Removing spyware etc

[maggsie]

I sick of the crap that ends up on my computer, I been running a free version of AdAware and also a corporate Symantec antivirus. Any suggestions for any other software I can run or do I save what I want from the computer and wipe the disc and start afresh.
:mad:

[incisor]

ewido from grisoft.com

[harro]

Spybot leaves Adaware for dead

[Slunnie]

I run a few of these programs simulaneously, and Spyware doctor is the best of them, espeically inconjuction with Adaware.

I find that just about all stuff that gets planted on the computer will be cleared by cleaning the cookies and temp files from Internet explorers Tools=>Internet Options menu, and then "Delete Cookies" and "Delete Files" buttons.

[djam1]

Guys I do this for a living and please consider this

Run Mozilla Firefox as your internet browser
Run a program call Crap Cleaner once a week
Run a firewall called Agnitum Outpost Firewall Pro
Run NOD32 as your antivirus program

If you want to do it on the cheap run this
Run Mozilla Firefox as you internet browser (free)
Run program called Crap Cleaner once a week (free)
Find yourself a free firewall that protects you both in and out (free)
Run Avast Free Antivirus (free)

Dont rely on the Microsoft firewall in XP
Dont use internet explorer
Dont let teenagers use your computer
Dont browser Porn Sites

I found once I made these changes on the machines that I maintained my workload went down by 80%

[walker]

Cool, someone who does it for a living, thanks for the info. You should not have told us that, now I have some questions for you

1. What to you think about AVG if you have used it? I changed over to them a year ago and everything has been good so far, I got sick of how much some of the other Antivirus programs slow you up

2. Is there a fix for firefox? I changed over last year but found that it would not open quite a few sites or other applications. I changed back to IE for this reason.

3. I am running through a netgear router. I was told this is acts as a firewall, is this correct?

[loanrangie]

ewido from grisoft.com

Ewido is great, i downloaded a torrent that was full of pop up ad crap and Ewido cleaned it all out.

[maggsie]

Thanks for the input I'll make the changes and see what happens. One more question: Free firewalls - any suggestions.

[RobHay]

Spybot leaves Adaware for dead

I agree put "Spybot - Search and destroy" into your browser and follow the prompts, it is free to download and outdate, although there is a facility to pay money should you appreciate what it does for you.

I have been running it for years and do not have a problem with spyware, I also run Norton Internet Security and North Antivirus, and Norton System Works as well as System Mechanic.

I know that Internet Security contains Antivirus but if you run it with Norton Antivirus ( You have to load Internet Security first) it combines to form a really strong Trojan Horse barrier.

Go SPYBOT

Rob

[djam1]

Walker

The tests that I did on AVG 12 months ago indicated that it let too many viruses through, I have used it and I thought it was marginal at best.
I honestly think that Avast is better try
http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html

Firefox is not perfect if you try the latest version

http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/

This will solve most problems BUT NOT browsing Microsoft sites

Your router is likely to protect you from external attack but it will most likely not protect you from malicious software on your computer that is accessing the internet from within.
It depends upon the degree of complexity of your router but its protection is limited to external attack not internal.

[incisor]

Spybot leaves Adaware for dead
they do different things and can not really be compared, neither does what the other does.

[RobHay]

they do different things and can not really be compared, neither does what the other does.


YES ! ...........and?:(

[harro]

they do different things and can not really be compared, neither does what the other does.

