Sounds to me like something has your registry screwed up. It could be a faulty uninstall which left a rogue *.dll on your system, but I'd go with the registry first.
Check here.
Posted on 05/31/2005 6:41:03 PM PDT by El Conservador
Spybot and Ad-Aware catch a whole lot more!
Don't use just one antispyware program. Microsoft has a free one.
Here is a good definition: If the software loads onto my computer and I didn't know about or want it, its spyware and its evil and its owners names should be publicly displayed that they can be stalked, harrassed and beatened (up to the limits of the laws in their resident states).
My machine will let me get to Yahoo one time. same with google and lycos and altavista. but locks me out until I reboot. Spent 4 hours scanning, anti-virusing, trojan hunting, etc and still isn't right.
Oh well.
Well stated, sir/madame. Succinct and trenchant.
I recommend Spyware Blaster and Spyware Guard from Javacool Software.
They are free. (You can donate something later, if you like them.)
Sounds to me like something has your registry screwed up. It could be a faulty uninstall which left a rogue *.dll on your system, but I'd go with the registry first.
Check here.
yea, some of these spyware/malware programs hide themselves in the registry such that they are nearly impossible to get rid of. One of the most common is coolwebsearch (and it's variants), you might try the cool web shredder program.
This is why the user community, open source (even though I hate the term), and FREE software are keys.
The scumware guys can threaten the white hats who are trying to prevent the spread of this evil but they have little chance of suppressing them for long.
Commercial anti-spyware vendors, however, are a nice fat target for lawsuits. If a scumware maker wins any significant amount of money in a court case where he accuses a CA, Microsoft, or McAfee of wrongly blacklisting his 'utility,' there will be yet another rush of cases. Why make $0.00004 per click-through when you can sue for $30 million and pocket $2-3 of it after lawyer fees?
In other words, these guys start with no morals and go downhill from there.
Google search for Weatherbug and Jay Hoffman - this idiot surfs boards and news sites constantly to rebut claims that Weatherbug is not spyware. Pick your term Jay, if it makes you happy. Weatherbug is a horrible piece of software. If you must know the temperature, stick your head outside. If you want the forecase, turn on the Weather Channel on TV or the web.
Scumware makers must die!
Let me come into your home unannounced and without your permission and install electronic monitoring equipment to report back to me your comings and goings.
Let me sneek into your garage and install a horsepower robbing device in your SUV that will reveal your driving habits to me without your permission. (...and prevent you from turning left every third or fourth time you try.)
Corrected typos:
Scumware makers might pocket $2-3 MILLION, not two or three bucks.
Hoffman rebuts Weatherbug-is-spyware claims.
Time to switch to Macs!
I use three companies: Webroot, McAfee, and Lavasoft.
I don't want ANY spyware, adware, or anything else that I didn't deliberately install or agree, in some way, to have installed. I pay all three of these companies a fee to scan for and remove ALL of this crap, not most of it. If I find out that one of these companies is taking money to "delist" somebody, I will request my money back.
Weatherbug is one of the most insidious pieces of garbage out there.
Amen to that.
And Microsoft catches things that Spybot and Ad-Aware misses! The problem with all these is that you really need to use them all in order to clean everything. Why can't someone put all of them together?
---a Mac guy
I like your definition, and this opportunity to bump the thread.
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