Best Spyware Stopper out there?

Carlos

[StopDemocratsDotCom]

Do any freepers know of any really good pop-up/spyware software out there that can not only remove but detect spyware before it is installed on a computer? I am a website designer and have to be constantly reformatting my HD do to this problem.
Any help, links and advice is much appreciate!

[JenB]

Spybot S&D - go to Download.com for the latest version.

Also you should use this with Lavasoft Ad-Aware Personal.

[OldCorps]

Try spywareblaster at

and Adaware SE

also recommend free AVG virus scan

[MissouriConservative]

Webroot's SpySweeper is a great one, but you have to pay $29.95 a year after a 30 day trial period.

Spybot Search and Destroy is a good free one, but you have to use their tea timer to prevent things from installing themselves in your registry...but it's also free.

I personally run SpySweeper and Spybot Search and Destroy. I am trying out Microsoft's new spyware killer...so far it's not too bad.

Hope this helps.

[Keith in Iowa]

To: quidnunc; All

Help for viruses and malware:

 

 Ad-Aware ... Spybot ... Peper Uninstaller ... HijackThis... CWShredder ... Spyware Blaster ... IE Spyad ... Free online Virus scan ... AVG AntiVirus ... LSPfix ... How to Show Hidden Files ... How to boot into Safe Mode ... How did I get infected in the first place?

---

Things you need--(all FREE)
Anti-Virus
AVG

 Avast
Firewall
Kerio(Direct Download) Zone Alarm

 If are using zone alarm it may slow your PC. Try Outpost Firewall http://www.agnitum.com/products/outpost or Sygate Firewall http://www.sygate.com/, both have FREE and Pro versions and are heads above ZA.
Misc.
IE Spyads SpywareBlaster Spyware Guard
Windows Update- you must keep updated, it is the start of a secure system-
get all CRITICAL Updates

Things you want(Still Free)
 

  I use Firefox PR1 and IMHO, beats the sox off MS Explorer. Life is good with tabs. Click the link and give it a try.

Ad-Aware
Spybot S&D

SpywareBlaster
MS MVP Hosts file

Mike Lin's Homepage and get the Startup Control Panel and Startup Monitor tools.

 

The best forum for malware removal:

 http://forums.spywareinfo.com/index.php?s=262d844129208feb8b0cf5b0186a32f6&act=SC&c=4
SWI Forums--

33 posted on 10/31/2004 1:01:35 PM CST by backhoe (Just an old Keyboard Cowboy, ridin' the Trackball into the Dawn of Information...)

Help for viruses and malware:

 

 Ad-Aware ... Spybot ... Peper Uninstaller ... HijackThis... CWShredder ... Spyware Blaster ... IE Spyad ... Free online Virus scan ... AVG AntiVirus ... LSPfix ... How to Show Hidden Files ... How to boot into Safe Mode ... How did I get infected in the first place?

---

Things you need--(all FREE)
Anti-Virus
AVG

 Avast
Firewall
Kerio(Direct Download) Zone Alarm

 If are using zone alarm it may slow your PC. Try Outpost Firewall http://www.agnitum.com/products/outpost or Sygate Firewall http://www.sygate.com/, both have FREE and Pro versions and are heads above ZA.
Misc.
IE Spyads SpywareBlaster Spyware Guard
Windows Update- you must keep updated, it is the start of a secure system-
get all CRITICAL Updates

Things you want(Still Free)
 

  I use Firefox PR1 and IMHO, beats the sox off MS Explorer. Life is good with tabs. Click the link and give it a try.

Ad-Aware
Spybot S&D

SpywareBlaster
MS MVP Hosts file

Mike Lin's Homepage and get the Startup Control Panel and Startup Monitor tools.

 

The best forum for malware removal:

 http://forums.spywareinfo.com/index.php?s=262d844129208feb8b0cf5b0186a32f6&act=SC&c=4
SWI Forums--

[weegee]

I use both spybot and adaware but lately they don't find much of anything. I don't know if it is because they are catching things before they are planted or if it is because software is circumventing my spyware searching programs.

I have no "exempt" files and check for updates periodically. Typically all I find now are cookies, nothing in the registry.

[MJY1288]

Switch your browser to Mozilla Firefox and your pop-up problems are solved

[Wooly]

The best way not to get Spyware on your computer is never clcik on Pop-Ups, never download desktop themes,do not install P2P File sharing programs, and don't use Freeware or shareware. The only way it gets on your computer is from the user.
AVG and ANti-Vir Anti Virus programs, both free, also see most spyware as a virus and will stop it from loading. Most spyware programs only get rid of it once you got it.

