Pop ups & spy ware problems

Ok I have a deep set spyware on my computer. I even had my brother who is a computer expert can't figure it out. We have uninstalled my programs which are spybot, ad-aware and microsoft antispyware. He even did this "high jack this" and it still has not worked.

It is just so annoying, everytime I go to a website there comes another pop up. ANy other programs out there you think will help me?

Re: Pop ups & spy ware problems

I had the same problem with our old computer. We had every one and their brother look at it and no one could get rid of it. ONE time we thought we did and it re-emerged the next day.

We had to get a new computer it was just too bad.

I would suggest calling a professional, you may need to pay someone some money to fix it, but its better then having to throw the towel in on the pc.

Good luck!

Some people on here had soem great ideas for me when I had this issue, Im sure you;ll get some ideas!

Re: Pop ups & spy ware problems

I use Mozilla and no longer go online through internet explorer. I have no more pops now

Re: Pop ups & spy ware problems

This is from my friend from my space. HTH.


So where do we start?

1) You can start by making sure you are using a good Anti-Virus software program like Norton Anti-virus or Trend micro's products. I prefer to buy Norton System works since it cost the same as the basic antivirus program which is included and has a bunch of other goodies to keep everything running fast.

2) You can get all of the latest windows updates at http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com or at the tab above under "tools", "windows update".

3) Get the latest FREE Anti-spyware programs and run them often and make sure they are up to date.

I use several different ones since they all seem to miss something that the other ones don't catch.

TIP: there are a few programs that claim to be anti-spyware programs but are really spyware programs themselves. Virtual Bouncer is an example.

If you are running windows, you need to go here and get the NEW Microsoft® Windows AntiSpyware
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=321cd7a2-6a57-4c57-a8bd-dbf62eda9671&displaylang=en

I also use Spybot search and destroy ( http://www.safer-networking.org/en/home/index.html ) and Ad-aware SE ( http://www.lavasoft.de/ ).

4) Use a hardware firewall if you if you have DSL or Cable internet where your connection is on 24/7. Any good router will have this built in and can be had for $10-$60 at most computer stores.

5) Use a software firewall like the one in Windows service pack 2 or the free one from www.zonealarm.com.

I use Zonealarm Pro but the Free one that comes with Service pack 2 should be fine for most users.

NOTE 1: the only major problems I have seen with installing Service pack 2 were caused by having Zonealarm installed and it caused all kinds of things to Break like internet explorer which was not good. uninstall zonealarm first.

Note 2: remove spyware first before running service pack 2. this may take several scans from all of the above listed programs before installing SP2.

The Dark Side of Windows XP Service Pack 2

6) learn about how these things get on your PC so you don't click on anything you shouldn't like all those cute "free screensavers", "10000 free smileys" or "your computer is running slow, click here to fix it". this all started with people loading "Kazza", "real audio" and now it looks like even newer versions of "AIM" are suspect.

___________________________________________________________

*** What do you do if you think you have spyware? ***

1) Look into your "program files" directory and see if there are any strange programs listed. most spyware will come in with that cute free program you downloaded. you may see a bunch of programs loaded at the same date and time.

I actually like to do some forensics on the system to see what came in at the same date and time using the "search by date" option so I know what needs to be removed BEFORE I remove anything.

you can use "add/remove programs" in "control panel" to get rid of some of these but don't count on the real bad ones to make it easy. some will even make you answer a bunch of stupid questions and still won't un-install.

If that doesn't work I manually delete the files and directories associated with them. You may have to go into safe mode to do this and in extreme cases you may have to remove the hard drive and use another computer to rip this stuff out.

2) clean out your internet cache directories and window temp directory since these programs will usually launch from there and may still be present once you start removing the programs. some of these programs are smart enough to reload while you are removing them. I have seen this happen.

3) run a good spyware detection program (with latest updates) to see if you have any. Tip: It's a good idea to disconnect from the internet so these programs don't crawl back in while your trying to remove them.

4) run your anti-virus scanner (with latest updates) to get rid of viruses.

5) use "Hijack this" and "task manager" to see if anything strange is running. tip: use a second computer that's online to search for the program file names to see what they are before terminating them since they might be part of your good programs. I use ProFusion meta-search engine with all items checked to determine what's good or bad.
You can also look here.
http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_index.htm
http://www.sysinfo.org/startuplist.php
http://www.neuber.com/taskmanager/process/
http://www.2-spyware.com/files.php

* update 3/7/05: *
You can save your "Hijack this" log file then cut and paste it here at this
"online Log Analyzer" and it will show you what might be suspect.

6) Clean out all the bad programs and viruses. then go get the latest Windows updates.

7) I like to run the "windoctor" program in Norton systemworks at this point to clean out all the little program turds that got stranded in the registry. this will help make things run faster.

8) For what it cost, go get a second hard drive and make a "good" image of your drive so you can get back to this point if anything real bad happens down the road.

___________________________________________________________

Where to find information:
http://www.trendmicro.com/en/security/general/virus/overview.htm

and Here:
http://www.pcworld.com/howto/article/0,aid,111630,pg,1,00.asp
http://www.pcworld.com/resource/browse/0,cat,1529,sortIdx,1,pg,1,00.asp

Spyware links:

Online Tester

http://doxdesk.com/parasite/
http://www.cexx.org/problem.htm
http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/tips/ST04-016pr.html
http://simplythebest.net/info/spyware.html
http://www.spywareinfo.com/
http://www.netrn.net/no_spyware.htm
http://www.spychecker.com/
Spy vs Spyware
http://scumware.com/
http://www.spyw-are.com/
http://www.firewallguide.com/spyware.htm
http://www.unwantedlinks.com
http://sitebilder.com/hosting/privacy/webscum.php
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-875278.html
http://www.securemost.com/articles/trou_3.htm
http://www.iamnotageek.com/a/spyware.php

Virus links:
http://www.us-cert.gov/other_sources/viruses.html
http://www.datafellows.com/virus-info/
http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/
http://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/
http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/virusinfo/default.aspx

Firewall info:

http://www.firewallguide.com/index.html

PC links for experts:

http://computercops.biz/
http://computercops.biz/downloads.html
http://computercops.biz/HijackThis.html
http://tomcoyote.com/hjt/..introduction
http://computercops.biz/downloads-file-328.html
http://www.pchell.com
http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_index.htm
http://www.sysinfo.org/startuplist.php
Win Socket Repair utility
http://www.spychecker.com/topdownloads.html

For fun:

Test your popup blocker here http://www.kephyr.com/popupkillertest/
Bandwidth speed tests http://www.testmyspeed.com/

Re: Pop ups & spy ware problems

Tania,
Thank you so so much for posting all of that. We have problems with spyware that it makes our computer run so slow! It actually takes about 6 minutes for our computer to warm up (its not even that old). So I am going to have DH look over your post.

Thanks again!