This may be true but I believe the query was "Removing Spyware etc"

[incisor]

in my shop i make way more money from nortons, mcafee, pccillin, nod32 and avast than i do from any other source, they ought to be had for false advertising IMHO, magazine fodder...

as for firewalls... stateful firewalls are not only next to useless in the hands of people with little knowledge of how to drive them (read most people), they usually end up causing more trouble than they are worth.

if you download mp3 and run things like limewire, edonkey etc etc then you should be using something like "peer guardian" and running whatever antivirus you are running over your incoming directory before previewing or using the files you have downloaded.

my freeware guide changes as new things come and go. it is currently

avg free - antivirus with email protection
ewido free - anti trojanware
spybot - immunising and setting locking anti trojanware
peer guardian - firewall with protection lists
firefox - browser
IE View - firefox extension to call up ie when needed
thunderbird - email
spambayes - spam (works with outlook and outlookexpress as well)
limewire - file sharing

[incisor]

This may be true but I believe the query was "Removing Spyware etc" and they both remove spyware in different ways, spybot being a whole system scan approach and adaware being a fixed target list scan. neither is designed to do it all and are much more effective if used in tandem. spybot misses hundreds of things adaware specifically targets, and viceversa

[maggsie]

Well I just loaded Mozilla, Crap Cleaner and Avast. Avast located 28 viruses (mostly win32 trojan) on my computer and deleted them. So thanks for the help, I'm glad I asked! I must point out that my 3 adult kids also use my 'puter' when they want. I guess it is an understatement to say a regular check is most important! :D

[Bytemrk]

avg free - antivirus with email protection
ewido free - anti trojanware
spybot - immunising and setting locking anti trojanware
peer guardian - firewall with protection lists
firefox - browser
IE View - firefox extension to call up ie when needed
thunderbird - email
spambayes - spam (works with outlook and outlookexpress as well)
limewire - file sharing


Hey Inc,

I'm with you on 8 out of 9... I don't use lime wire:p

I used to like Vet for A/V... but even that seems to have gone to puss...

Djam1... you'll find there are quite a few that "do this for a living" here....;)


Mark

[Jamo]

I use vet anit-virus, firewall, ant-spam and pest patrol; all made by Computer Associates.

They have worked fine for me.

[Pedro_The_Swift]

go firefox,,
go spybot,,
go CCleaner,,

go KERIO firewall,,

go COMMAND antivirus,, yes you must actually PAY for it-- but it WORKS!!:D

[DiscoDave]

I agree with Incisors list except for the limewire (which I know nothing about).

The key to safety when on the internet is "layered protection" - that means you run one good firewall, one good antivrus program, a range of good anti-spyware/malware programs and you supplement them with occasional online anti-virus and trojan scans. All of these things can be had for free (legal for home use).

How do you find out what is a "good"? Get opinions from people who actually work in the anti-malware industry - recommendations, tutorials and personal assistance can be found at the top anti-malware site www.bleepingcomputer.com (http://www.bleepingcomputer.com) Look under "freeware replacements for commercial applications" for recommended anti-spyware.

Removal of malware is often more difficult than preventing infection and sometimes you can't do it without expert help. Bleeping Computer also provides that help for free.

(BTW I have no commercial interest in the site - I used to be one of the volunteer advisors there till my priorities changed.)

[George130]

This machine is so riddled that I can't even rebuild it. Can't wait to get the good machine working again.
My old one has a 20 gig drive and I can only use 5 gig due to the crap. Non of the other drives are working so I just live with till I get the parts later this week to fix my machine.

[DiscoDave]

This machine is so riddled that I can't even rebuild it. Can't wait to get the good machine working again.
My old one has a 20 gig drive and I can only use 5 gig due to the crap. Non of the other drives are working so I just live with till I get the parts later this week to fix my machine.
Sounds like CCleaner would be right up your alley then!
Download CCleaner from here:
CCleaner (http://www.ccleaner.com/)
Untick the 'Add CCleaner Yahoo! Toolbar and use CCleaner from within IE' box during installation.
Do NOT use the 'Applications' or 'Issues' tabs unless you are an expert user.
:)

[incisor]

CCleaner installs yahoo toolbar by default, so it is a trojan installing cleanup program..

give me a break.....

read the yahoo terms and conditions and work out for yourself just how much info you will be sending their way.... unless you dig down several pages and turnoff and decline their access...

