Could someone reccommend a spyware/adware removal program - aberdeen-music

daveofficer · 06-04-2006, 08:59

preferably a free one.

i seem to be infested with adware.

ta

Stu73 · 06-04-2006, 09:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by daveofficer

preferably a free one.

i seem to be invested with adware.

ta

You could try spybot and ad-aware.

A combination of both of them might sort you out (and they're free).

spellchecker · 06-04-2006, 09:10

for one-off spyware removals without installing anything, use hijackthis:

http://tomcoyote.org/hjt

daveofficer · 06-04-2006, 09:43

thanks guys, i'm running adaware now and it's coming up with a frankly alarming amount of critical objects. what's the point in having a firewall and norton if they don't stop any of these things? *sigh* internet sucks.

spellchecker · 06-04-2006, 09:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by daveofficer

thanks guys, i'm running adaware now and it's coming up with a frankly alarming amount of critical objects. what's the point in having a firewall and norton if they don't stop any of these things? *sigh* internet sucks.

spyware fits nicely in between the lines of all those things you mentioned. firewalls keep out unwanted network traffic by the rules you specify. however, you do actually want web traffic otherwise you couldn't browse sites. that is the first exception that allows spyware and adware through.

secondly, most spyware and adware is not technically a virus nor a trojan horse, and as such antivirus firms are on dubious legal grounds removing it automatically in their software - because apparently, such spyware and adware constitutes "legitimate" and "non malicious" software.

you can do yourself a favour by:

1. turning off the messenger service in Windows XP (not MSN Messenger)
2. Run an alternative browser to IE (e.g. Firefox, Opera, Mozilla)

daveofficer · 06-04-2006, 10:01

which messenger service is that then? where might i find it to turn it off?

spellchecker · 06-04-2006, 10:13

1. Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Services

2. Double click on the service called "Messenger"

3. Ensure the service is stopped by clicking "Stop"

4. Disable for future use by changing the "Startup Type" combo to "Disabled"

Alkaline · 06-04-2006, 10:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by spellchecker

1. Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Services

2. Double click on the service called "Messenger"

3. Ensure the service is stopped by clicking "Stop"

4. Disable for future use by changing the "Startup Type" combo to "Disabled"

Excuse me for being ignorant, but i'm not really up on computer knowledge, but what does doing that actually do in terms of blocking adware or spyware. I wouldn't mind a detailed description...

spellchecker · 06-04-2006, 10:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alkaline

Excuse me for being ignorant, but i'm not really up on computer knowledge, but what does doing that actually do in terms of blocking adware or spyware. I wouldn't mind a detailed description...

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/u.../stopspam.mspx

daveofficer · 06-04-2006, 10:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by spellchecker

1. Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Services

2. Double click on the service called "Messenger"

3. Ensure the service is stopped by clicking "Stop"

4. Disable for future use by changing the "Startup Type" combo to "Disabled"

just checked and it was already disabled. hurrah.