Spyderco Forums

I can't believe this nonsense with Web Spyware / Adware. Have any of you guys had fits with these? They are super invasive little software packages that just kind of mess up your computer day ... :mad:

OF COURSE ..., my wife's company didn't invest in any sort of firewall and her work computer is totally infested with adware and Spyware as of about 3 days ago ... (this, of course follows her giving my son access over the holidays). Seems the best product out there is Spyware Eliminator ... closely followed by Spy Sweeper.

"Sweeper" didn't do the job (it was locally available), so we had to buy the other product too. I'll report once I'm finished cleaning. "Eliminator" seems to be catching the bugs that "Sweeper" missed, but .... this ain't over until the fat lady sings ... Very frustrating ...

Hi Steve, I have Pest Patrol running all the time, that, plus the Norton Firewall and AV software, plus being the only person who uses my computer, and being VERY anal about what I download, has kept my machine spyware and adware free. Know some of it can be a royal PITA to get rid of, so the best course of action is to not let it get a foothold. Yeah, I know, fat lot of good that info does you now. Good hunting.

Edited to add: Have a buddy who has said more than once that he'd gladly pay ten grand for five minutes alone with the person resposible for Gator and a blowtorch.

Stevie Ray,

Adware and spyware frustrate the heck out of you, don't they? I'm not an IT person, but I have a little more computer knowledge than most of the others in my office, so I get to deal with this fairly regularly.

I would suggest a two-step approach, using two programs: Ad Aware and Spybot (both of which are free). I have found that using Ad Aware and Spybot together (i.e., run one let it do its thing, then run the other) does a pretty good job of eliminating the various spy/adware from your machine. It seems that whatever one misses, the other catches. Of course, you can use these in conjunction with your current ad/spywae programs, as well.

You can download both easily; just go to Google and do searches for 'Ad Aware' and 'Spybot' - they should be easy to access.

I use these programs at home, as well, and have been very satisfied with them. I hope this helps!

Current toys in my system:
avg, blackice, spy sweeper, ad aware SE, and spybot.

just try and find something that I've missed.

updates and scans at 2am every day, FULL system, including cd and flash drive.

Adware+Spyware Removal = Spybot, Adware and Yahoo's toolbar with Spyware Removal = :cool: :spyder: :cool:

Sam

interesting info about yahoo here.

vampyrewolf wrote:Current toys in my system:
avg, blackice, spy sweeper, ad aware SE, and spybot.

just try and find something that I've missed.

updates and scans at 2am every day, FULL system, including cd and flash drive.

spyware doctor, seems to pick up stuff that adaware misses. Spybot doesn't seem updated any longer

Running all the spyware and adware slows my computer to a crawl. They also pick each other up and declare each other to be ads, spyware, and viruses. The suggested "blow-torch" method used on the computer itself would be a great way to rid it of all this "stuff".

Guys,

She turned the antique laptop back into the company ...

I swept for spyware/adware ... 8 or 9 times ... To no avail (with both packages). She was hyperinfected (if that's a word). Spy/Ad Ware fragments were in other spots that the software I was using couldn't eliminate.

Apparently, once the stuff is really embedded ... like hers .., it takes a hard drive reformat to get rid of the nasties. Just speaks to the ole adage .... " AN OUNCE OF PREVENTION .... you know the rest"....

Good firewalls & good Spyware protection .... up front ... :spyder:

Sometimes even a hard drive formatting won't solve the problem Just FYI...

Just wanted to put in another good word for spybot and adaware.

And, if you are a network admin worried about protecting entire networks, consider looking into a Unity One by Tipping Point. It's an Intrusion Prevention System appliance thingamabob. They are expensive, but will give you a free demo unit for awhile if you quallify.

I bought one a while back and it is IN-FREAKIN-CREDIBLE the amount of stuff it catches.

-jb

Hey jb!!!

Man I thought I was seeing things! :D I just got Defender Pro 10-in -1 for my comp. So far, so good...

Take care slicker than!!!

I just installed Microsoft AntiSpyware which is free and it found stuff that ad-aware and spy sweeper left behind.

Hey Stevie Ray

I know what you mean, Ive just built up a new PC for myself yesterday, the only sites I went to after a fresh install of Win2k Pro was to MS Update to get everything all patched up.

At the end of my hour install and update, without visiting any other site I ran Adaware from Lavasoft and had 16 spyware on my PC already, how they got on as I had fdisked my HDD as well as only installed software from my hardware driver disks I donno.

They darn annoying and sneaky suckers, this and spam are the worst.

So ye, we feel ya pain :)

Cheers

MaNcEr

microsoft antispyware is free.

One thing that hasn't been said is to also do windows update regularly.

These are the types of threads that Mac users love to read. :)

Saw this on another site and thought it was useful:

scroll down to "shields up" for a SYSTEM CHECK
http://www.grc.com

Hope it's not a free entry for spyware and viruses

Civilian wrote:One thing that hasn't been said is to also do windows update regularly.

I use Windows 98 (slow and old computer). They no longer offer support for it, so no more fresh updates. What I do is a backup of registry. Sometimes this makes miracles. Better than an antivirus, firewall and shield that slows down my computer to a crawl
And, of course, do not fall for temptations. There are no twin lesbian teenagers, neither free cruise to Bahamas, nor 25 million bucks waiting for you out there, no matter what they tell you. :rolleyes: