My Mom and Spyware

My mom was new to the Internet, and I was having a seriously difficult time explaining to her the way things work.  She was following along as best she could when we came to a conversation about spyware blockers.  At that point she just kind of glazed over.  I decided that it might be best if I simple install the software and not try to explain it to her.  She agreed and we carried on with the tutorial of sorts.  A few minutes later, when a virus began downloading, the spyware picked it up and trashed it before it could do anything.