Just so you all know...

[GoffyDude]

Over this summer we observed a huge change in the causes of people bringing their computers in for repair. It went from about 50/50 virus n' spyware/hardware problems last year to about 80 percent spyware, 10 percent virus, 10 percent hardware by the end of the summer.

I am sick and tired of hearing about Spybot and Ad-Aware. YES, they work, but they are by no means a complete fix. Below is a list I believe is needed to fully rid yourself of as much spyware as possible. Of course, always run these programs in safe mode and in normal mode.

Run 1st:
CWShredder - gets rid of all coolwebsearch trojans...these can be a PAIN!!

Run 2nd:
SpySweeper from www.webroot.com - it finds almost EVERYTHING!
NOT a joke... SpySweeper proved much more valuable to us than any other spyware removing program.
(No, I'm not affiliated with webroot in any way...i just firmly believe it's the best spyware removal tool out there)

Run 3rd:
Ad-Aware - you'll find a couple more if you're lucky
Spybot: S&D - you'll find maybe 1-2 more, probably just the DSO exploit

To get rid of the rest of the stuff:

VX2finder
HSremove
Hijackthis

If you still can't get rid of whatever it is, seek help in a tech forum, or save your files and format the hard drive.

 

[olds]

repost
EDIT
I'll even link it for you.

 

[Monkey muppet]

Just to let you know - Already covered

 

[Ryan]

Originally posted by: GoffyDude
Over this summer we observed a huge change in the causes of people bringing their computers in for repair. It went from about 50/50 virus n' spyware/hardware problems last year to about 80 percent spyware, 10 percent virus, 10 percent hardware by the end of the summer.

I am sick and tired of hearing about Spybot and Ad-Aware. YES, they work, but they are by no means a complete fix. Below is a list I believe is needed to fully rid yourself of as much spyware as possible. Of course, always run these programs in safe mode and in normal mode.

Run 1st:
CWShredder - gets rid of all coolwebsearch trojans...these can be a PAIN!!

Run 2nd:
SpySweeper from www.webroot.com - it finds almost EVERYTHING!
NOT a joke... SpySweeper proved much more valuable to us than any other spyware removing program.
(No, I'm not affiliated with webroot in any way...i just firmly believe it's the best spyware removal tool out there)

Run 3rd:
Ad-Aware - you'll find a couple more if you're lucky
Spybot: S&D - you'll find maybe 1-2 more, probably just the DSO exploit

To get rid of the rest of the stuff:

VX2finder
HSremove
Hijackthis

If you still can't get rid of whatever it is, seek help in a tech forum, or save your files and format the hard drive.

This is a tech forum, why in the hell are you posting it here.

 

[apac]

Who care if it's been reposted, this is a good thread. Asshats.

 

[Monkey muppet]

Originally posted by: apac
Who care if it's been reposted, this is a good thread. Asshats.

I'm not b1tching about it being in the wrong place - I'm just re-directing those interested in the apps required

 

[Crucial]

In my experience adaware, spybot, and avg are the only three I need to clean a pc. One time I installed and ran spysweeper in an attempt to bemove a new variation of bargainbuddy but the program tried to take over the entire computer. Off it went and will never go back on.

 

[Fritzo]

Originally posted by: Crucial
In my experience adaware, spybot, and avg are the only three I need to clean a pc. One time I installed and ran spysweeper in an attempt to bemove a new variation of bargainbuddy but the program tried to take over the entire computer. Off it went and will never go back on.

Same here. We've had a problem with Spysweeper removing html components of applications, making you reinstall them to get them to work correctly again.

Oh, add Hijack This! to the list. Gets rid of those persistant hijackers when all else fails (be careful using it though).

 

[Crucial]

My eyes bleed whenever I see hijack this. I can't stand that program or people posting those ginormous logs into forums clogging up google searches for spyware programs.

 

[Fritzo]

Originally posted by: Crucial
My eyes bleed whenever I see hijack this. I can't stand that program or people posting those ginormous logs into forums clogging up google searches for spyware programs.

It helps fix the problem though.

 

[biostud]

I still haven't met a computer I couldn't fix with:
Spybot S&D, Spyware blaster, CWShredder, AVG and ZA.

I think it's amazing how much faster you can get an infected comupter to run if you block off internet acces with a firewall.

 

[Ride2kmax]

Thanks for this info i added new things to my regular computer maintenance.

 

[zeruty]

Ride2kmax, you better find a more recent thread. This thread is 5 years old and out of date. Try the Software and Security forums...

 

[zeruty]

Here, check this out
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=98805
That thread is from 2007, but it gets updated via edits.. last one was 11/15/09

 

[TridenT]

Thanks for this info i added new things to my regular computer maintenance.

God damn necros.

Seriously, I'm going to just used my blessed hammer and KEEL YAH

 

[rudeguy]

S-s-s-s-s-super necro!

 

[hiromizu]

Macintosh. Problem solved, earth saved yet people are dumb enough to continue using Windows including myself.