Adware, spyware -- How to stop this crap

vanity

[no nau]

My computer is infested with this crap and I can't get rid of it. None of the free services can solve the problem, and I might even pay for such a service, except that all of them seem to be just folks willingly to take advantage of you and charge you more money, and possibly infect you more. Has anyone here seen this? How should I and anyone else deal with this?

[mysterio]

Hadn’t heard of that one. I will check it out.

[rabscuttle385]

Someone already mentioned Nod32, by ESET...

We used Panda on our LAN here for three years before switching to Nod32 last year on the recommendation of a friend who's even geekier than I am. Panda is great, but Nod32 is better and very light on system resource usage.

[rabscuttle385]

So far I hate Ubuntu. You can’t log in as root and the file manager won’t let you do anything useful. You can’t even create a directory.

Ubuntu is for folks who just want to do normal office work. Go download Debian.

[rabscuttle385]

I called the Geek Squad and they said that I had a problem that they couldn’t fix.

I think the more pertinent question is whether they are any problems that Geek Squad can fix.

[rabscuttle385]

Doesn't all this free software "create dependence"?

There is a difference between "free" and "open source." Free can be proprietary, which is okay until the software writers screw you over with upgrades or by dropping support. We prefer both free and open source (code).

[Wil H]

Don’t know the answer to that. I use Firefox so I never have any IE history anyway.

[rabscuttle385]

There's one thing I would add to your list: if you use the official AIM, MSN Live, or Yahoo! instant messaging clients, ditch them for Pidgin.

[rabscuttle385]

Why would you recommend someone BUY it from your friend?

AVG is free for personal, home use. Commercial use is a different story.

[Wil H]

I swear...pissing off Mac users is like pissing off a damned bunch of democrats!

That's because most Mac users ARE Democrats....:-)

[Wil H]

I can't get ccleaner to remove my History files, even though the box is checked. Granted, I can delete them manually or simply not keep a History file (select 0 days).

Looking at the report in CCleaner, I think it marks them for deletion (By Explorer itself) but doesn't delete them at the time.

Presumably the history will delete the next time you close and reopen Explorer.

Give it a try.

[no nau]

Yahoo! instant messaging clients

I think the problems may have started when my wife downloaded IM onto our computer.

[hiredhand]

That's because most Mac users ARE Democrats....:-)

Well...that explains a lot!

I just went through the list again of messages I've gotten from CERT and ISAC over the past several months and it's fairly apparent that OSX (BSD - Whatever you want to call it), is definitely affected by several applications, some of which are remote exploits.

Ah well. I might as well told some lady she had an ugly baby. :-)

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Try gOS,...for web browsing , ...runs on low end and old computers....

[txroadkill]

Do a google search on each name of the malware detected and you should be able to find a way to remove it. However, you will probably have to edit your system reg. so you’ll want to back up all of your files before you do that and if you have no experience with reg editing you will be better off just formating your HD and doing a clean install after you back up all of your files.

[LucyJo]

bookmark

[roamer_1]

After installing 2008 I have been having more problems and am trying to get help. As with most programs each new version tries to take over more of the computer.

This is why I do not like all-in-wonder programs, preferring to use individual programs for AV/AT/AS/Firewall. It is much easier to diagnose issues if the services are not monolithic.

Furthermore, Most of the services provided by these programs need not run all the time- AV and firewall, surely, but for most folks, the rest is superfluous. Not only does this cause the program to be inordinately invasive, stretching it's tentacles deep into every aspect of the OS, It is also, by it's nature, very heavy on resources.

[roamer_1]

There's one thing I would add to your list: if you use the official AIM, MSN Live, or Yahoo! instant messaging clients, ditch them for Pidgin.

Thanks for the tip- I have used several IM multi-clients, having found them desirable, but have not found one that was worthy- All seem to be rather hinky... Unreliable to say the least. I will certainly be checking on Pidgin.

[AppyPappy]

It’s a matter of winning the battle.

[Logic n' Reason]

Ping!

[TC Rider]

Another vote for “Spybot, Search and Destroy” and CCleaner.

Both are free, though they ask for donations. Beware of any offers to clean your system for a price over the web. They are put out there by the same people who infested your system.

If your system is really gummed up, you may have to download Spybot and ccleaner on another system, burn to CD, then boot your system in safe mode to get them installed and running without interference.