anyone heard of spyware...

[Jose]

Hi guys,

Anyone of you out there heard of Spyware software and how to remove this **** ?

Any info or removall tools appreciated.

[Johntee540]

Do a google search for Spybot. its free and very effective. JT

[grease]

you should also download and run lavasoft ad-aware and ccleaner.com. safe and really works I have no more spyware yeah!!!!! wrong forum but goodluck anyway.

[Garlic Breath]

Very good FAQ (http://www.dslreports.com/faq/8428)

If this doesn't get rid of your spyware nothing will.

And quit using I.E.

[SharkmanBMW]

get adaware personal version SE
and you will be set!
it is free at www.lavasoft.com
in the download section

[misfortune]

Hi guys,

Anyone of you out there heard of Spyware software and how to remove this **** ?

Any info or removall tools appreciated.
Ignore everyone above and use the MS antispyware beta. Its better than everything else I've tried, and I've used all the above multiple times. Reboot to safe mode when using it.

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx

[BigKriss]

Why don't you use what micro$oft make, I've been using it for the last few weeks, free download, works extremely well.

URL At:

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx

[willobmw]

I like Spysweeper. you can now get it at Costco.
Willo

[Brian C.]

.....and it seems to do a good job for me. It was free to download, with "donations" accepted, and it's easy to use and update. It amazed me the first time how much crap it found on my hard drive. Do a Google search to find host sites. I've got no part in it, just a satisfied user.

Brian C.

[ve39]

not to get a lot of **** on your computer NEVER use Internet Explorer download and use FireFox (mozilla)

[BigKriss]

I used SpyBot and it didn't get rid of "ffsearch" that was on my computer - could never remove it.


.....and it seems to do a good job for me. It was free to download, with "donations" accepted, and it's easy to use and update. It amazed me the first time how much crap it found on my hard drive. Do a Google search to find host sites. I've got no part in it, just a satisfied user.

Brian C.

[tim s]

tim s.

[Scott C]

not to get a lot of **** on your computer NEVER use Internet Explorer download and use FireFox (mozilla)

Absolutely concur about firefox - it has eliminated 99% of all the problems on my kids/wife's computer - which were frequent due to malicious web sites, etc. I suspect de-activating active X in IE would be same but why bother.... Firefox has neat features I really like such as weather, tabbed browsing, ad blocking (similar to SP2 /IE)

Scott

[Kalevera]

Mozilla ROCKS!

Use it for a week and decide for yourself which is better.

[Mobius]

Ignore everyone above and use the MS antispyware beta. Its better than everything else I've tried, and I've used all the above multiple times. Reboot to safe mode when using it.

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspxYou don't need to boot to safe mode, it's smart enough to do what it needs without that.

Spybot used to be a great tool, but it has completely failed to keep up recently. It's not worth bothering with.

AdAware is only decent in its 'professional'/paid version. The free version catches about as much as Spybot. The professional version catches much more than the free version.

MS Antispyware is very good - and I've yet to come across anything it could not clean. In my experienced opinion, nothing else is worth bothering with any longer.

[George M]

Just when I thought in addition to my Panda Platium Internet software,
(Platinum meaning it costs too much ;) relative to what you get ) having Spybot and Adaware SE I had the going set up for spyware protection...another new kid on the block emerges which I find out about thanks to this board....MS Antispyware. So I downloaded it and notice as mentioned, it appears to catch even stuff that falls through the cracks with the above three. This board is a tremendous resource with all kinds of talent. Bill R...just to mention as an example...when down south I noticed my aging Mom's PC was woefully unprotected. Based upon your advice, I downloaded Nod32's 30 day free trial version and it worked great without robbing much speed with her relatively slow processor.
Before I left, I ordered the Nod32 1 year software subscription for her which is downloaded on-line. This may be the best bang for buck AV software out there. I may go with Nod32 on my own system if they keep up the good work next year when my Panda software comes up for renewal.
Out of curiosity...how many Mozilla converts out there? One thing about Mozilla is it reminds me of a big fat ugly female director of engineering I had once which we coined Broadzilla. Broadzilla was not only as ugly as a mud fence but about as personable and when you would pull her string, she would
nauseate you on command with her litany of irrelevant buzz words. Fortunately she was fired for incompetence after having her job much too long. I digress :D
Thanks to all,
George

[Bill R.]

firebird and love the newest version of firefox... I still have to have a version o internet explorer however for some sites that won't work on anything but.. Such as the Toyota tech site, volvo tech site which is a real pain since they are subscription sites and using ie makes downloading info that much slower Unlike nissan's tech site which was setup to allow fast downloads of info.
I also have a version of mozilla but still use firefox as much as possible..As cheap as i am its one of the few pieces of software that i have donated to.. along with dvd decryptor and dvd shrink and nod 32... Its always pleasant to find some software that actually works as its supposed to.. another amazing piece of freeware is aida32 and cute pdf isn't bad either for converting those tis files to pdf's...and to upload all these pics and pdf's i use freeftp
The only software i buy anymore is tech repair software such as all the repair manuals i have...

