Tangled in Spyware:

The Houston Chronicle ^ | October 31, 2004 | Anick Jesdanun [Associated Press]

[jalisco555]

Part of me wants the Mac market share to grow so there'll be more Mac games written while the other part dreads the consequences of this.

[Drango]

http://www.download.com/3000-2144-10045910.html

[paulat]

THANK YOU, Drago...MUCH more clear than the software's own site!!! I owe ya one!!!

[edchambers]

(Do not EVER download the Google or Dogpile toolbars. You will regret it forever.)

I've been using the Google tool bar since it first came out but I also use Spybot running in the background and Adaware about once a week I have yet to have a problem with Google I even ran the Yahoo toolbar for awhile but uninstalled it mostly because it was unnecessary.IMO instant messengers are a bigger threat, they're like a magnet for spyware and viruses.P2P networking is another one.As an added bonus once I removed these programs the kids only use the computer for homework like they're supposed to.

[Riley]

Lots of good tools mentioned here, but I have found that cautions are in order with two of them:

1. Hijack This! will cheerfully allow you to remove things you might want to keep. I have the Microsoft 'View Partial Source' applet installed for example. It appears in the scan that HT does- as do a lot of things that I have installed on purpose. If you just remove everything that it presents you with, you might lose some little extras that you like and wanted to keep. Take your time and kill off the stuff that doesn't belong there, rather than taking a blanket approach.

2. AVG is pretty good as an antivirus, but I am not convinced that it will always remove what it finds. I have seen systems that had viruses that an up-to-date AVG install couldn't clean. Other measures had to be taken to remove the infection.
What I do like about AVG is that it has a very small system resource footprint. It doesn't lag your system out like the Big Two tend to. And it isn't constantly squawking for more money.
Does anybody have any good info on the effectiveness of the paid version of AVG?

[Brett66]

I ran into such a Trojan a year or so ago, I also discovered the ultimate cure for it:

Firefox

[GaltMeister]

Another good one you might check out is SpySweeper, available at www.webroot.com

It does a very good job; I own a computer shop, and deal with this stuff all the time. Spysweeper seems to be the best overall to me, but even it leaves things behind that Spybot and Adaware will clean up behind it.

[monkeywrench]

I had to click on all those links and then some to get rid of persistant spyware pop up problems. However, the 'search and destroy', ad-aware, hijack this did no good as they kept reinstalling on reboot. I finally read where I should download Win Inspector freeware.

http://www.windowsstartup.com/Startup Inspector for Windows is a Windows™ platform software that helps Windows™ user to manage Windows™ startup applications. On www.windowsstartup.com, there are more than 4,100 known programs in the database. Startup Inspector for Windows can thus provide a consultative information on the programs that are running at your Windows startup process....

Scans all programs that are in the Windows Startup Folder, Registry and provide you with a background information of the program.

Remove harmful programs like spyware, virus, dialers, make your system healthier.

Remove unnecessary programs like reminders, monitors, improve your systems performance.

[Drango]

Also Hijack This is an advanced tool...beginners stay away. It provides very little support and it really is a tool for experts (I'm not one:-)

[Beaker]

What is with that...and are people at risk with there email if they use AVG?

People aren't at risk with e-mail because the active shield that AVG uses will notify you as soon as a virus gets on your machine.

[GaltMeister]

You are very correct about P2P. If I see a PC come in my shop and there is a Kazza icon on the desktop, I can guarantee it will have a ton of spyware, viruses, and trojans. The Kazaa network is BADLY infected with the stuff.

[backhoe]

Spysweeper is very good, and has several checks ( like homepage changes ) that some may find useful.

[backhoe]

Win Inspector

I'd forgotten about that one- it's good software.

[Lancey Howard]

Webroot's Spy Sweeper is great.

[Lancey Howard]

Yeah, I finally took Drudge off of the "my favorites" bookmarks.
Pop-up and spyware city over there.
Whatever you do, stay away from Drudge - - I keep up with his stories right here at FR.

[SandwicheGuy]

AOL itself is one big piece of spyware.

Amen Brother! I cringe when I see a computer with AOL installed. After AOL5 or so, that program installs more files than the operating system... Just check the js files before and after intallion.

[SandwicheGuy]

Do not EVER download the Google or Dogpile toolbars. You will regret it forever

Oh, that is so much trash talk, Those are two of the best and most useful browser helper objects out there. Sorry you had a bad experience, but you are blaming the wrong programs for any problems you have.

[Libertina]

Same with me. Why does Drudge allow this? Everytime I visit his site the same garbage is put on my drive.

[edchambers]

(I installed Ad Aware the other day and immediately my computer shut down. Rebooted and the same thing happened.)

Adaware will do this if you have a spyware program loaded into memory and running.It looks like you solved the problem but you could have rebooted to "safe mode" and then run Adaware.Sometimes if you have a machine that's really infected you'll have to do allot of work in safe mode to bring it back.The following programs are useful in safe mode; 1. "Add and remove Programs" from Control Panel 2."Windows Explorer" will allow you to delete things you might not otherwise be able to delete while they're running 3.Tweak Now RegCleaner will safely let you remove this stuff from your registry and create a backup just in case 4.Spybot,Adaware,and AVG will all run in safe mode so you can remove the junk before it's loaded back into memory.At this point if you still can't get rid of this stuff I usually just reformat and reinstall whatever operating system your running and be sure to get all the updates to include updates for your security stuff too.

[Musket]

Why does Drudge allow this?

The advertisers do it. Drudge is just trying to make a buck through advertising, which in the past would be no great shakes, but when computers came along and people went online, advertisers thought it would be great idea to use the technology to track people - snooping really. So blame it on the parasitic ad agencies oversteping their bounds. Personally, I use FireFox. Works for now.