My computer is infected with spyware, adware popups&Trojan what can i do,What is the best anti virus software?
Filed in Security on Oct.08, 2008
blondie asked:
I need to clean my computer of spyware, adware and trojan. Which software would you recommend to clear all and protect my computer for future use?
Free Adware Info
I need to clean my computer of spyware, adware and trojan. Which software would you recommend to clear all and protect my computer for future use?
Free Adware Info
October 12th, 2008 at 5:02 am
You need Antivirus software and spyware scanning software. There are 2 free spyware scanners that I have used: Ad-Aware and Spybot. Both do a decent job but I have had better luck with Ad-Aware. If you run both of those and you still have some pop-ups or some kind of spyware hanging around, you can download a 60-day trial of Prevx1. It is great and fully functional for the 60 days.
For a virus scanner, I would download the free version of AVG. It does a fine job. I think AVG also makes a spyware scanner, but I have never used it personally.
October 15th, 2008 at 9:14 am
Install Grisoft’s AVG Antivirus and AVG Antispyware (both free) and run those. Then download a program called “hijack this” and run it. Find a forum where you can post the highjack this log and people will respond telling you what you need to do to get rid of specific threats that the scanners didn’t pick up.
October 17th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
Use AVG free edition. It is free, effective and scans every inch of your PC.
My PC was so bad it couldnt even do most things. Now it runs perfectly
October 18th, 2008 at 1:22 am
Norton Antivirus is very good. It gives you updates and the works.
It cleans off your computer and tells you what is on it and gives you the option to delete the stuff you don’t want.
October 19th, 2008 at 5:54 am
I use System Mechanic 6 Professional. It works really good.
October 22nd, 2008 at 12:02 pm
Norton Anti Virus and PC Cillin are the best virus software.
October 23rd, 2008 at 6:23 pm
Several things, two of which are free.
Norton Antivirus OR McAfee Antivirus will help prevent viruses and most other problems.
Next, download and run the Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool (free) from the following site:
This program will look for Malicious Software and delete it.
Now, download and run Windows Defender (also free) from the following site:
You should run this program weekly and make sure you run a FULL SCAN by clicking the triangle to the right of the word “SCAN” and on the drop down menu selecting “FULL SCAN.” This program will detect and help you remove files, programs, etc. that may be malware.
October 27th, 2008 at 3:18 am
Advanced windows care ,, try it I’m pretty sure it’s gonna work , u cam download the free ver. from there web , or u can buy the pro. it’s better of course but the free one gonna work great for ur problem
October 28th, 2008 at 3:34 am
I have been selling (and more importantly studying and testing) internet security products for over 15 years. Buying ANY antivirus program alone is like taking a fly-swather to a wasps nest.
You need 4 main methods of protection.
1. Rookits Detection
2. Spyware Detection
3. Virus Detection
4. IP Address and Keylogging protection.
Rootkits are the MOST stealth method currently for carrying and hiding the very worst of spyware software into your system and burrying it where even the Nortons and Mcafes cant find them.
1. F-Secure offers Blacklight Rootkit detector for FREE on their website, which is the worlds BEST at this single task.
——–
Once you have your rootkit detection software installed you need to buy an “internet security suite” to take care of everything else.
You want free? Try Zone Alarm (free version of firewall), Adaware (free spyware software), Avast (free antivirus software), this is a great free combo.
So far you’ve spent $0 for a heck of a good suite of software.
If you want to pay for the BEST Suite, I would purchase Zone Alarm Suite.
Zone Alarm Suite is PC Magazine’s choice as well as my choice for the very best in internet security for your PC. And its the easiest to use, in my opinion. Just remember to download the free Blacklight software for the best set of security tools available on the PC today.
Norton is huge and inneffective. Mcafee misses too much. And F-Secure is good, but would “under-perform” the free combo, so I cant honestly recommend it.
Either way, BEST OF LUCK!
October 29th, 2008 at 9:34 am
These two programs are the best at removing Spyware, Trojans and Adware. The procedure is important to clean all parts of the infections for all areas of your computer. You can use the programs and not the procedure if you choose.
Today, a Trojan is usually installed and it then downloads spyware, adware and viruses to your computer. This is why you should use more than one program to scan and clean your computer.
