A word about spyware and pop up advertising.

[mike3775 2]

I would just buy Spy Sweeper. Its like $30 for a 2 year subscription and it picks up way more spyware/adware than Adaware and Spybot combined.

http://www.webroot.com/wb/products/spysweeper/index.php

before I installed it, I ran adaware and it found none, then spybot and it also found none, after installing spysweeper it found 3 programs and 34 instances of spyware(cookies etc) that the other 2 programs did not find.

There is a free version, but you can only update the definitions one time, but they have more defs than adaware has. Currantly it has over 23,000 defs on the program

[Karybdis 34]

well it depends on what you're looking for As a person who cleans about 10 computers a week of tons of spyware, I can say happily that 34 is absolutely nothing .... Imesh installs 89 on its own LOL. Once you hit 150, this is where computers start to slow down.

Spybot, and Adaware are more than enough though to bring any computer up to tip top condition. If either of them misses any, it should be reported to their respective forums so that it can be added in the next definition. The authors appreciate the help I'm sure

It should be added though that besides these programs, you will always need to do a large amount of manual registry tracking if you want your computer clean. Usually at the store we spend 40 minutes doing Spyware checks, 15 minutes on Virus checks, and 20 minutes doing manual removal of remaining miscellaneous cruddy programs that dont apply to the beforementioned.

[Smurfer2 7]

I have a lot of Back Web. Should I delete all of it?

[rybolton 135]

Date: 4/26/2004 8:18:07 PM

Author: SimMaster

Date: 4/25/2004 1:13:10 PM

Author: Duke87

Date: 4/25/2004 10:13:07 AM

Author: deanej

Enable 3rd party browser extensions NEEDS to be checked for the google toolbar to work.

Do you really need a google toolbar? Is typing in ' www.google.com ' too much effort? Come on, honestly......

Duke, do you even have the Google Toolbar?

It blocks pop-ups and many more features than just 'Search'.

Well if you want those features, want to keep IE, and hate toolbars that don't come with the browser.  Go grab a browser shell...

http://www.avantbrowser.com/

or

http://www.crazybrowser.com/

 

You can always search the current web page with ctrl+f

[Mayor of Tempest Lake 34]

[bEGINQUOTE]

4/25/2004 8:24:51 PM[/quoteDATE]

deanej[/quoteAUTHOR]

[bEGINQUOTE]

4/25/2004 4:09:55 PM[/quoteDATE]

iamrobk[/quoteAUTHOR]

[bEGINQUOTE]

4/25/2004 1:13:10 PM[/quoteDATE]

Duke87[/quoteAUTHOR]

[bEGINQUOTE]

4/25/2004 10:13:07 AM[/quoteDATE]

deanej[/quoteAUTHOR]

Enable 3rd party browser extensions NEEDS to be checked for the google toolbar to work.[/quoteMESSAGE][/bEGINQUOTE]

Do you really need a google toolbar? Is typing in ' www.google.com ' too much effort? Come on, honestly......

[/quoteMESSAGE][/bEGINQUOTE]

Then again you can always just get Firefox, which has a built-in google searchbar.[/quoteMESSAGE][/bEGINQUOTE]

In addition to searching, it has a dictionary, a Translate Page function, a pop-up blocker and the ability to search the current site you are brousing.[/quoteMESSAGE][/bEGINQUOTE]

You forget the unholy Ad-block, aka image, flash, script, frame, embed killer.

But I still like to search the webpage by typing on it

[mike3775 2]

34 may not seem alot to you, but its still 34 more than I care to have on my system though

I want NONE on my system, which is why I have it run everyday when my PC is on, that way anything that may have gotten through doesn't.

When I upgrade my PC or install any new programs, I always run the program to make sure my system is 100% free of spyware/adware.

Adaware and spybot is reliable enough to keep most major programs off the saystems, dont get me wrong, I would recommend them in a heartbeat, but if you want a totally clean PC, I would recommend spy sweeper though.

It all depends on the level you want.

[minidoxigirli 6]

PC Magazine had an article about spyware and adware removers, and it said the best one was Spy Sweeper.  It's true.  Seriously, try it!

[silverlightning81 1]

minidoxi, have u tried it urself? if u hav, how was it?...did it work?

[Casper3141 60]

if i EVER and i do mean EVER found the person responsible for putting that spyware on my computer where over half of my hard drive got deleted when i fought it off i sware to god i will break every LAST and i do mean EVERY last one of their computers and then ill start on his FACE it just makes me so so so

[wolverine 12]

WELL GUESS WHAT!!  I just had to retype this post because a full screen ad came up and I had to control alt delete it and it closed ST.  I was just about to rant about it when it actually happened.  So now, I'm going to take the time to retype this because of my damn spyware!

