Program for detecting and removing spyware/adware

[TheSecretHorse]

Hi,

I hope I'm in the right place here.

I'm looking for a program to scan and remove spyware and the like from my PC. Google gives a lot of options, but some of them look less than legit, so my hope is that someone here might know a trustworthy program to use.

Preferably a free version, if there are any good ones.

Thank you.

 

[xgsound]

YMMV Always look for advanced install to see if there are other (read malware) programs optionally included.
After I fix relatives machines I print this off for them. It will get you started and may fix it all.

. **/sarc Doctors and Lawyers guide /sarc off**
******* 2016 Suggested General Virus/ Malware strategy ********

Download from www.bleepingcomputer.com if available there. Currently the safest site I know of.
TDSSKILLER
Adwcleaner
Rkill
Mbam

1. Use one and only one anti virus and keep it updated. MSE and Defender have become very limited. Some free ones are Bitdefender, Avira, AVG, Panda, and Avast. I have had excellent luck with Bitdefender free since 2014.
2.periodically or when there are problems:
These cleaners will require reentering browser IDs and passwords.
a. run tdsskiller – this checks for rootkits and corrects - 3 minutes
b. run ADWcleaner- very fast and effective malware cleaner. scan/ select clean -5 or 10 minutes
3. If problems persist:
a. run rkill – it takes 2 or 3 minutes to start and 3 more to finish DO NOT REBOOT
b. when rkill finishes, run Malwarebytes a full scan and fix all - 1hour
or so.

Jim

 

[LPCTech]

I like to download

rkill
JunkwareRemovalTool
Malwarebytes free version(MBAM)
Adwcleaner

then I boot to safe mode, if win 7 or less, for win 8 and 10 you can just stay in reg mode if you want, I guess.
Then run in order:

rkill
JRT
mbam(if it finds stuff and wants to reboot, let it)
Adwcleaner, It will reboot the pc when it finishes.

That should get most stuff. Some things you may have to uninstall from programs and features or get Revo uninstaller or another uninstaller.

Source: I'm a PC technician who primarily removes malware.

edit: and yes like xgsound said, get everything from bleepingcomputer

 

[gent11]

sorry ignore this for now, got linked from a simple A/V mfrgf to this all of a sudden.

 

[PliotronX]

I like to download

rkill
JunkwareRemovalTool
Malwarebytes free version(MBAM)
Adwcleaner

then I boot to safe mode, if win 7 or less, for win 8 and 10 you can just stay in reg mode if you want, I guess.
Then run in order:

rkill
JRT
mbam(if it finds stuff and wants to reboot, let it)
Adwcleaner, It will reboot the pc when it finishes.

That should get most stuff. Some things you may have to uninstall from programs and features or get Revo uninstaller or another uninstaller.

Source: I'm a PC technician who primarily removes malware.

edit: and yes like xgsound said, get everything from bleepingcomputer

Those four tools in that order will remove 99.9% of the crapware, I approve. You could also speed up the process by running CCleaner beforehand so that there are less files to scan. If these tools just don't seem to get it, give HitmanPro a try and if there are still issues, don't waste any more time and just reinstall Windows.

 

[BW86]

Then run in order:

rkill
JRT
mbam(if it finds stuff and wants to reboot, let it)
Adwcleaner, It will reboot the pc when it finishes.

I use the same programs, just in a little different order

1. CCleaner & delete files in %temp% (less files to scan - like PliotronX said)
2. RKill
3. MalwareBytes (turn on "scan for rootkits")
4. AdwCleaner
5. reboot workstation
6. JRT
7. HitmanPro (Optional)

 

[John Connor]

Ccleaner is NOT a damn Adware cleaner or a malware remover. I don't know why people think this.

If you use Ccleaner, use System Ninja as well. Trust me. It will find even more "crap."

 

[bononos]

Ccleaner is NOT a damn Adware cleaner or a malware remover. I don't know why people think this.

If you use Ccleaner, use System Ninja as well. Trust me. It will find even more "crap."

I like ccleaner because it doesn't have adware and doesn't go overboard with the cleaning with default settings and potentially screw things up. But it also has options that allow clearing out application caches and extra cleaning in the /user directory that I think puts on on par with other cleaning apps.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Ccleaner is NOT a damn Adware cleaner or a malware remover. I don't know why people think this.

Pretty sure that they weren't suggesting CCleaner for malware removal, but as a pre-removal step, that would make the malware scanning go faster, because the malware scanners wouldn't have to go slogging through massive internet cache and tempfiles directories.

 

[nemesismk2]

i alway use Malwarebytes

 

[John Connor]

Pretty sure that they weren't suggesting CCleaner for malware removal, but as a pre-removal step, that would make the malware scanning go faster, because the malware scanners wouldn't have to go slogging through massive internet cache and tempfiles directories.

Pretty sure I see people on many forums mention Ccleaner when some asks what anti-virus removal utility they use. ROFL.

 

[John Connor]

I like ccleaner because it doesn't have adware and doesn't go overboard with the cleaning with default settings and potentially screw things up. But it also has options that allow clearing out application caches and extra cleaning in the /user directory that I think puts on on par with other cleaning apps.

System Ninja doesn't have Adware/opencandy...

 

[balloonshark]

Pretty sure that they weren't suggesting CCleaner for malware removal, but as a pre-removal step, that would make the malware scanning go faster, because the malware scanners wouldn't have to go slogging through massive internet cache and tempfiles directories.

Exactly. Why waste a bunch of time scanning hundreds of MB's or more of unnecessary garbage. You might be surprised how much junk has accumulated on the average user's computer. When I run it on a relative's pc I can walk away for a while because it takes a long time to run.