Download and Update Ewido (now called the AVG Antispyware). Do not run:
Download AdAware SE and update. Do the setup. Do not run:
AdAware SE Setup:
1. Select “use custom scanning options” then select “customize”. Make sure the following options are enabled: “scan within archives,” “scan active processes,” “scan registry,” “deep scan registry,” “scan my IE favorites for banned URLs,” “scan my Hosts file.”
2. Select the “tweak” option. Under “scanning engine,” make sure “unload recognized processes and modules during scan” is enabled. Enable “scan registry for all users instead of current users.”
3. Under “cleaning engine” turn on “always try to unload modules…,” “during removal unload explorer and IE if necessary,” “let windows remove files in use at next restart,” and “delete quarantined items after restoring.”
4. Use the “select drives and folders to scan” option to ensure that your entire hard drive is scanned (if you have more than one hard drive, scan all of them (of course, do not include floppy and CD/DVD).
TEMPORARILY SHOW HIDDEN FILES AND FOLDERS.
1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
2. Click Appearance and Themes, and then click Folder Options.
3. On the View tab, under Hidden files and folders, click “Show hidden files and folders”, and clear(uncheck) the “Hide protected operating system files” check box.
IMPORTANT: Files are hidden by Windows for a very good reason. It is not wise to experiment with these files. Unfortunately, to successfully remove modern spyware we must turn this protection off temporarily. Please turn the protection back on when you have finished cleaning your system.
EMPTY INTERNET EXPLORER BROWSER CACHE:
1. On the Internet Explorer Tools menu, click Internet Options.
2. On the General tab, in the Temporary Internet Files section, click the Delete Files button. Select the Delete all offline content check box in the confirmation dialogue box that appears, click OK. Click OK again.
RESTART IN SAFE MODE:
To do this you need to hold down or repeatedly tap the F8 key while the computer is booting (when the computer is displaying a black screen with white text). When the boot menu appears, use your keyboard arrows to select “Safe Mode.”
Safe Mode can look quite ugly. The color may look bad, and all of your desktop icons will be very large. This is normal.
START THE SCAN WITH YOUR PROGRAM(S). Run both programs consecutivly.
When the scan and removal are completed REBOOT COMPUTER. This will restart you in normal mode.
RESET HIDDEN FILES AND FOLDERS.
The RESTORE POINTS may be infected with the Malware and cannot be used. Delete the old one(s) and make a new one.
CLEAR OLD RESTORE POINT(S). HERE’S HOW:
1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
2. Click Performance and Maintenance, click System, and then click on the System Restore tab.
3. Select the Turn Off System Restore check box, click Apply, then restart your computer.
4. Return to the System Restore Tab and turn System Restore back on.
TO SET A NEW RESTORE POINT:
1. Click the Start button.
2. Point to Programs, then navigate to Accessories, then System Tools, then click System Restore.
3. Choose Create a restore point, and then click Next.
4. In the Restore point description box, type a name for your restore point, and then click Next.
5. Click OK.
NOTE: If you are using Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) and are unable to access the Internet after removing Malware, there is a command that may fix the problem. It works by resetting the winsock catalogue. Click on Start, then Run and type CMD in the box. Click OK. Type “netsh winsock reset” (no quotes)into the DOS window that appears.
ADDITION INFORMATION ABOUT TROJANS:
There are Trojans that fall into the Smitfraud family. These require the use of a specialized program for removal. Here are two sites that specialize in removing these:
November 1st, 2008 at 11:59 am
There are several things that you need to do and be aware of if your computer gets infected with a virus or any kind of malware infection:
1.) Update your anti-virus software immediately and run a scan: You can do this by opening up your Anti-Virus program and selecting the Update prompt. Be patient as your computer will install the needed updates. It is important to note that if you have never updated your Anti-Virus software, this can take a LONG time, especially over a dial-up connection. Run a full scan after the updates are completed and delete EVERYTHING found.
2.) You need to update you Anti-Virus Software AT LEAST once a week. This means, opening up the program, clicking on the update button and downloading the latest definitions. Think of a virus (or any kind of malware) as a human infection and the updates as medicine from your pharmacy or doctor to cure the infection. Without weekly visits to the pharmacy (updating your AV software,) you run the risk of not getting the cure for your infection.