 

First off, I have been very careful of what I download.  I never download freeware stuff, and I stay away from sites that have ads.  Recently, I was at a site that had tons of popups and I accidentally hit yes to the trust this software thing that came up.  MAJOR MISTAKE.  I was like, dang, I don't remember what it was called!

 

Well, now I have this stupid thing called jetseeker, which a search option that pops up on the left.  It also distorts internet explorer making the icons large.  The only way to get rid of it is to perform on acutal search on their toolbar and then go to the bottom of the results page and click remove jetseeker.  BUT, before I would let something so horrible do anything to my computer, I got several spyware removal programs.  I used spybot, plus several others and none of them could rid of this pesky jetseeker.  So my last result was to use their remove link.  I did so and it installed a file on my registry.  It did go away........for awhile.  It came back and is now haunting me again.  I have given up.  I will probably reimage my hard drive soon, but when all is back in order, what will I do to defend my computer? 

 

I hope someday it will be considered illegal, like telemarketing if you get on a do not call registry.

 

Here is what this piece of evil looks like.  Why the hell would I ever want to do any of these searches?

 

[Cobb32118 244]

Date:5/23/2004 7:42:59 PM
Author:Casper3141

if i EVER and i do mean EVER found the person responsible for putting that spyware on my computer where over half of my hard drive got deleted when i fought it off i sware to god i will break every LAST and i do mean EVERY last one of their computers and then ill start on his FACE it just makes me so so so

quote>

And if this is how those things affect a sweet, friendly ghost, imagine how it affects those of us who aren't so nice! 

[EmergentFungus 29]

In the last few days I have had a really bad spyware infection. I'm not sure where I got it from but what it did was hijack my browser homepage. I searched Google and found a great forum with a few helpful peeps and one of them helped me treat the infection. I've gotten rid of the hijack but the DLL in question remains in place. This is the forum I am talking about . I'd reccomend that if Ad-Aware fails to remove your spyware, ask your questions on that forum.

[M-SIL 2]

I'm glad that a site this big help prevent spyware getting into ppl's PC, keep up the great work.  

[GingerBlokey 30]

Just a word of advice dont download anything supported by GAIN. You get a pop-up on every page

[kingarthur_kom 0]

The fix all for any spyware & pop-ups is here=

http://www.mozilla.org

Just because it says Microsoft doesn't mean you MUST install it or use it.

[jay_allen1978 0]

Date: 4/30/2004 9:59:07 AM
Author: mike3775
34 may not seem alot to you, but its still 34 more than I care to have on my system though

I want NONE on my system, which is why I have it run everyday when my PC is on, that way anything that may have gotten through doesn't.

When I upgrade my PC or install any new programs, I always run the program to make sure my system is 100% free of spyware/adware.

Adaware and spybot is reliable enough to keep most major programs off the saystems, dont get me wrong, I would recommend them in a heartbeat, but if you want a totally clean PC, I would recommend spy sweeper though.

It all depends on the level you want.

quote>
I agree...Spy Sweeper is a very efficient program that roots out adware and spyware to keep your system clean. and for only 30 bucks? Isn't your system worth it? Also Try Window Washer By Webroot(same maker as spysweeper)

[Meg 368]

Date: 4/27/2004 12:33:52 AM Author: Karybdis well it depends on what you're looking for As a person who cleans about 10 computers a week of tons of spyware, I can say happily that 34 is absolutely nothing .... Imesh installs 89 on its own LOL. Once you hit 150, this is where computers start to slow down. Spybot, and Adaware are more than enough though to bring any computer up to tip top condition. If either of them misses any, it should be reported to their respective forums so that it can be added in the next definition.

quote>

The worst I've encountered is 888.  The joys of cleaning other people's computers. 

[MallowTheCloud 41]

Date: 6/1/2005 1:27:28 AM
Author: SkiGeek

Date: 4/27/2004 12:33:52 AM Author: Karybdis well it depends on what you're looking for As a person who cleans about 10 computers a week of tons of spyware, I can say happily that 34 is absolutely nothing .... Imesh installs 89 on its own LOL. Once you hit 150, this is where computers start to slow down. Spybot, and Adaware are more than enough though to bring any computer up to tip top condition. If either of them misses any, it should be reported to their respective forums so that it can be added in the next definition.

quote>

The worst I've encountered is 888. The joys of cleaning other people's computers.

quote>

Aww, that's nothing. My mom had over 3000!