34 replies to this topic

[trw]

well so far ive been keepign the adware out of my PC for a while but all of a sudden the last few days ive been getting this huge mass of adware flowing into my PC and its starts to damage some of the programs like internet explorer and display properties and stuff...

and its coming in faster then i can take it out, plus im clueless on how to fix these damaged programs now.

please help . all the help is GREATLY appreciated

[ecliptic]

google: Spybot Search & Destroy it gets rid of lots of things make sure u update, scan then fix, then imunize

[lorne]

Yeah use spybot and adaware together cause both of them miss certain stuff that the other picks up. Than go DL Zone Alarms free firewall, and also DL AV Guards free virus program. Sounds like there is a virus or spyware program that is opening you up for attack. And yeah make sure to get all critical updates for windows.

Edit: And if all that doesn't work go DL Norton 2004 Anti-Virus Trial Version. That will kill any bugs you have at all. Or you could just do that first   I still would reccomend all the rest to though.

[Swimmer]

I have noticed the same thing also.... In the past few days I have had an explosion on my computer...I found a great program.. BulletSoftware's Spyware and Adware remover.  This is a little more powerful than Adware and Searchbot but doesnt remove anything in the memory if it is running.  I also found a great site http://www.pestpatrol.com they have a research center that will help you identify the problem and if a program doesnt remove it they tell you how manually. I found this helpful to remove a dialer that I was having problems with... Some casino site installed it...  I also found Spysweeper on another great site http://www.spychecker.com/ which as tons of freeware and demo spyware/adware removers and firewalls.   They even rate them..  The thing that I found to work best it to scan it with Bulletproofs software then with spysweeper and the scan it with my anti virus...   This seemed to pick up just about everything.. Of course you are not going to get everything because as soon as you open ie, or you browser, you are opening yourself up for more.  I have also begun the process of installing the program that "block" spyware on systems..  I am running a test machine as we speak so I will let you know how everything turns out..

[trw]

ok thanks a bunch guys....still getting this mass flow

and Spybot and ad-aware are what ive been using for the last near year.  

[Swimmer]

No problem... I was watching a clip from the screensavers.com about removing you index.dat file.  I think that some of the spyware might be related to that some how... the index.dat file is pretty much the back up to ie's history.. you cant delete it unless you enter safe mode with command prompt.. If you have massive amounts of spyware or cookies that are creating problems you might want to check that site out..

[trw]

also, how do i get rid of what past adware and spyware have done? like example a spyware program underlines every word (IE: job and car or always underlined in green) how would i get rid of that? plus i can change my wallpaper n e more on my desktop cause some spyware damaged it.

[Swimmer]

The underline thing is from  Java VM it is linked to MSN so that when you click on those links you are taken to an msn sponsered site.   I dont remember where i saw this info but I will look again tonight... THere is a way to remove it.  This is also one of the best ways for you browser to get hijacked.   It might be easier for you to just install a fresh copy of your os....

[Swimmer]

Hey I surfing around and found this article on pcworld http://www.pcworld.c...d,115937,00.asp It seem like the big cats in Washington want to get rid of spyware just as much as we do.   If they are as sucessful as they are at removing spam it could be quite a few years..  Although there were 4 people who were charged with submitting not wanted emails...

[trw]

bout time they start doing something. this spyware is getting rediculous....my computer is bout crapped out now....barely loads games now, much less load web pages  

[Swimmer]

Ok I have prelim results from the little test I was running... using an Adware blocker vs not..  I had 22 pieces of crap on my main system most of which were cookies.  There were no programs like gator or anything...  The test computer had 4.. 3 of which were cookies and the other some how got into the memory...  It was some ad program that customized ads to me..  This was not that impressive because I dont surf that much on the test computer and it still picked up some adware...  I will continue the test for another week and see what happens..

[ice]

I don't think you can get rid of those links on the web pages, it is their way of advertising.  The only way would be to do something about VM or whatever it was written in.

I scan my PC with Adaware every other day, and they are almost all tracking cookies, which I don't care about.  I get about 30 every scan.  

I trust Spyboy much more for actual malware than Adaware, so if I think I have something, I scan with that.

[MICROWAVE]

I run at least 2 different pgms every couple of days to remover these scumbag jackers..... there are many of these pgms that are freeware which is what I use:) and they are always being updated to catch the new stuff.... I think one jacker is ?(UN)cool-search? and there numbers are like from 001 to 917.....they just don't give up,but the removal guys are usually right there to whack em:) thats why I run oftem.......
Microwave©

[lorne]

I found a cool hijacker remover a while ago, google webroot and you will find it. This thing gets rid of jackers that nothing else detects and you have to format. They also make a really good spyware prog called Spysweeper. And it also kicks ass, it found a ton of stuff that Ad_aware and spybot missed

[trw]

i have another ANNYOING!!! error....everytime i go to display properties and go under desktop and i select a picture to post as my wallpaper, everything freezes and an error pops up saying "the run DLL as an APP has encountered a problem"

any way to get this fixed? I went to microsoft to see if they had a patch for this but no luck...and i also reported the error.

[Swimmer]

This this a new problem???

[MICROWAVE]

TRW,
Some more information will be necessary to answer your question.....what picture are you trying to use as wallpaper? is it a bmp.,a jpeg or some other type of picture?...... so if you can tell us what O.S. you are running andany other info that you think we should know.... Im certain someone can help to answer your question...... welcome and hope you enjoy the site:)
Microwave©

[trw]

im running windows XP home edition, and im trying to put a JPG as wall paper.

[ice]

[quote name='"lorne"]I found a cool hijacker remover a while ago' date=' google webroot and you will find it. This thing gets rid of jackers that nothing else detects and you have to format. They also make a really good spyware prog called Spysweeper. And it also kicks ass, it found a ton of stuff that Ad_aware and spybot missed [/quote']

I second SpySweeper.  I got it two days ago, and it's really awesome, and does pick things up that others miss.

http://www.spysweeper.com/

[Swimmer]

Ok guyes... I have had my laptop for about a week and guess what... I am special!!! I just ran Webroot's Spysweeper and found out my baby was loaded...