Spyware Concerns

Due to a problem I was having with the Swen worm, I was advised to download Ad-Aware and Spybot. I did and located quite a few objects which I deleted and my PC was flying for a few days. However, I must have deleted a file that was needed to access the internet. I ended up with a Winsock problem and couldn't access the internet (which has now been fixed thanks to the wonderful help received on this site).

From other posts I have read, it appears these are the 2 best programs to use. Can someone please advise how I should be using these programs to avoid other problems occurring (such as the Winsock one I mentioned)? What objects should be deleted, what shouldn't be deleted, how do I recognise which objects are a threat, etc.?

I have found the Help on Ad-aware not much use and would appreciate any advice I receive.

 

Safest
- Ad-aware: delete any items it finds
- Spygot: delete only those items that are at the top, shown in red, and pre-checked after the scan.

Also note that some apps you load may depend on a spyware component to function. Remove the spyware and they quit working. My choice for those is to remove the app since anything that intends to spy on me just isn't something I want to run.