Serious Computer Problem

I really need some help, my computer has been infected by a crapload of spyware and adware, possible viruses too. I have toolbars I can't get rid of, constant pop ups about trojan horses etc., my home page jumps to some crappy fake windows protection software, internet explorer is screwing up, .exe files are appearing everywhere... IT'S THE END!

I've installed Spybot search and destroy, since I had it before but I had to remove it. I'm certain it's genuine, and it's got rid of a bit of the crap, but it's still really serious. I did a full system scan with norton but it showed up nothing. I really don't know what else to do!

Spyware Doctor is one of the best spyware detection and removal programs I've come across. Yearly subscription is $29. I recommend it highly as it has saved my bum on a number of occasions.

http://www.pctools.com/spyware-doctor/

Thanks for trying Seeker, but I can't be paying for anything I'm afraid.

Using separate spyware utilities is a waste. NOD32 - anti-virus to overwhelm all other anti-viruses in resource efficiency and effective removal of all viruses, spyware, adware...it'll even do your laundry for you! (Well, not really, but it's just that great.)

Though in general, any major anti-virus will find adware as well, so really I see no use in separate software for it.
But aye, NOD32 "for the win", as it goes.

Ad-Aware has a pretty good spyware utility, but if you really want to clean your computer then try System Mecanic 6. All programs (spyware and otherwise) leave their mark on the registry which Windows doesn't take care of on it's own (maybe Vista does, but I doubt it) so the first time you run System Mechanic's registry optimizer it will find close to 1000 errors (not exaggerating.) That should speed up your computer. My father's computer came under attack by a number of vicious programs but System Mechanic got rid of them after a few scans.

The problem with most free spyware scans is that it takes a while to remove the spyware. Most spyware comes with multiple files that regenerate each other, so good spyware destruction has to be done when the system is locked (boot time.)

only retards get "viruses" - especially spyware and adware, gotta be real dull for that.

i havent had a virus scanner in 3 years simply because i havent needed one.

if you machine is really that badly infected,
then trying to load anti-whatever onto it now to try and correct it, ain't going to work

it's a fairly trivial thing to bork the registry settings of anti-virus programs or corrupt essential files that they need

anti-virus (or spyware, etc.) work best preventing a clean system get infected
not trying to remedy an already infected one

If I were you
I'd bung your hard disk in another machine (known to be clean) and scan your disk from the clean machine
that will at least get rid of 90% of things (if you have any stuff in the bios / boot sector, this won't help you, but it should get rid of most things)

Take all important data and backup.

Format.

Re-install Windows.

All fixed!

What the hell Techboy... every one of your responses is cynical. If the only reason you're here is to reinforce your feeling of superiority, get lost.

Thanks to everyone else who replied.

Yeah, i have spybot SD, but i know how to prevent yourself from getting this crap,


stop with the porn-ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ;).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Pensive

What the hell Techboy... every one of your responses is cynical. If the only reason you're here is to reinforce your feeling of superiority, get lost.

Thanks to everyone else who replied.[/b]

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Some people are under the delusion that they're funny. Although he was right in a sense, because if you stay smart and download smart, chances are you won't get such a bad infection.

Anyway, the only recommendation I have that hasn't been said is to use Mozilla Firefox, if you don't already have it. It helps quite a bit against spyware and such.

Try Avast. I got it because norton antivirus was pissing me off. It's free, and seems to protect my computer very well (it's supposedly far better than norton even though its free), but if you have that many problems with you computer, you may need to do what blade5x said, and just take all the important data as a backup. Then just completely wipe the disc clean, and reinstall windows. I have had to do that in the past, and it is a sure-fire way to kill your viruses (though it does mean reinstalling all your software too. Also, if you're using Internet Explorer, do what M-Cat said, and use Firefox (or almost any other browser); IE is a spyware magnet.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by M

Some people are under the delusion that they're funny. Although he was right in a sense, because if you stay smart and download smart, chances are you won't get such a bad infection.

Anyway, the only recommendation I have that hasn't been said is to use Mozilla Firefox, if you don't already have it. It helps quite a bit against spyware and such.[/b]

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Yeah, my computer is shared, so I had nothing to do with the infection.

Thanks for all the response. I've pretty much sorted it all now.

To keep your computer safe from future infections, I'd suggest installing SpywareBlaster. It runs in the background, takes up no system resources, and basically blocks spyware before it gets onto your system, instead of S&D and AdAware, which deletes spyware after they are already infected your system.

Of course, update all of your programs regularly and still keep AdAware and S&D for occasional scans.

(All of this assuming that you're running XP btw)

1) Make sure you're firewalled. At the absolute minimum, make sure your connection is running the windows firewall. Ideally, you have a router with a good firewall, and it's normally automatically turned on.

2) Stop using Internet Exploder. As mentioned earlier, FF is better (though it seems to leak memory like a sieve). If you absolutely must use IE, then at least do yourself a favour and turn off ActiveX or whatever they call it these days.

3) Install various spyware detecting software (ad-aware and spybot should be sufficient and free).

4) Get an antivirus (AVG is the best free one out there, afaik).

5) ...are you reading this using internet explorer? What did I tell you?!?

And finally: When you see an obviously fake ad saying "your computer is running slow, click here to make it fast"... for the love of god, don't be a dimwit - don't click it! Also, I don't care how hard it is to hit the monkey with the boxing glove three times, I guarantee you won't win an iPod by doing it.