which is worse... a malware or spyware?

Spyware actually falls under malware. "Malware" is the general term for all those computer virus, worms, keyloggers, etc. Malware is coined from the word Malicious Software. So you can't really compare Spyware vs. Malware because spyware is a type of malware :)

There just as bad as each other and are very similar. Spy ware spys on your files, I think malware does that too. Malware makes hidden files and over populates your computer, and eventually shuts down internet and other programs. They are almost the same thing but just play somewhat diffrent types of roles in crashing computers.