[Capitalism2003]

here ya go:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1315720/posts

[freedom44]

The best one I found came with Yahoo Instant Messenger. If you don't mind having that program installed on your program, the spyware toolbar is great.

[Chummy]

"... am a website designer and have to be constantly reformatting my HD do to this problem...."


Why? How does designing websites lead to installation of spy- or adware and the resultant HD reformats?

[Jim Noble]

[StopDemocratsDotCom]

it doesn't, its just that my pc is constantly booged down due to spyware and this is not good for designing websites

[Chummy]

"...my pc is constantly booged down due to spyware and this is not good for designing websites...."

I'm still unclear on your connecting the presence of spyware to designing websites. The spyware only affects your website designing?

[ChefKeith]

Download Mozzila,Spybot,AdWare & ZoneAlarm.

Set the Mozilla to NOT accept cookies UNLESS you authorize them.

I've been "critter" free for months since I did this.

BTW TRASH "Internet Exploder" from the hard-drive AFTER you use it to Download Mozilla and get Mozilla operational.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

I don't think you can remove internet explorer actually....

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

The spyware keyword will bring up lots of threads on the spyware topic.

[ChefKeith]

BS!

Download Mozilla, Install it, go to "StartMenu" "Control Panel", "Add/Remove Programs", Select "Internet Exploder" and click the "Add/Remove Programs" box and follow the prompts sending it to the "Recycle Bin"' (when it asks if you really want to delete it, SAY YES!), then go to the "Recycle Bin" and DELETE that!!!

BTW, If you want detailed info on how the fed-scum blew up the OKC Fed Bldg I will hook you up with the info.

[JoJo Gunn]

It's bad enough to have to deal with spyware without having to sift through erroneous advice.

Add/Remove Programs doesn't send anything to the Recycle Bin.

[ntnychik]

ping

[ChefKeith]

It's bad enough to have to deal with spyware without having to sift through erroneous advice. Add/Remove Programs doesn't send anything to the Recycle Bin.

Then YOU don't know what the hell you are talking about, because I have done this on MORE THAN ONE COMPUTER.

10 TO 15 TO BE "FRANK" WITH SUCCESS...

I'm awaiting your next line of BS...

Tick,Tick,Tick

I'm up and awaiting the reply. Or do you work for swill gates???

[ChefKeith]

WELL?????

I'm here.

[ChefKeith]

Still waiting...........

[ChefKeith]

Hello?????

[JoJo Gunn]

What OS are you referring to?

I'm running 9x. Tell me I don't see what goes on with my machine.

I'm here too, Bad Boy.

[ChefKeith]

I'm running 9x.

And what do you mean by "9x"

Do I need to walk you through the process? That I already explained...

[ChefKeith]

What OS are you referring to?

98SE

What planet are you on?

[ChefKeith]

I'm here

[ChefKeith]

Well...

[ChefKeith]

Bring it on.

[ChefKeith]

O.K. I've got to go to work, so when you get around to finding out that I'm correct I'll be back later.

Have a great night.

[ChefKeith]

Last chance for now...

[nutmeg]

bump

[JoJo Gunn]

You don't even know what "9x" means, and you tell others they're shoveling the BS? Are you just argumentative or drunk or stoned or what?

The "x" after the 9 means 95 or 98, and it's understood that since ME is just gussied up 98SE, it's part of the 9x family.

Now, with that out of the way, allow me to explain something even a belligerent can understand. You're implying that something can be sent to the Recycle Bin, thus there's the opportunity to Restore whatever was removed. I defy you to do it. Nothing gets sent to the Recycle Bin from the Add/Remove box, and I'll stake my life on it.

For the record, I run ME, and I have a friend which I help do some maintenance here and there, who runs 98 FE. What you say doesn't happen.

Another thing - IE5.5 came with my machine. It's listed in the Add/Remove box, but the only options you get are to repair IE, or to go back to 5.5 if you have upgraded to 6.0

Windows 9x doesn't give you the chance to "remove" IE. It's one of the things MS said to the DOJ, that it's too integral to the OS. There ARE a couple of third party removers out there, but I never recommend them to the general computing populace, because they can spell disaster for even seasoned computer users.

Lastly, I'm running FF 1.0 as well as 1.7.3 Suite, and bash MS and Mozilla both if they deserve such. Thank you.

Bottom line - you can't remove IE in Windows 9x from Add/Remove, and I'm no fan of Big Brother Gates.

The ball's in your court. Or should I say it's your turn to shovel?