[George130]

CCleaner installs yahoo toolbar by default, so it is a trojan installing cleanup program..

give me a break.....

read the yahoo terms and conditions and work out for yourself just how much info you will be sending their way.... unless you dig down several pages and turnoff and decline their access...

Thats what is annoying me at the moment half the adds poping up are for anti spy ware programs. I will not pay for their software as I consider it a virus since it has self installed already and hijacks some links. I have just got rnd to updating windows on this machine so some of the probs might improve.

[matbor]

Check http://www.hitmanpro.nl/ this out, just download it, don't worry the install program is in english :D, will install all the popular spyware programs and will remove everything. :D

[JDNSW]

I look at this thread and shake my head in wonder. I have no spyware, no adware, no viruses, no trojans, no antivirus, no anti-malware, no trouble - I simply do not run any form of Windows and use a few simple precautions like a firewall and restrictions on Java and HTML.
John

[DiscoDave]

CCleaner installs yahoo toolbar by default, so it is a trojan installing cleanup program..

give me a break.....


I've been using CCleaner for ~18months without problems and wasn't aware the Yahoo toolbar was packaged with it in current versions. I've edited the earlier post to reflect that.
CCleaner is still a very powerful and useful tool particularly for people who are running short on disc space - and, so long as you untick the yahoo! toolbar box when installing it, there is no spyware associated with it.

[George130]

OK. I am going to try CCleaner.

[incisor]

I look at this thread and shake my head in wonder. I have no spyware, no adware, no viruses, no trojans, no antivirus, no anti-malware, no trouble - I simply do not run any form of Windows and use a few simple precautions like a firewall and restrictions on Java and HTML.
John
what you dont know cant hurt you, you reckon :angel:

[maggsie]

Following up from yesterday, I loaded Ewido and scanned this morning, found ninety six medium threats, one low and one high, consequently all gone for now. Thanks again.

[JDNSW]

what you dont know cant hurt you, you reckon :angel:

Not quite - virtually all viruses "in the wild" will only run on Windows, and trojans and other malware that are not tied specifically to Windows operating systems either operate only on specific programs such as I.E. or M.S.Office, or rely on Java to operate.

So you can simply sidestep most of these issues. The downside is that some websites fail to adhere to published standards and actually require proprietary Windows features, although these are rare, and restricting Java does restrict the functionality of a lot of sites - if you trust the site you can always allow it to run.
Of course you also have to learn another operating system.
John

[matbor]

Microsoft vs Linux vs Mac, bit like Landrover vs Toyota vs Nissian :D

I use MS a lot, it's my Job, and I don't have any problems with spyware, virus etc...

[DiscoDave]

OK. I am going to try CCleaner.

Note CCleaner has nothing to do with removing spyware it just frees up space on your hard drive so you can get other things running which you might not otherwise be able to. If you are getting loads of popups when you are online you may need a 'course of treatment'. I can try and help you via PM if you want but if your really in the poo then your choices are either 1) get expert help, such as at Bleeping Computer or 2)Format the hard drive and start again.

[Pedro_The_Swift]

CCleaner installs yahoo toolbar by default, so it is a trojan installing cleanup program..

give me a break.....

read the yahoo terms and conditions and work out for yourself just how much info you will be sending their way.... unless you dig down several pages and turnoff and decline their access...


or just disallow it net access,,,

[incisor]

Not quite - virtually all viruses "in the wild" will only run on Windows, and trojans and other malware that are not tied specifically to Windows operating systems either operate only on specific programs such as I.E. or M.S.Office, or rely on Java to operate. that used to be true, it no longer is.. the surging popularity of the mac has spawned a multiude of backdoors into publicware *nix versions. there are several trojans and virii specifically targeting the common *nix platforms and unfortunetly they are spreading pretty much uncontrolled because many refuse to acknowledge they exist...

but they are still much safer to use by an order of magnitude but they are much more vunerable than they were.

