How to get rid of Adware / Spyware

[krash22]

just throwin this out there, PLEASE be careful when using hijackthis. i dont know if this is a double post, but DO NOT delete everything that it comes up with, u will bork ur 'puter.

 

[iosgeek]

Download both these free programs. Run them on a regular basis. You should run both as each get's some spyware the other does not. Always check for updates before running.

These programs are free but I highly recommend sending them a donation especially if they actually get rid of something on your computer. $5 is better than throwing out your computer and buying a new one, no?

Ad-Aware

SpyBot

You may want to add these two url's in the sticky

http://safety.livcom
http://housecall.trendmicro.com

Both of those scanners are Web Browser and are free. They work 100% and gets rid of almost 99.99% of virus/adware/spyware/malware and such.

 

[iosgeek]

Best advice so far in this thread.

Firefox is not immune to attacks. IE7 is solid. The only reason firefox worked great when it came is because its market share.

 

[Audacious Nick]

I recommend Noscript if you have FF

 

[Crynryan]

FYI guys. Using any of these programs isn't enough. Virus/malware creators know how most of these programs work and build script to replicate when you restart the computer. There are many ways to successfully remove those annoying buggers. It usually takes time and patience. If you don't have the time; The best way to make sure its gone is to install the operating system again. (which has been mentioned already) *WARNING* Before you do this make sure you have all the drivers and load them on to a thumb drive or CD. Installing it from the Windows disk will not include the drivers unless you have the CD that came with the computer.

First things first. Go to download.com and install the following:

CCleaner, malwarebytes, JavaRa - this list is the basics

Autoruns, Combofix, SmitFraudfix, Rogue Fix, Hijack this - advanced users only

Once you have installed the programs that fit your comfort level. Restart the computer and start smashing the F8 button. This will prompt you into a screen that will have the option to start the computer in "Safe Mode". Select that option. Once the computer has booted up in safe-mode start running the programs. (this is just a quick post this isn't a blow by blow how-to. If you need more info PM and I can help you out.

Oh one more thing, once you finished running the programs and have restarted the computer back into normal mode. Click "start". RT-Click "My Computer". Select "Properties". Click the "System Restore" tab and uncheck "Turn off System Restore" Once it has been turned off. Turn it back on. This will help to erase any of the unwanted programs in case you need to restore the computer back at a later date.

 

[Sidi]

if ya want i wrote a 5 post tutorial on this called Slow System, Lag, Crashes, Virus , Spyware, ect? if ya google it you can see how many ppl stole my post. the original was written for demonoid. if ya'll want i can "port" it over to here

 

[VinPearl]

How to get rid of Adware/Spyware

Hello all,

I need some средства от прыщей цены. I havent bought a copy of Dundeon Siege II yet, but Im testing the Demo. The hit point graphics those red numbers annoy me. In my opinion, they make the game look childish like it was some arcade fighting game.

My question: Is there a way to get rid of those hit point graphics?

 

[major]

good looking out Jack!

 

[shrimants]

use firefox or chrome web browsers. make sure you install the Adblock add on. If you are concerned about blocking a site's revenue, simply add it to your white list and enable the "allow non intrusive ads" option (its enabled by default).

adblock stops all that fake download button crap and prevents accidental clicks. firefox and chrome both have great security features built in so you really have to TRY to get a virus.

Also, i use either AVG, Avast, or microsoft security essentials as my antivirus. they are great free antivirus programs. i see no reason to pay for a subscription to an antivirus provider when theres great free alternatives.

you can use malwarebytes antimalware to do a scan for viruses and stuff. it catches a lot of different things.

if you have a search redirect problem (IE you go to google and it bounces you to some random non-google search engine or redirects you a bunch of times first) you can get rid of that too.

you can grab the file called "tdsskiller" http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/tdsskiller/

its free, works great. but make sure you thoroughly read the instructions and disable antivirus for it to run. this is what you run when you are 1 step away from nuking.

Personally, i am of the opinion that once you have a virus, your computer is permanently compromised. i nuke immediately. I always have backups of all software and all data on hand.

Important stuff sits in someplace other than My Documents (like a seperate internal hard drive) and gets synced to something like dropbox or crashplan (or both). music, video, photos get moved to a NAS. photos get synced to crashplan. movies and music i dont really care if i lose. best backup method in terms of price/gb is getting single hard drives and a hard drive mount.

i can grab a 3-4TB hard drive, pop it into the mount, and make a full backup. Then i repackage the drive, label it thoroughly, and keep it away somewhere safe.

 

[Jack the Smack]

The OP's post is severely outdated. There is far better software out there now.

Preventive:

• Keep your OS up to date.
  That means Windows Update should be checking and installing updates every week. WannaCrypt's attack vector was patched a month before it hit in all Windows versions after XP.
  
• Use an ad blocker.
  I'm sorry websites that rely on ad revenue, but advertising is the number 1 vector for viruses these days. uBlock Origin (Chrome, Firefox) is by far the best one out. You can disable it on websites you trust. But not even Google.com is safe.
  
• Use anti-virus software.
  This is a no brainer. But the question is "which one?" Bitdefender Free edition is free and pretty high up there. Personally I prefer Avira Free Edition due to using the least amount of computer resources and having the highest rate of detection, but displays a popup every 48 hours for their premium software at the bottom right of your screen (unless you use a blocker like me). You can find the latest information on which AV is the best at av-comparatives.org
  
• Don't use, or let others use, your PC as Admin if unnecessary
  Alright, I use my PC as Admin all the time because I need Admin rights for most of the stuff I do. But if your family uses your PC, make a separate account that has no Admin privileges, and have yours locked down with a password. If they need to do something that requires admin rights, login as your Admin, do the thing they want you to do, and then logout. Don't give them the password, or else it defeats the whole purpose.
  