[Slicksadick]

Both of you seem to know much more than I, so Please, PLEASE let me ask a few questions. I seem to be infected with 3 different "redirect host" bugs. In alternating between adaware and spybot The same three come up every time. I click to remove, but they never seem to really be erased away. Any ideas? I'm doing reboots about 20 times a day and its making me nuts. Please advise on any ideas or help. Thanks,

[backhoe]

"I seem to be infected with 3 different "redirect host" bugs. In alternating between adaware and spybot The same three come up every time. I click to remove, but they never seem to really be erased away. Any ideas? I'm doing reboots about 20 times a day and its making me nuts. Please advise on any ideas or help."

First, go here:

http://forums.spywareinfo.com/index.php?b=1

( you may have to hit f5 or refresh to get it to come up- they are overloaded badly )

Go to the "malware removal" forum and read ALL the "pinned" stuff near the top-- it's all together.

You may glean enough info to try a self-cure, but if in doubt, join the forum and post a Hijack this! logfile, and they will help you sort it out. Be advised they went from 5,000 members last summer to over 45,000 today, and they are swamped-- do not bump or add to your first post or they will overlook it, thinking someone is helping you already.

You've got one of those regenerating bugs, and they can be the devil to get out-- if you have all your installation CDs, and your data saved, it may be faster to fdisk, reformat, and reinstall everything from scratch. Then again, if you go through the removal process you will learn a lot, and be very motivated to ditch IE, get hardware & software firewalls, and keep the system updated.

The people who write and propagate this garbage should be triple-fined for downtime and publicly horsewhipped.

And branded with a "V" for vandal...

[holymoly]

To get back to the original question, there are four anti-adware/spyware programs. All are free. Ad-Aware SE & Spybot Search & Destroy are "must have". SpywareBlaster & SpywareGuard are also very useful, particularly for those who use MSIE.

Ad-Aware SE is an on-demand scanner.

Spybot Search and Destroy offers on-demand and real-time protection.

SpywareBlaster and SpywareGuard
From Javacool Software

Tutorials for these programs will be found here:

Using Ad-Aware SE

Using Spybot - Search and Destroy

Using SpywareBlaster

Using SpywareGuard

These programs may be used in any combination. I.E Spybots' "TeaTimer", and Javacools' "SpywareGuard", both of which offer full-time protection, may be used together.

[holymoly]

there are four anti-adware/spyware programs. All are free.

Mis-statement. Should read "...there are four free anti-adware/spyware programs..."

[Slicksadick]

Many thanks Backhoe

[backhoe]

[JoJo Gunn]

Hey, I know just enough to be dangerous. ;)

backhoe has pretty much covered the bases, so I'll add a couple of computer forums I haunt. AnnMarie is especially good at help with Hijack This logs and registry problems, etc.

http://www.cybertechhelp.com/forums/index.php?s=

http://discussions.virtualdr.com/

Besides the usual recommendations of programs to help you combat the sewer divers, I'll place SpywareBlaster at the top, since it helps keep critters from getting in the front door.

Good luck....

[Chummy]

My question is legitimate. I, too, design websites and I'm curious if you have information or have experienced something with ad- or spyware that has affected your site design, for example, the software you use for site design.

[backhoe]

ideas or help...

I completely forgot to mention one other thing.

Once you are satisfied your system is clean- either from help from SWI forums, or a reformat? Clone the darn drive. It is not hard to do- drop me a note if you have questions. That way, you can restore your machine's state quickly, to a known good condition.

[gopheraj]

bump for later reading

[Right Wing Assault]

"Switch your browser to Mozilla Firefox and your pop-up problems are solved"

Not totally. I've been using it for several months and I get about 1 a day. Much better than MSIE, of course, but not perfect. There are people making popup blockers for Firefox. There is a need, and it is probably growing.

[NewLand]

And the winner is...

Spyware Eliminator 4.0
Reviewer's Comments; Our “TopTenREVIEWS Gold Award Winner” is the recently released Spyware Eliminator 4.0 by Aluria. This brand-new version offers better detection, more features, more customized tools, simple navigation and the best customer service we’ve seen. Recently, AOL began including Spyware Eliminator 4.0 with their latest version to take care of all their customer’s anti-spyware needs.

Click here for the ratings of major Spyware programs

[NewLand]

I also recommend having Norton Internet Security from Symantec...with personal firewall, intrusion detection, anti-virus, privacy control, (pop-up) ad-blocking, spam control, and parental controls (user adjustable).

Between Spyware Eliminator and NIS, most home computers shouldn't have any problems with these issues.