My mom's husband can't seem to avoid f'ing his computer up with ridiculous amounts of spyware. I ran the most recent updates of Spybot and Ad-aware, but I can't seem to get rid of everything. There are still random popups that are real bad. What should I try besides these two programs? Another question, I never have a problem with popups and spyware, yet my mom's husband ALWAYS has his computer just loaded with crap. He swears he doesn't click or download anything. Is it possible for this stuff to just randomly show up on your computer?
McAfee Internet Security is outstanding. I used to use Norton, which worked well, but had occasional conflicts with other programs. I switched to McAfee because it is what the IT security team at my workplace recommends (and uses). Since I switched -- no problems. It works seamlessly. He probably has one persistant adware that is causing the pop-ups. You might also check his default start-up page. Some adware will change the start-up page (or the search button) to a fairly innocent looking search page, which kicks off the pop-ups every time he opens explorer/netscape.
You should also give the Microsoft AntiSpyware program a spin. I've never needed to use it (Firefox + Zone Alarm has been good to me), but I have heard from others that this program has caught stuff the other ones missed.
Sorry got to this thread late. As I mentioned in another post, you can try ewido's trial version, cause it seems to get rid of trojans pretty well, also I recommend hijackthis again, but you need to know what you're doing with this tool or post the scans on a Spyware forum and they'll tell you what to remove. Also, try downloading Spyware Blaster (IIRC it's free) as a spyware blocker. Also, tell your Mom's Husband not to click install on anything unless he's sure that the source is reliable. Some malware and spyware act kinda like trojans...for example, something will pop up saying that they have software to remove spyware/malware and just click here to download; but what they are really doing is installing spyware/malware. Good Luck!
Definetly give this a whirl. It will help. I have it running with my Norton AV, and also have Spybot and Adaware. I had some spywayre that Spybot and Adaware couldn't get rid of, and the MIcrosoft AV cleaned it all up for me.
All those suggestions are excellent. I also am a former Norton user, but since McAfee 8.0i came out it's been the superior product. And definitely give Microsoft Anti-Spyware and SpywareBlaster a spin. Also run AIMFix to be sure you haven't picked up that nasty little AIM virus. But in addition to that stuff, CHECK YOUR PROGRAMS LIST. That's Start -> Control Panel -> Add/Remove Programs. There will often be spyware programs installed which cannot be removed by anti-spyware programs because they're registered programs on your system. I had one of my assistant technicians trying to remove Huntbar for hours, running scans, messing with the registry, etc, when all he had to do was uninstall it in the programs list. Look through your programs list for anything you don't recognize or that looks like it has something to do with advertising. Be especially leery of anything with "toolbar" in the name, and of programs that don't display their size or display it as 0.00MB. Some known threats are 180searchassistant, huntbar, websearch toolbar, wildtangent, maxspeed, and new.net. Those are just off the top of my head, there are many, many more. Remember to run Spybot, Adaware, etc. after uninstalling any of these programs. Oh, and I guess vwiggin disagrees with me, but I've found Zone Alarm to be more irritating than anything.
drexlerfan, i have that huntbar thing on my computer as well. do you know which program i should remove to get rid of it?
That was awhile ago that that happened, but if memory serves Huntbar is a MySearch variant. Look for MySearch in your programs list. EDIT: I'm sort of getting an inkling of "WinTools" having something to do with it too. Could be wrong. Also look for "Hotbar."
When using spybot, make sure you tick all the relevant spyware. A lot of it is "exempt" from Spybot searches e.g. iffy spyware that some companies hold against spybot for removing automatically. Make sure you untick these. You should find it in the option file somewhere. You'll be surprised by how many spybot leaves out unless you tinker with these options.
Only 3 in the current build, I think. Make sure you're in "advanced" in the "mode" pulldown menu, then check Settings -> Ignore Products. I think MyWebSearch, New.net, and SideStep are checked. The thing with those is that I know Spybot has trouble removing MyWebSearch and New.net, because they're usually installed in your programs list. Sidestep I've never seen detected, so I wouldn't know. While Spybot can remove some of the regkeys for MyWebSearch and New.net, if they're installed as programs the regkeys will just regenerate. That might be part of the reason they're checked... even if it detects them, it's rarely able to remove them.
Only 3 these days? Wow. New.net gave me some problems a while ago. Ran spybot (it was ticked) and it removed it... although maybe you're right in that I had to uninstall them in Programs first... can't quite remember!