• You can send a suspicious file to be tested in seconds
  If you go to virustotal.com, you can upload any file and they'll scan it with tons of different virus scanners. So if you downloaded "justin_beiber_despacito(320).mp3.exe" and aren't sure if it's safe, virustotal will answer that question.
  
• Don't ever call the phone numbers given by warnings on your PC
  You may come across something that looks like this. It is fake. Never call any number displayed. If you're unsure, go to Microsoft.com or Apple.com and go through their support over there.
  
  
  
  What will happen is some dude from another country, outside US jurisdiction, will trick you into granting access to your PC. They will then demand money to fix your PC (which they themselves might have broken). They might also use your number for future scams/spamming.
  
  Here is an example of a phone scammer harassing the wrong dude:
  [youtube]EOs_SjPGPNs[/youtube]

Treatment:
(not very knowledgeable on this part due to not getting a virus in 10 years)

1. Google the issues on a separate device
   If you're having problems, Google them first. It might not be a virus, just a setting or a piece of software you agreed to install by accident when you clicked Next as fast as possible on that installer.
   
2. Download, Install, Update some anti virus software, and then scan your PC
   Doing this first step will most likely eliminate the virus automatically, or at least stop its spread. Unless you're patient zero, the virus has probably been around for quite a while for AV software to have been updated.
   Here are some suggestions. You might need to do this on a separate device, then transfer over the installer to your infected computer with a USB Flash Drive You can use one or some or all of them:
   • MalwareBytes
   • Bitdefender Free
3. Check the preventive section
   It's almost impossible to get infected if you follow all the steps in the preventive section.

 

[Pushrod]

Jeebus I detest MacKeeper.

 

[W800]

Resurrecting old thread since I have noticed from looking at our work server logs that there's an increase in attempted intrusions.

It's easier now to block spyware and adware. I am not a big fan of anti viral or anti spyware apps. I think they tend to suck up a lot of computing resources. I also suspect they slurp your browsing data now and resell it.

To get some protection without the hassle -

#1 - run Brave on your computer and phone:

https://brave.com/

It blocks a lot of things, and you can turn off blocking as needed. You can also run Tor. It's based on the Chrome engine, so works just like Chrome, just not as creepy.

#2 - run blokada on your phone:

https://blokada.org/

It uses filter lists to block as much or as little as you want. Google Play store doesn't like it, since it defeats Google ads. So for Android, you have to download the apk. For 5 EU per month, you can also run a VPN on it.

Blokada blocks all ads, BTW. Even those in apps. So every "freemium" app is now free. No more ad banners. You can whitelist apps if you want to support developers.

#3 - at a network level (like a home or work network), run Cloudflare Gateway.

https://www.cloudflare.com/teams-gateway/

It uses Cloudflare's network to filter packets before they get to your network. Basically it works like a super granular DNS server, where you can pick what the network can see or not see. It *should* still be free right now. I might have gotten grandparented in.

#4 - don't go to sketchy sites. this is the main one, BTW.

#5 - https://www.wireshark.org/#download

^^^ that's for people who want to see whether or not their anti viral programs actually slurp their data. . .

 

[BillSmith]

.Pushing this old thread to top was a nice walk down memory lane. Thanks.

My contribution is to remind all of here on the West Coast that we are three hours behind New York and a whopping 7/8 (depends on DST) before sunrise in London.

Got an email with an attachment, link or other potential exploit. Just check tech-related news outlets in the UK or East Coast. Someone will have already had an oops moment and a corrective link/warning probably posted.

Better to learn from other's mistakes. Especially in these matters.

 

[W800]

.Pushing this old thread to top was a nice walk down memory lane. Thanks.

My contribution is to remind all of here on the West Coast that we are three hours behind New York and a whopping 7/8 (depends on DST) before sunrise in London.

Got an email with an attachment, link or other potential exploit. Just check tech-related news outlets in the UK or East Coast. Someone will have already had an oops moment and a corrective link/warning probably posted.

Better to learn from other's mistakes. Especially in these matters.

Welcome! And amen!!! We have been using G Suite, and it's pretty good. But I do the same thing you do, when something seems sketchy. I also sometimes look at the entire email (headers and stuff) to get a sense of origin.

Of course G Suite is absolutely not private. I was thinking about switching to Protonmail for my personal email. But my life is boring enough that such things don't matter, lol.

 

[rodr]

I recently switched to Opera on my Android phone, mainly because Firefox imploded on its recent update. It's quite good and includes what they call a free VPN (actually a web proxy).

 

[W800]

I recently switched to Opera on my Android phone, mainly because Firefox imploded on its recent update. It's quite good and includes what they call a free VPN (actually a web proxy).

Yes. Opera is cool! At least on my home/work computer, I think my ISP is throttling their proxy, lol.

When I just run Opera, with their proxy/VPN - I get 57 down.

When I run Opera, with their proxy/VPN - BUT *through* my own VPN, I get 144 down!

When I run Opera, without their proxy/VPN, but through my own VPN, I get 459 down. Max (no VPN) is theoretically 600 to 700.

For the tests, I let Ookla pick the best server. I guess I might be able to get more speed if I try different ones.

For my VPN, I am running Open VPN on a "burstable" 2 VCPU cloud server, then I set it to run up to 10 instances of the actual VPN server process. Normally, you set it to run one instance for each VCPU. But I was experimenting, and figured out that the burstable cloud servers will let you do strange things like this.

I need to get a life, LOL.