kinds of nasty pop-up ads and tool bars you don't want. you can get free anti-spyware software at places like download.com. >> speaking of your home, you are supposed to keep that clean as is your laptop computer, right? >> that's right. spring cleaning may be a few months away for us but for your computers there's no time like now to do it for 2011. get rid of those icons. if you have so many icons on your desk top that you can't see the photo behind it, it's time to do some spring cleaning. instead of just deleting the icon which is just a shortcut to launch the program, go to your add/remove applications area of your control panel and take out the programs in full. the ones you don't need anymore of course. it's also a good time to do something called defraging your computer. you don't have to understand what it does but it's in the accessories part of your control panel. it sweeps through your hard drive and fixes common errors