3.) You need SEVERAL high-quality malware removal programs: I would recommend:
a.) Spybot Search and Destroy
b.) Adaware SE
c.) Windows Defender
d.) * If you don’t already have a quality anti-virus program, or what you have is a year or more out of date, I would recommend uninstalling your old AV program through your Computer’s Control Panel. (Go to My Computer and Add/Remove Programs and Remove your old AV program AND ALL ANTI-VIRUS PROGRAM UPDATES.) Only one Anti-Virus program should be installed on your computer at any one time! Than, you should go to:
(a computer help site.) The download section includes an outstanding, free, top-of the line, anti-virus program called AVG. You should download, install, and update that program. Than run a full scan:
You should also download, install, and update, the following programs from. They can all be found in the download section:
AVG Anti-Virus (Only if you don’t have AV protection, or what you have is a year or more out of date.) Uninstall all versions of any preexisting AV software from Add/Remove programs first. (Anything that says, Norton, Symantic, McAfee, AND any Norton, Symantic, or McAfee updates should be uninstalled.) Than install, and update your AVG software and run a FULL scan.
If you are using your preinstalled AV software, update your definitions and run a full scan. Delete everything found.
INSTALL AND UPDATE EACH OF THESE PROGRAMS AS WELL IF YOU DON’T ALREADY HAVE THEM. You can get these from the download section of
Spybot S & D (Run updates and scan after installing.)
Adaware SE: (Run Updates and do a full scan after installing.) Check the box to do a full scan, check to scan for low-risk threats, UNCHECK the prompt to scan for negligible risk entries.
Windows Defender: (For Windows XP) Run updates after installing, run a full scan, delete everything found.
THAN go to this online virus scanner and malware removal site: (Only works in IE.)
Accept the license agreement, install the updates, and watch the best online scanner around scan and clean your system of all kinds of crap. Please note that a full scan can take upwards of 40 minutes or more. You will be asked to scan again when malware is found so do so until your system is clean. A high speed connection (DSL or Cable) is recommended for this site.
I would also recommend going to Grisoft’s website. This is the company that makes AVG Anti-Virus and download, install, and update the program AVG Anti-Spyware 7.5. The download can be found here:
This program will work regardless of whether you have AVG for your Anti-Virus Software or not. You will notice that you will have 30 days of all of the features of the full version, which include automatic online updating and a resident shield that monitors your entire system. You can purchase the pro version by following the prompts in the program which will give you 1 year of protection for $30 or 2 years of protection for $40. The free scanner still provides on-demand updating, with new definitions released each day, and the ability to scan whenever you want. At least get the free version. Than do the updates, and scanning, delete everything found.
WHEEWWW!!! Than go back to and download, than update the program Spyware Blaster. This is not a scanner, but a shield to guide against malware that you should check for updates on once a month.
This should get TONS of spyware off your computer. Take your time and go through the steps carefully. Remember to manually check for updates for your Anti-Virus at least once a week. (You can set up Automatic Updating as well. In fact, AVG releases updates almost daily.)
Remember the other malware removal programs and scans talked about above:
Spybot S &D
Adaware SE
AVG Anti-Spyware
Windows Defender
Do updates and scans with those 1-2x a month. Do the online scan at Housecall 1-2x a month or whenever your computer is acting weird. Windows Defender auto updates at a schedule you pick. But do a manual FULL scan after installing and updating for the first time or whenever your system is acting strange.
If you have future problems after doing all of these updates and scans, please go to and post your issues in the Security Forum along with the Operating System that you use and other other pertinent details about your spyware concerns. They can show you how to install special circumstance software that will get the malware off your computer for good!
Jeff
November 3rd, 2008 at 11:23 am
norton or kapaseky or macfee
webroot i personally think is the best any spyware tool
November 6th, 2008 at 2:14 am
My choice is XoftSpy SE,I have using it for 1 year and it works very well.You can find the XoftSpy SE and other top 5 anti-spywares reviews and comparisons on
All download and scan for free.
November 6th, 2008 at 7:20 am
Be careful when you’re donwloading an Antivirus program; the latest is SmitFraud, and is a really dangerous shareware program that looks like it’s supposed to protect your computer. You can found out more about it here:
There’s a ton of info on other parasites and programs there too. Good luck!
November 9th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
First a few tips that helped me and then a web site you can get free software that will fix your pc free. Don’t ever use IE (Internet explorer as your browser).
Instead use Mozilla Firefox
Do not ever ever ever download mail to your computer. Instead use a web based email like Yahoo.com or hotmail.com
Most viruses and spyware come from ie or downloading mail.
Go to the site below and get all those programs and your computer will be a lot better. Good luck