Another note, when using Nod32 and you come across a page that has a virus in it it will scare the beejesus out of you the first time it happens.. quite a popup that they have.. danger will robinson..












Just when I thought in addition to my Panda Platium Internet software,
(Platinum meaning it costs too much ;) relative to what you get ) having Spybot and Adaware SE I had the going set up for spyware protection...another new kid on the block emerges which I find out about thanks to this board....MS Antispyware. So I downloaded it and notice as mentioned, it appears to catch even stuff that falls through the cracks with the above three. This board is a tremendous resource with all kinds of talent. Bill R...just to mention as an example...when down south I noticed my aging Mom's PC was woefully unprotected. Based upon your advice, I downloaded Nod32's 30 day free trial version and it worked great without robbing much speed with her relatively slow processor.
Before I left, I ordered the Nod32 1 year software subscription for her which is downloaded on-line. This may be the best bang for buck AV software out there. I may go with Nod32 on my own system if they keep up the good work next year when my Panda software comes up for renewal.
Out of curiosity...how many Mozilla converts out there? One thing about Mozilla is it reminds me of a big fat ugly female director of engineering I had once which we coined Broadzilla. Broadzilla was not only as ugly as a mud fence but about as personable and when you would pull her string, she would
nauseate you on command with her litany of irrelevant buzz words. Fortunately she was fired for incompetence after having her job much too long. I digress :D
Thanks to all,
George

[George M]

hehehe...Thanks Bill!

[George M]

To expand if not hi-jack this thread :p ...I have an issue with my system I have lived with that may befuddle even the most evolved computer head we have on the board and we have several experts. I am getting an intermittent Error Reporting message in a small narrow box on the very bottom middle of my screen....along the bottom tool bar. I have Windows XP OS. Now...I like to go after these issues and have done a fair amount of research as others have suffered a similar fate. I have gone into Control Panel, System Performance Advanced setting and de-activated error reporting....doesn't stop the occasional message at the bottom. Next, one enlightened computer head said if that doesn't stop it go into your registry and set all error reporting default settings at 0...which I then did thinking there is no way I will get the message any longer....wrong. So...any suggestions? I cleaned out my temp files also. I still get an occassional Error Reporting message at the very bottom of my screen which briefly interrupts typing and scrolling...stays down there for a few seconds and then disappears. Wish I knew how to fix this insidious issue :) ....Thanks for any further advice.
George

[rickm]

I use FireFox with the AdBlock extension installed. If I'm visiting a site and the ads are annoying (like our local newspaper, that have a ton of Flash ads on the screen).

<FireFox ad>
FF has a TON of extensions. I have an extension to block ads (AdBlock); another that allows me to control WinAmp via buttons on the status bar (FoxyTunes) and ForecastFox, which puts the weather on my browser status bar. All are very handy. Oh, IE doesn't have tabbed browsing. I can have 3 of my web databases open along with bimmer.info in a single session.
</Firefox ad>

Another great product that I've been pushing on new installations is Spyware Blaster. Install, update...and it blocks stuff. I'm going on 3 weeks with this XP SP2 install at work and I've had NO problems. Amazing, since I have so much crap on here. :P www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html for more info.

[632 Regal]

I use zone alarm, helps block unwanted stuff from automaticly installing stuff along with spybot, adaware and pc bugdoctor. I will be downloading the microsoft stuff now in addition to the rest. Another little handy thing is stinger.exe which you can get by typing it in google. That program is excellent if you get screwed to the point that you cant get online, update it every week or so, I have it as a just in case program that has worked on several other peoples computers when they get stuck and cant get online anymore.

edit: the microsoft beta is only for win 2000, XP and NT, I am running 98/ME so I'm exempt for right now.