[incisor]

or just disallow it net access,,,
most people wouldnt have a clue how to do that....

[JDNSW]

that used to be true, it no longer is.. the surging popularity of the mac has spawned a multiude of backdoors into publicware *nix versions. there are several trojans and virii specifically targeting the common *nix platforms and unfortunetly they are spreading pretty much uncontrolled because many refuse to acknowledge they exist...

but they are still much safer to use by an order of magnitude but they are much more vunerable than they were.

Yes - I have to agree with that, but compared to zero vulnerability any increase is a large one! There is considerable discussion about this, but as long as *nix remains a small proportion of the net connected computers the spread of malware targetted at is much slower and less likely - and the fact that there are a variety of different *nix variants which do not share common vulnerabilities makes the situation a lot less serious than it may appear. And despite the increasing Mac popularity, by and large the *nix variants remain far less vulnerable than Windows variants, even apart from these factors.

A further factor for open source operating systems (note this does not include Mac) is that the people, who with proprietary systems would be looking for vulnerabilities to exploit, are looking for vulnerabilities to fix instead - and fixes happen a lot quicker.
John

[incisor]

A further factor for open source operating systems (note this does not include Mac) is that the people, who with proprietary systems would be looking for vulnerabilities to exploit, are looking for vulnerabilities to fix instead - and fixes happen a lot quicker.
John
thats pretty much a furphy with most distributions these days. there are noted exceptions, mainly debian based variants and some bsd variants, but it isnt the norm it used to be.

the major distributions are these days subject to the same commercial pressures as the "big" end players.

the *nixes including osx are much safer than windows for trojans and virii etc because of their basic structure, but the day is fast approaching when some one is going to come up with the one that does the deed...

bit like the early dos days being relived...

but the bottom line is, you are way way safer at the moment, just not 100% secure like you used to be.

[JDNSW]

thats pretty much a furphy with most distributions these days. there are noted exceptions, mainly debian based variants and some bsd variants, but it isnt the norm it used to be.

(snip)

My direct experience is limited to Mandriva, Gentoo and Suse, but my impression is that proportion of proprietary software involved in all Linux distributions is fairly minor - almost all of each distribution is a selection of open source software to which my remarks DO apply. For example, with my current Suse distribution the only major package that is proprietary is the control/update manager. So I don't think it is a furphy at all. Certainly my remarks apply to the Linux kernel, which determines the basic structure, and the remedy I suggested is likely to counter the one that "does the deed" a lot faster than Microsoft's updates.

Unfortunately (or fortunately given the advantage of having only a small proportion of computers using *nix) most users are not going to even consider changing operating systems, in many cases because their games will only run on Windows.
John

[incisor]

but my impression is that proportion of proprietary software involved in all Linux distributions is fairly minor it has nothing to do with proprietary, and all to do with the way the kernel is compiled and the drivers and modules used, not to mention package management. The basic design of linux has several week spots when to compared to the bsd variants, which have their own weak points.

there is no secure flavour of *nix that installs out of the box, they all have to be hardened, if you think otherwise you are having yourself on.

to harden a box requires some clue, most people are not interested in finding that clue for one reason or another.

a google search for "list of trojanised linux websites" and "list of trojanized linux websites" also returns some interesting reading....

[George130]

Note CCleaner has nothing to do with removing spyware it just frees up space on your hard drive so you can get other things running which you might not otherwise be able to. If you are getting loads of popups when you are online you may need a 'course of treatment'. I can try and help you via PM if you want but if your really in the poo then your choices are either 1) get expert help, such as at Bleeping Computer or 2)Format the hard drive and start again.

I know the machine is terminal. Its been patched up quite a few times before I stop using it. It needs everything blown away and rebuilt from scratch. I'm just not prepared to go that far while the floppy and CD drives arn't working and my good machine is not working. You now the game blow it away to not be able to reinstall anything. Won't be long before I sort the othr machine out. Then I will strip this one down and start sorting out the problems.

