My family is not very...attuned to the instinctive "do not click this" feeling that I have towards seedy links. Can anyone point me in the direction of a free and effective removal program? All the one's I've found so far require purchasing...
A-Squared is great for removal. Spywareblaster and Spybot's immunize function are good for prevention.
Any plan that involves unsophisticated users with administrative privileges may in fact be doomed from the start. If limiting account privileges isn't an option, then at the very least, stick to Firefox with add-ons like NoScript and maybe even Public Fox.
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TexiKenDammit!That fish really got me!Registered Userregular
edited April 2007
Spyware Terminator is good as well as Avast.
With Avast if something is trying to put itself on the computer it warns you and lets you abort the connection, delete the cookie, etc.
I have Spyware terminator and Avast running in tandem and it has been smooth sailing.
spybot search and destroy is a pretty shitty program, especially since major support was cut a little over a year ago. avg+adaware+highjackthis is the most effective combo your going to get for free.
spybot search and destroy is a pretty shitty program, especially since major support was cut a little over a year ago. avg+adaware+highjackthis is the most effective combo your going to get for free.
There's no realtime spyware protection in that suite. That's where the immunization functions of Spybot and Spywareblaster can help. And for removal, A-Squared catches malware that doesn't show up in Ad-Aware scans. Nothing out there is perfect, but Ad-Aware is farther off the mark.
HiJackThis is a must, but if you don't understand what you're looking at, don't make any changes. There are forums where you can post HJT logs if there are entries you don't recognize.
Depending on how bad the infestation is and how much data they have saved, it might just be easier to back it all up to an external drive, format, and re-install. I've never been able to completely clean off a system before - there's always something that not even HijackThis in safe mode can remove. Reformatting lets you stop wondering whether you got everything.
Of course, this might not be practical depending on how much time you have available, but think about it if you have too hard a time cleaning it all.
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Forehead wipe, Doctor Lewie?
(A more bizarre way to agree I could not have chosen)
Any plan that involves unsophisticated users with administrative privileges may in fact be doomed from the start. If limiting account privileges isn't an option, then at the very least, stick to Firefox with add-ons like NoScript and maybe even Public Fox.
With Avast if something is trying to put itself on the computer it warns you and lets you abort the connection, delete the cookie, etc.
I have Spyware terminator and Avast running in tandem and it has been smooth sailing.
Also, make sure you do any removal in safe mode or you'll be doing it over.
Anyway, I treat spyware like I treat the AIDS: a drug cocktail of Ad-Aware and Spybot.
There's no realtime spyware protection in that suite. That's where the immunization functions of Spybot and Spywareblaster can help. And for removal, A-Squared catches malware that doesn't show up in Ad-Aware scans. Nothing out there is perfect, but Ad-Aware is farther off the mark.
HiJackThis is a must, but if you don't understand what you're looking at, don't make any changes. There are forums where you can post HJT logs if there are entries you don't recognize.
Of course, this might not be practical depending on how much time you have available, but think about it if you have too hard a time cleaning it all.
After that you won't have to worry about even getting them.
They called it a "reorganizing of support staff". But I just may be hashing out old rumors, patrick is still running things so alls well...