[E34-520iSE]

I am using a G3 iMac, Os 10.1, and use MS IE 5.2 and Safari. I've had no problems at all with spyware, viruses etc. in two years. I have enabled pop-ups, but if one has an .exe file attached the Mac just reports the error to me as .exe's don't work on a Mac. I just hope the naughty boys don't start writing OS X viruses!! I know there are firewalls available but since I've had no problems I just leave well alone.

Cheers,

Shaun

[Jose]

Thanks guys !!! I was only able to download the MS version an it completely elliminated all crap on my PC. Finally I can enjoy it again after two weeks of hairpulling.

Thanks again to all of you for sharing.

[SharkmanBMW]

I downloaded and tried the MS beta version of spyware removal tool.... It has yet to find anything on my system!!!
AD Aware SE does find cookies and other crap but so far the MS Beta has not been able to find the same stuff!?!

some of you said that the MS Beta found things that ad aware did not..... am I doing something wrong???????!!!!!!

[Mobius]

Cookies aren't spyware. Make sure your MSAntispyware has been updated with the newest definitions.

[winfred]

at the moment i am running ad aware, spy bot and the popup squasher/spy ware remover that my cable modem supplyer cox provides, and they each catch things that the others miss, these bastards need to be flogged for this useless waste of bandwidth, i can only imagine how much faster the internet would be without spam, virus's and ad ware

[rockyfeller]

That's what you pornomaniacs get for surfing those dirty sites!!! (OK don't hit me! I was just kidding!! HAHA LOL!) Yeah I use Spybot, works well enough for me and cleanses my computer of my naughty surfing. (Don't lie you guys know what you do when no one is looking) ;)

[winfred]

i've tried not surfing porn and get almost as many pieces of **** injected into my computer, it's moved out of the realm of porn and into the real world, since they perfected the "drive by download" these things are like bugs on your windshield, if you don't take the car outta the shed it don't get dirty

[632 Regal]

wow...can you imagine that I dont have a validated windows operating system? Wonder how that could happen...maybe I didnt want to spend 500 bux on something validated? LMAO... got it anyways. Microlimp Beta.

[DueyT]

To expand if not hi-jack this thread :p ...I have an issue with my system I have lived with that may befuddle even the most evolved computer head we have on the board and we have several experts. I am getting an intermittent Error Reporting message in a small narrow box on the very bottom middle of my screen....along the bottom tool bar. I have Windows XP OS. Now...I like to go after these issues and have done a fair amount of research as others have suffered a similar fate. I have gone into Control Panel, System Performance Advanced setting and de-activated error reporting....doesn't stop the occasional message at the bottom. Next, one enlightened computer head said if that doesn't stop it go into your registry and set all error reporting default settings at 0...which I then did thinking there is no way I will get the message any longer....wrong. So...any suggestions? I cleaned out my temp files also. I still get an occassional Error Reporting message at the very bottom of my screen which briefly interrupts typing and scrolling...stays down there for a few seconds and then disappears. Wish I knew how to fix this insidious issue :) ....Thanks for any further advice.
George

George, for MS-specific problems, I actually find their support Knowledge Base to be not too bad in solving many obscure problems that the teckies write up and not many folks check out...

Try here and type in the specific text or keywords in the error message (include 'error' as a keyword)...

Microsoft Knowledge Base (for XP) (http://support.microsoft.com/search/?adv=1&spid=1173)

Cheers,
Duey

[rockyfeller]

You're right, nowadays anyone can innocently acquire a spyware bug from virtually anywhere....especially those pages that suspsciously take an extra few seconds to show up on the screen and the hard drive crunches away mysteriously....something is sneaking into the computer when that happens. But for sure when surfing the porno sites you're going to expose your computer to 1000x more crap than you could ever ask for. (don't ask me how I know....) So having your new turbo hi-fi computer for the critical uses (critical files) and having an old abused crap computer just for web surfing is recommended.

[Mobius]

So having your new turbo hi-fi computer for the critical uses (critical files) and having an old abused crap computer just for web surfing is recommended.Oh please. Even when I used Internet Explorer, spyware just isn't this hard to protect yourself against.

Use Spybot's 'immunize' function and you'll block out half your problems. All you have to do after that is concentrate all your mental power to not click "yes" on the "Would you like to install...[gator, cometcursor, weatherbug...]" dialogs. The ONLY time you should allow any activex control to install is when it's coming from a webpage you trust absolutely.

If you can't manage to accomplish this; then you should definitely switch browsers to Firefox.

I've only caught any form of spyware myself once - and that was because I wanted to test AdAware's ability to block the bad stuff (oh and how horribly badly it failed, too).