[JDNSW]

it has nothing to do with proprietary, and all to do with the way the kernel is compiled and the drivers and modules used, not to mention package management. The basic design of linux has several week spots when to compared to the bsd variants, which have their own weak points.

there is no secure flavour of *nix that installs out of the box, they all have to be hardened, if you think otherwise you are having yourself on.

to harden a box requires some clue, most people are not interested in finding that clue for one reason or another.

a google search for "list of trojanised linux websites" and "list of trojanized linux websites" also returns some interesting reading....

I did a bit of a search - very hard to find much that's reasonably recent. But I think that the following reasonably recent bit reflects my views on the matter more fully and in better words than I could do:- http://linuxmafia.com/~rick/faq/index.php?page=virus

But of course, that is only my view.
John

[f_b]

Mate

I recently paid for the first time for Software and its the best. I tried everything (freebies is a waste of time!) and for the first time my PC is clean and staying clean.

Its called XOFTSPY and its bloody good.

Have a look here

http://www.paretologic.com/products/xoftspyse/index.aspx

Hope it helps

[incisor]

I did a bit of a search - very hard to find much that's reasonably recent.

recent security alerts, lets have a little look....:spudnikwinky:

Recent SuSE security alerts

(330 alerts total)
IDPackageDate SUSE-SA:2006:044 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/193694) libtiff2006-08-01 SUSE-SA:2006:045 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/193697) freetype22006-08-01 SUSE-SR:2006:018 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/193274) gpg22006-07-28 SUSE-SA:2006:043 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/193275) apache,apache22006-07-28 SUSE-SA:2006:042 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/192890) kernel2006-07-26 SUSE-SR:2006:017 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/192323) quagga, samba, squirrelmail, CASA2006-07-21 SUSE-SR:2006:016 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/191405) acroread, libpng, wget, mutt, horde2006-07-14 SUSE-SA:2006:041 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/190075) acroread2006-07-04 SUSE-SA:2006:038 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/189895) opera2006-07-03 SUSE-SA:2006:039 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/189896) kdebase3-kdm2006-07-03 SUSE-SA:2006:040 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/189899) OpenOffice_org2006-07-03 SUSE-SR:2006:015 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/189746) wv2, perl-Crypt-CBC, arts, dhcdbd, gpg, asterisk2006-06-30 SUSE-SA:2006:037 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/189344) freetype22006-06-27 SUSE-SA:2006:035 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/188991) MozillaFirefox,MozillaThunderbird,Seamonkey2006-06-23 SUSE-SA:2006:036 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/188992) mysql2006-06-23 SUSE-SA:2006:034 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/188875) php42006-06-22 SUSE-SA:2006:033 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/188468) awstats2006-06-20 SUSE-SR:2006:014 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/188471) tiff, snort, xine-lib2006-06-20 SUSE-SA:2006:031 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/187723) PHP4,PHP52006-06-14 SUSE-SA:2006:032 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/187989) sendmail2006-06-14
Recent Gentoo security alerts

(977 alerts total)
IDPackageDate 200608-13 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/194510) clamav2006-08-08 200608-12 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/194507) x11vnc2006-08-07 200608-10 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/194357) pike2006-08-06 200608-11 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/194358) webmin2006-08-06 200608-08 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/194356) gnupg2006-08-05 200608-05 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/194219) libvncserver2006-08-04 200608-06 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/194220) courier2006-08-04 200608-07 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/194352) tiff2006-08-04 200608-02 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/194120) seamonkey2006-08-03 200608-03 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/194214) firefox2006-08-03 200608-04 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/194215) thunderbird2006-08-03 200608-01 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/193689) apache2006-08-01 200607-13 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/193400) audacious2006-07-29 200607-12 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/193394) openoffice2006-07-28 200607-11 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/193393) tunepimp2006-07-28 200607-09 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/192737) wireshark2006-07-25 200607-10 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/192896) samba2006-07-25 200607-08:02 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/192554) gimp2006-07-23 200607-08 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/192573) gimp2006-07-23 200607-08:02 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/192722) gimp2006-07-23
Recent Mandriva security alerts

(318 alerts total)
IDPackageDate MDKSA-2006:136 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/193836) kdegraphics2006-08-01 MDKSA-2006:137 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/193838) libtiff2006-08-01 MDKSA-2006:135 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/193684) freeciv2006-07-31 MDKSA-2006:134 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/193395) ruby2006-07-28 MDKSA-2006:132 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/193332) libwmf2006-07-28 MDKSA-2006:133 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/193391) apache2006-07-28 MDKSA-2006:131 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/192895) perl-Net-Server2006-07-25 MDKSA-2006:129 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/192134) freetype22006-07-20 MDKSA-2006:130 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/192316) kdelibs2006-07-20 MDKSA-2006:124 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/191901) kernel2006-07-18 MDKSA-2006:125 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/191904) webmin2006-07-18 MDKSA-2006:126 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/191905) libtunepimp2006-07-18 MDKSA-2006:127 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/191906) gimp2006-07-18 MDKSA-2006:128 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/191908) wireshark2006-07-18 MDKSA-2006:122 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/191270) php2006-07-13 MDKSA-2006:123 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/191402) kernel2006-07-13 MDKSA-2006:117-1 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/191262) libmms2006-07-12 MDKSA-2006:121 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/191263) xine-lib2006-07-12 MDKA-2006:119 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/191261) ppp2006-07-10 MDKSA-2006:120 (http://lwn.net/Alerts/190953) samba2006-07-10 Next 20 alerts (http://lwn.net/Alerts/Mandriva/?n=20&offset=20)

[Pedro_The_Swift]

Mate

I recently paid for the first time for Software and its the best. I tried everything (freebies is a waste of time!) and for the first time my PC is clean and staying clean.

Its called XOFTSPY and its bloody good.

Have a look here

http://www.paretologic.com/products/xoftspyse/index.aspx

Hope it helps


who cares---

NICE BOAT!!!!;)

[Pedro_The_Swift]

I did a bit of a search - very hard to find much that's reasonably recent. But I think that the following reasonably recent bit reflects my views on the matter more fully and in better words than I could do:- http://linuxmafia.com/~rick/faq/index.php?page=virus (http://linuxmafia.com/%7Erick/faq/index.php?page=virus)

But of course, that is only my view.
John

but more words John,,

LOTS more---
;):D

[JDNSW]

recent security alerts, lets have a little look....:spudnikwinky:

Recent SuSE security alerts

(330 alerts total)
(snip)
]

yes security alerts - not viruses or other malware - if you look into these you usually find comments indicating that probability of actually causing a problem is low - and the very volume of them makes my point that problems are rapidly identified.

[JDNSW]

but more words John,,

LOTS more---
;):D

Yes, but I found them interesting reading, although some won't.
John

[incisor]

yes security alerts - not viruses or other malware - if you look into these you usually find comments indicating that probability of actually causing a problem is low - and the very volume of them makes my point that problems are rapidly identified.

sigh...

how is it that you think a virus or trojan enters and or manipulates a system be it windows or *nix or whatever... ?

it manipulates a weakness or security hole, in windows it is usually related to explorer, in *nix it is in userland and base system utilities or daemons ...

big difference between identified and fixed mate... some recent hacks have been live for more than 2 kernel series..... which is why i left it and went to bsd.

you can preach till you go blue, i have been playing in linux for near on 15 years in a commercial environment, not to mention made a living supporting it, come to think of it i am still a debian consultant, i managed to own and operate a bbs and isp with 1000's of users on it for years, i certainly dont know it all, but me thinks i might just have an inkling what it can and cant do and what its weakness's might be :P